The relationship between adult social care and property rights is a largely neglected area of the law despite its implications for millions of people.
- Brian Sloan
In 1999 Mary had a stroke, leaving her permanently paralysed down one side. She was 75. She had worked as a school secretary for most of her life and had seldom been in hospital. Mary’s daughter Alison moved her mother into a private residential home with an outstanding local reputation, where the costs of her 24-hour care were paid for by money raised by the sale of Mary’s small retirement flat.
Mary lived a further 17 years and was visited by Alison most days. Within ten years, Mary’s assets had fallen below the threshold for self-funding. Alison applied to the local authority which took over the funding of her mother’s care. Because her mother was a long-term resident, the home ‘waived’ the difference (around £400 per week) between its charge and the sum provided by the local authority. The policy of this particular home meant that Mary (unlike many others in similar circumstances) was able to remain in familiar surroundings until she died.
The story of Mary and Alison is the kind of narrative that concerns Dr Brian Sloan, a legal scholar whose background lies mainly within family law and the law of succession. Sloan is currently an Early Career Research Fellow at CRASSH where he is looking at adult social care and property rights within the context of the changes being introduced as the Care Act of 2014 is given effect in England.
“My interest in the topic stems in part from the fact that discussions about social care touch on so many disciplines,” says Sloan. “The questions raised can be looked at from a wide range of viewpoints – historical, cultural and anthropological, and philosophical as well as legal. Society faces a huge challenge in devising a system that’s sustainable and apportions financial burdens in a way that is considered fair.”
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Image: Granddaughter helping her disabled grandmother walk with the aid of a walker.
Credit: Rosie O'Beirne
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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