1. Before you begin you will need to have the following: 1. A Public Services Card If you do not have a Public Services Card you will need to obtain one from your local Department of Social Protection Office. You will need to set up an appointment with this office, give them your PPSN and present to them your passport or drivers licence as photo ID. Usually, the Department will be able to associate your PPSN with your address but, if they cannot do this, you might need to provide proof of address, such as a recent bank statement or correspondence from Revenue. 2. A MyGovID account If you do not already have a MyGovID account, you can set this up yourself or with the help of a family member, and then verify it. To set up and verify, you will need to log on to www.mygovid.ie and follow the steps. You will need the following: 1. Your Public Services Card. 2. An email address. 3. A mobile phone number. 4. Your PPSN. If you are not able to complete this stage of the process on your own or with the help of a family member, we can assist you if you attend at our office and provide us with the necessary information. 2. Then, a myDSS account will need to be set up for you Once you have a verified GovID account, you will need a myDSS account. This needs to be set up on the DSS online portal. Again, you can set this up yourself or with the help of a family member. To set up your account, you will need to log on to www.decisionsupportservice.ie and follow the steps. You will need the following: 1. An email address. 2. A mobile phone number. 3. Your PPSN. 4. Details of your myGovID account in order to confirm your credentials. Solicitor’s Authorisation If you are not able to complete this stage of the process on your own or with the help of a family member, we can assist you if you attend at our office and provide us with the necessary information. We will need your signed authority and that of your proposed Attorney to deal with the DSS on your behalf. When we have this, we will be recorded with the DSS as an authorised contact. Paper Form You should note that it is also possible to complete a paper application form. We can discuss the options with you and decide on how best to proceed. 3. Setting up the EPA Once you have your MyDSS account set up and verified it via your MyGovID account we will discuss with you the requirements in regard to completing the EPA application form and setting up your EPA. Communicate with your doctor A doctor will need to assess your capacity and sign a Statement of Capacity Form after you have executed the other documents, as set out below. However, it is important to be clear, in advance of completing and signing the EPA documents, that your doctor is satisfied with your capacity and will be prepared to sign the necessary Statement of Capacity Form. This avoids a situation where you proceed to complete and sign all the forms but the doctor then takes the view that you do not have capacity. Therefore, you should communicate with your doctor at an early stage and obtain confirmation (even on an informal or verbal basis) that all is likely to be in order from a capacity point of view. This is particularly important where you might have already received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia that might impact on your potential capacity. In such cases, your own GP might not be able to assess your capacity and will refer you to a consultant. The EPA Application Form We will need to meet you to obtain from you certain information under the following four headings. 1. You, the Donor This is information about you, the person making the enduring power of attorney 2. The Attorney(s) This is information about the person(s) you are choosing to be your Attorney(s). If you are appointing more than one person to be your Attorney, you will need to decide how they will work together to make decisions, whether jointly or separately. We will discuss this with you. You can also decide if you want your attorney to receive any payment. 3. Existing arrangements (if any) In this section, you need to state if you have any other existing decision support arrangements. 4. Arrangement details This section is extremely important in in that it sets out the authority you are giving your Attorney and the specific decisions you want them to make on your behalf. We will discuss this with you in detail and you can make whatever decisions you wish in the light of our advice. Completing the Forms Once the four sections of the form have been completed and you are happy with what you have included in the EPA, the application form is saved and the 6 documents set out below are downloaded from your myDSS account, printed, signed, and served on the various parties, as required. 1. Enduring Power of Attorney This is your EPA. A copy of it will need to be given to:
We, as your solicitors, will review this form again with you before we sign the Legal Practitioner Statement. 2. Legal Practitioner Statement This is the form that we as your solicitors complete after we are satisfied about your understanding of the EPA. 3. Donor Declaration Form This is the part of your EPA that you sign in front of two witnesses. At least one of the witnesses must not be an immediate family member of you or the Attorney. We will explain to you the definition of an “immediate family member”, which includes in-laws, grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces. Neither of the witnesses should be an employee or agent of the Attorney. If you are physically unable to complete the declaration, someone else can sign this on your behalf. They must do this in front of you and your witnesses. You will have to confirm to your witnesses that you understand and agree to your making the EPA. 4. Attorney Declaration Form This is the part of your EPA that your Attorney signs in front of two witnesses. The witnesses to the Attorney’s signature cannot be an employee or agent of the Attorney. 5. Statement of Capacity Form This is the form your doctor fills in after they have assessed your capacity and are satisfied that you have capacity. You must ask your doctor or another to assess that you had the capacity to understand the consequences of making the EPA at the time you executed it, in other words, on the date you and your Attorney(s) signed your declarations and had them witnessed. You must give your doctor a copy of the arrangement and your signed declarations. The doctor will need to sign and stamp the form, ensuring they have included their professional registration number and contact details. It is important that there is no delay between your execution of the forms and your doctor confirming your capacity. This especially applies if you have already received a diagnosis of dementia or similar condition. 6. Notice Form This is the form to be given to your notice parties to let them know about the EPA. You must tell the following people that you are making the EPA and give them a copy of it as well as the signed declarations:
If you do not have at least 3 people in the above categories, you must also notify at least 2 other people. In these circumstances, the notice parties can include your doctor and solicitor. Uploading and Submitting the Forms The EPA must be sent to the DSS within 3 months of execution. In other words, within 3 months of the forms being signed by you and your Attorney(s). After all of the required forms are completed, the declarations have been signed and the notice parties have been notified, the forms, along with the names and contact details of the witnesses and notice parties, need to be uploaded to myDSS. At this stage the registration application fee is also payable. DSS Review and Decision The DSS will then review the application to make sure it contains all of the necessary information, that it meets the legal requirements and that your named Attorney is a suitable person to support you. The DSS may ask you or your Attorney for more information. The DSS will then decide whether to approve or decline the application. If the DSS take the view it might decline the application they will explain why and give you an opportunity to provide them with more information. A decision to decline can be reviewed. If the DSS approve the application, they will let you and your Attorney know. The EPA will then be complete. Note: It is important to remember that the EPA will not come into effect until your Attorney notifies the DSS that you are unable to make one or more of the decisions included in the EPA. |
SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION ON THE PROCESS OF CREATING AN ENDURING POWER OF ATTORNEY (EPA)26/8/2023 What is an Enduring Power of Attorney?
An Enduring Power of Attorney (or “EPA”) is a legal document by which the person making it (known as “the Donor”) states that another person (known as “the Attorney”) will in the future have power to act on the Donor’s behalf if the Donor becomes unable or incapable of looking after his or her interests. It can be changed by the Donor or revoked by the Donor during the Donor’s life. It comes to an end on the death of the Donor. By creating an EPA, a Donor gives considerable responsibility and control to the Attorney. Accordingly, any person contemplating creating an EPA should be extremely careful in how they set up their EPA, in particular with regard to any conditions and restrictions might wish to apply to the powers you are giving to your Attorney. It is important that a potential Donor obtains legal advice from a solicitor with experience in setting up EPAs. A new system for creating EPAs was set up under the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015 and commenced on 26 April 2023. This replaced the previous system regulated by the Powers of Attorney Act, 1996. EPAs set up under the old system are still valid but, since 26 April 2023, all new EPAs must be created under the new regime. Why is an EPA useful? An EPA will allow you to appoint a person you know and trust to act on your behalf if you lose the capacity to make certain decisions in the future, as a result, for example, of brain damage, Alzheimer’s disease, or dementia. This person is called your ‘Attorney’ but does not need to be a lawyer. The decisions can be about your personal welfare and property and money matters. You can give your Attorney the general authority to act on your behalf about all or part of your property and affairs and personal welfare. Alternatively, you can give your Attorney the authority to do specific things on your behalf. You can have more than one Attorney and you can choose a replacement Attorney in case one of your Attorneys is unable to continue in the role. If you have more than one Attorney you will have to decide if they are to make decisions together, or separately. Making an EPA There are a number of steps involved in making an EPA. Before you begin the application, there are a number of matters you should consider with the advice of your solicitor and in consultation with people you trust. You will need to decide: • Who do you want to act as your Attorney or Attorneys? • Do you want someone to be your replacement Attorney? • What types of decisions do you want them to make on your behalf? • Are there any decisions you do not want or need help with? • What authority do you want to give your Attorneys? • Do you want to pay your Attorneys? • Are there any organisations, businesses or professionals that will want to see a copy of your EPA? Once you have decided these matters, you create the EPA in consultation with your solicitor and medical practitioner, choosing one or more Attorneys and the decisions they will make on your behalf. The EPA must be signed by you, your Attorney and two witnesses. It must include details of the authority you want to give your Attorney. The EPA must then be registered with the Decision Support Service (or DSS) while you have capacity and within 3 months of its creation. Bringing an EPA into effect (known as “Notifying an EPA”) The EPA only comes into effect if and when you lose capacity to make any of the decisions set out in your EPA. At that stage, your Attorney notifies DSS of our incapacity and asks them to bring it into effect. This is called “Notifying an EPA”. Your solicitor will be able to assist your Attorney with the various steps they will need to take to notify the EPA. It will include getting forms completed by different people, including the Donor's doctor or another healthcare professional. Cancelling an EPA (known as “Revoking the Arrangement”) You can cancel your registered EPA if it has not been brought into effect and you have capacity to do so. The EPA must be cancelled in writing and signed by you and two witnesses. An Attorney can resign from a registered arrangement before it comes into effect by notifying you and DSS that they wish to do so. If the EPA has been brought into effect, the Attorney can only resign with the consent of the court. Changing an EPA (known as “Varying the Arrangement”) You can change your registered EPA if it has a) not come into effect, and b) you have capacity to do so, and c) it has been registered for more than six months. After that, you can change it once every year. Any changes to the EPA must be made in writing and signed by you and two witnesses. What does it cost? The fees payable to the DSS are as follows: Registering an EPA €30 Changing an EPA €30 Revoking an EPA €90 Notifying an EPA €90 If you have already made an EPA under the Powers of Attorney Act 1996 (which applied to EPAs made prior to 26 April 2023) and you intend to revoke it in order to register a new EPA, you may be entitled to have your fee for registration and notification waived. Your solicitor will furnish you with an estimate of their fees for work done assisting you to create and register your EPA and in giving a statement to the DSS confirming that you understand the implications of making the EPA. Your doctor will also charge a fee for providing the necessary medical certificate that you have capacity to enter into the arrangement. See or next blog post containing specific information about creating an Enduring Power of Attorney It's early days yet for this windfarm development in Lemanaghan but we are already dealing with enquiries from local landowners. With this proposal and the company's continuing progress on its windfarms in Derrinlough and Cloncreen, Bord na Mona's investment in renewable energy has the potential to greatly benefit Offaly farm families and the communities in which they live, not to mention the dividends these multiple schemes might bring in terms of reducing Ireland's dependence on carbon-based fuels. An important part of the process in any windfarm development is the option agreements that the renewable energy company must enter into with local landowners. These agreements have the potential to provide very welcome payments for farmers in the short term and, depending on what options are exercised, even greater returns thereafter, usually far in excess of agricultural values, for upwards of thirty years. At the same time, these agreements contain covenants and obligations that will bind not only the current landowners but also, potentially, the next generation. It is important, therefore, that farm families receive the very best possible legal advice from the most experienced practitioners in the area. Ken Enright has practiced in this field for over a decade and knows very well the benefits and potential pitfalls concerned with windfarm and solar option agreements and leases. Farmers are welcome to make contact with Ken Enright on an individual or group basis. If you have gone "sale agreed" on your house, you will want to progress the sale as quickly as possible.
The first thing you should do is contact your solicitor. Your solicitor will need to review your title deeds immediately in order to prepare a contract for the sale of your house and take full instructions from you on the details. You should also ensure that your auctioneer or estate agent send what is called the "sales advice note" to your solicitor as well as the solicitor for the purchaser. The sales advice note includes details about you and the purchasers, your respective solicitors, the price, the proposed closing date, whether contents are included, and other relevant matters. There are several pieces of information and documentation that your solicitor will need and you should start getting them together now so that they will be ready even before a sale is agreed, in case any issues arise that need to be resolved. YOU WILL NEED TO GET THE FOLLOWING: From a legal and a practical point of view, the purchase of a new house - or the purchase of a house in the course of construction, or the purchase of a house "off the plans" - is very different from the purchase of a second-hand house.
The contract will involve the purchase of a site together with an agreement between the purchaser and the development company to build the house according to certain plans and specifications. Timelines, stamp duty issues, loan offers, payment arrangements and legal documentation usually tend to be a bit more complicated with new houses than those involved in the purchase of second-hand houses. This blog post sets out some of the issues involved. It tells you some of the things you, as a purchaser, need to be aware of and about which your solicitor should be able to advise you. In a fatal injuries claim a court can award damages under three main headings
1. Financial loss or loss of financial dependency 2. Funeral and inquest expenses 3. Mental distress Only one claim may be brought on behalf of all dependants. Usually, if a spouse survives the deceased that spouse is the most suitable person to take the claim on behalf of all dependants. The word “dependants” is defined in legislation as follows: “a spouse, [civil partner within the meaning of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010] , parent, grandparent, step-parent, child, grandchild, step-child, brother, sister, half-brother or half-sister of the deceased” The definition in the statute covers a range of persons. Given that there can be only one claim it is necessary to ensure that each of the statutory dependants who wishes to be involved in the claim is given that opportunity. On 6 March 2021, the Judicial Council approved the new Personal Injuries Guidelines which are intended to replace the Book of Quantum of 2016 when it comes to the assessment of compensation awards in personal injuries claims. See our recent blog post.
One of the most controversial aspects of the Book of Quantum was the level of awards it set for so-called whiplash or soft-tissue injuries. The chart at the end of this post sets out in accessible format the guideline levels of whiplash compensation contained in both the soon-to-be-obsolete Book of Quantum and the Personal Injuries Guidelines, likely to be approved by cabinet shortly. Judges have voted to adopt new guidelines regulating the size of personal injury awards.
The new guidelines, which will be welcomed by insurance companies, are likely to greatly reduce the amount of compensation awarded to those who have suffered injuries in road traffic and work accidents through no fault of their own. It remains to be seen if insurance companies will reduce their premiums as a result. A number of High Court judges have expressed the fear that awards will now, in some cases, fall significantly short of what might be viewed as fair and reasonable. It is to be hoped that the courts will retain their independence and discretion when awarding general damages to ensure that people who have suffered injury as a result of the negligence of others - in, for example, a road traffic accident caused by a dangerous driver or because of an employer's failure to implement proper safety procedures - will receive compensation that properly reflects the severity of their injuries. Judicial Council members approved the guidelines by a majority vote - 83 in favour, 63 against - at a meeting today. The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, will bring proposals to Cabinet on 9 March on how to implement the guidelines which will take effect when the Minister commences section 99 of the Judicial Council Act 2019. The guidelines will replace the Book of Quantum which set general guidelines for the assessment of awards in personal injury claims. The new guidelines are set out in the document below. We are often asked about the so-called "7 year rule" in connection with planning permission.
Some people believe that the 7 year rule amounts to a kind of amnesty from the consequences of having carried out an unauthorised development. This belief is incorrect. While the 7 year rule does provide a certain amount of comfort to a property owner or potential purchaser, an unauthorised development remains an unauthorised development unless and until retention permission is sought and granted. This unauthorised status carries with it certain difficulties which this article will explain. Thomas W Enright Solicitors will be staying open subject to government advice and updates and the safety of staff and clients. All scheduled appointments will proceed. The Courts Service advises that, as of now, courts will remain open throughout the country but, in order to minimize contact, they will deal with urgent matters only. Accordingly, if a matter is non-urgent, clients should instruct their solicitor to ask for an adjournment. The client will not need to attend court. Court users who do not have legal representation should come to court and seek an adjournment. In non-urgent District Court criminal cases, the Courts Service advises that matters should be adjourned to dates from 8 June 2020, about 12 weeks from now. Lists will be staggered to avoid large numbers of people in a court room at any one time. Family law and child protection cases will proceed as normal and video-conferencing is to be made available for use in custody hearings. The Courts Service has implemented a policy whereby clients who obtained special licensing exemptions for events which will not proceed as a result of Covid 19 can apply for a refund. Clients who have urgent matters can call the office at 0579120293. |
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