#83 Lasting Power of Attorney with Gary Rycroft

In this episode it is my pleasure to talk with Gary Rycroft, a solicitor and resident legal expert on Rip Off Britain. Gary has also been a trustee for what was the National Council for Palliative Care and later a chair of the Dying Matters Forum. This is a supper conversation, we talk about the podcast  Gary created as part of the We Need to Talk About Death series with Dame Joan Bakewell and we talk about Gloria Hunniford’s live televised Lasting Power of Attorney signing. We also cover capacity, digital assets and Advance Decisions to Refuse Treatment and there is so much to learn from this rich conversation.

Key messages from guest

• Gary shares how powerful it is to give permission to talk about dying and why it is so important to be informed about choice. 

• Gary describes his work with Dame Joan Bakewell and how this helps to raise awareness of Advance Care Planning 

• Gary talks through how he came to sign an LPA on national television with Gloria Hunniford

• The Mental Capacity Act is highlighted and how this protects people when making a Lasting Power of Attorney

• The important of Digital Legacy and management of digital assets are discussed

• Gary explains how he approaches sensitive conversations about Lasting Power of Attorney

• We talks about the protection the Mental Capacity Act provides

• Gary discusses how a Lasting Power of Attorney and an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment interrelate with each other

• We close our discussion with talking about the importance of community

Resource

• Access the BBC Legal issues: Gary Rycroft Solicitor Gary Rycroft provides more expert opinion on your legal problems 

• Access the Silver Line Age UK's Silver Line Helpline is the UK's only free, confidential helpline providing friendship to older people – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

• Watch the live LPA signing event and see Gloria Hunniford sign her LPA with Gary on Rip Off Britain, 2021 Live, Episode 9 Thursday 20th May 2021

• Listen to the podcast We need to talk about dying with Dame Joan Bakewell 

• Find out more about the Mental Capacity Act: MCA 2005 

• Listen to the podcast How to start your Digital Legacy with James Norris to access resource for your Digital Legacy

• Access resource from the Digital Legacy Association

Bio: 

Gary was born at Morecambe, Lancashire and went to school there. He read law at the University of Manchester and qualified as a solicitor in 1998. He is a partner in a legal practice based in Lancaster, where he lives. He is a trustee of a number of local charities and nationally sits on the Age UK Charitable Activities Oversight Committee.

On television Gary has appeared as a legal expert in all 15 series of BBC 1 consumer affairs programme Rip Off Britain from 2009 to date and regularly pops up on local and national radio as a trusted voice and explainer of legal issues, including BBC Radio 4 Moneybox, Moneybox Live and You & Yours. He writes the weekly ‘Ask a Lawyer’ column published by the Telegraph.