Mother’s Day… the smiles and the heartbreak
How was your Mother’s Day yesterday? I had a very relaxed day, received an individual card from each of my four children (apparently the teens didn’t even require any prompting, they were on it this year…!) and had a roast dinner cooked for me by my husband. He was afraid it wouldn’t be as good as one of mine : it was probably a bit better actually, but don’t tell him that!
In all seriousness though, I am aware that days like these are not a celebration for everyone, this year even more so than most. We had a local tragedy this weekend in which a small child lost his life, the murder of Sarah Everard has broken our hearts globally, I have friends who have recently lost their mothers and friends who, either solely because of COVID or for other reasons too, were not able to see either their children or their mothers.
Not everyone is a mum and not everyone has a mother and even those that are and those that do can be fighting their own battles – either obvious ones or ones we know nothing about. So, yes, I had a pleasant day yesterday, but I did feel hyper-aware of the difficulties facing so many at the moment and took lots of time out during the day to hold those people in my thoughts.
Another mum that we see regularly on our screens is the lovely Kate Garraway and what a year she has had. I have hesitated, previously, to write about Kate’s story – her husband has now been in hospital for a year, having been admitted with Covid in March 2020 – but she seems, generously, keen to share her story and help others avoid the financial chaos she has faced over the last 12 months. Derek did not have Lasting Powers of Attorney in place when he was admitted to hospital last year and he was almost immediately placed into a medically induced coma, meaning that it was too late to put these vitally important documents in place. Kate would, of course, have been unable to access bank accounts in Derek’s name but I saw a comment on Facebook yesterday where someone asked ‘well, why don’t they have joint bank accounts like me and my wife do…?’. This would not have helped Kate and they may well do! If joint bank accounts are held in the names of two or more people and one of those people loses mental capacity, in all likeliness, if there are no LPAs in place, the joint account will be frozen, denying access to even those who have retained mental capacity. It really is an incredibly sad and, I’m sure, frightening situation to be in.
With so much sadness in the world right now, amidst the glimmers of hope that we are starting to see in relation to the easing of lockdown, it really is important to stay on top of the things you can control, like ensuring wills are up-to-date and that LPAs are in place to help prevent scenarios such as the one above.
If you would like to discuss any of the topics raised, in a sensitive manner and with no obligation to commit, please don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us.
