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GAZETTE
JULY/
A
UGUST
1987
CORRESPONDENCE
The Editor,
Gazette,
Law Society,
Blackhall Place,
Dublin 7.
5th May 1987
Protection of the Elderly
Dear Sir,
As Chairman of the National
Council for the Aged, I have been
having correspondence and dis-
cussions with Messrs Eric Brunker
and Patrick Fagan of your Con-
veyancing Committee about the
adequacy of the legal protection of
the interests of certain elderly
people. The National Council for
the Aged — an advisory body to
the Minister for Health on all
aspects of the welfare of the
elderly — is concerned, in parti-
cular, about the position of those
elderly who irrevocably sign over
their property or other assets to
another party.
Some elderly people are parti-
cularly vulnerable at times of stress
(e.g. just prior to entry into a long-
stay institution) when external
pressures may suggest the
desirability of transferring assets to
another party, usually a relative. In
these circumstances, the elderly
are in particular need of indepen-
dent and adequate legal advice.
Whilst in the majority of cases such
advice is available, we are con-
scious that in some cases it may
not be and there is evidence of
some elderly persons not being
fully aware of the implications of
their actions. In view of the irrevoc-
able nature of the asset transfers
made this has given rise to
hardship in certain cases.
While separate legal represen-
tation for the elderly person is a
solution we would favour, we
appreciate that this may not
always be a practical proposition
and in the alternative if separate
representation is not possible we
would ask that particular attention
is given by the solicitor involved to
ensure that the elderly person is
fully capable of making a decision
and that all the implications of that
decision are fully explained in an
impartial manner.
The Council would be most
grateful if the Law Society would
raise this issue with its members
and make an appropriate recom-
mendation as to practice in this
area.
Yours sincerely,
L. J. Tuomey,
Chairman,
National Council for the Aged,
Corrigan House,
Fenian Street,
Dublin 2.
HANDWRITING
& SUSPECT
DOCUMENT
ANALYSIS
T. T. W. ALLEN
" S e a v i e w " ,
Ba l l ygu i l e, C o . W i c k l o w,
(0404) 69266 (anytime)
GAZETTE
BINDERS
Binders w h i ch w i ll hold 20 issi
are available f r om the Society.
PRICE
£5 . 14
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+ 87p postage
Lady So l i c i t o r s' Go l f i ng
Soc iety
Another successful outing was
held on the 21st July 1986 at
Newlands Golf Club. While the day
remained fine, it did not produce
scores which would threaten the
handicaps nor did any new winners
emerge. Mary Molloy and Elaine
An t hony showed their usual
consistency by producing 32
points and 31 points respectively
in difficult conditions. Sheila
O'Gorman came third with 27
points.
The best score came from one of
our visitors, Frances Kearney, with
33 points. Kay O'Neill and Chris
Ryan were second and third res-
pectively with 31 points each.
Newlands have kindly agreed to
have us again for our next outing.
This will be on Thursday 30th July
next, tee-off times 12 noon to
1.30p.m.; 2.30p.m. to 3.30p.m.
As usual, the dinner and
presen t a t i on will take place
afterwards, and again all prize
donations will be welcome.
All applications to participate
should be sent to:
Christine Scott,
43 St. Stephen's Green,
Dublin 2.
LAW RE FORM C OMM I S S I ON
(Contd. from p. 134)
It is the Commission's intention,
when significant progress has been
made in the form of reports and re-
commendations on some at least
of these items, to present to the
Taoiseach a revised programme for
law reform for consideration by the
Government. In the hope that this
process will be at least under way
in the later part of the year, it is
their present intention to arrange a
seminar to be held in Trinity College
in the autumn, at which proposals
for law r e f o rm for possible
inclusion in the Commission's draft
programme will be subjected to
detailed discussion and analysis by
as many interested sections of the
public as possible.
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