You never know the time when one of you is going to be left on your own
The thought of your assets being seized to pay for care in your latter years can be concerning – that’s certainly how Mr Gracie felt, which is why he turned to ILAWS Scotland for help organising a Will and Protected Property Trust.
“We have our own home and other properties and it dawns on you that there might come a time when one of you is not here and the other might need to go into care. I was thinking that it is unfair on ourselves and our family to lose the legacy we have built up over 40 years to pay for care which is free to others,” says Mr Gracie.
He decided to do something about it and started by researching companies that could help, discovering ILAWS Scotland in the process.
Mr Gracie explains: “It was a lady called Elaine from ILAWS who gave us a home visit. She was extremely knowledgeable on the subject and she explained in great detail the law as it stands, and how it could affect us and our finances should either of us be widowed or need to go into a care home.
“Any questions put to her were answered and explained in layman’s terms, ensuring we were fully aware, understood and were comfortable and at ease with her explanations.”
There’s a peace of mind that comes with knowing you have done everything you can to protect you and your loved ones, should the worst happen. “Once this process is in place and you’ve got the legal documents back, you’ll get a great sense of relief knowing that regardless of what happens, your personal legacy will be left to the people of your choosing, to your family,” says Mr Gracie.
“No one can come in and just remove that funding from you, it will always be there for your family or others of your choosing.”
Mr Gracie would recommend ILAWS to others needing help in this area. He said: “They were very professional in the handling of our business and everything was checked and checked again to ensure the accuracy of the information. They made you feel very comfortable and at ease with the entire process, from start to finish.”
And he would certainly recommend organising legal documents to those considering it, adding: “I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is thinking along those lines, because you never know the time when one of you is going to be left on your own. Ill health and age bring it home to you that it’s time to get things in order.
“It’s a great sense of relief, that’s the thing that sticks out to me, once you’ve got all these things in place. It was a seamless process too. There was a home visit and a couple of calls after that, and then you get a viewing of the documents before they’re finalised and sent to the legal side. It was a very simple process to go through, it just takes time.”