Rose Wall

The two guides, A Guide on the Legal Aspects of Caring and A Practical Guide for Family Carers on The Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act, explain the important changes brought in with the commencement of the 2015 Act and the legal supports available to family carers.

The guides also contain information on wills and trusts and enduring power of attorney, and explain the social welfare appeals process and rights relating to housing and education.

The initiative comes after the two organisations launched a free legal advice programme for family carers in 2021.

Rose Wall, CEO at Community Law & Mediation, said: “We are delighted to be working with Family Carers Ireland on the publication of two guides, A Practical Guide for Family Carers on the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act and A Guide on the Legal Aspects of Caring.

“From our work with FCI, providing free legal advice to family carers, we have identified a need for accessible, practical information on the legal issues associated with caring and the implications of the Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act, commenced today.

“We hope these guides will meet that need as access to legal information is an important step in ensuring access to justice.”

Aoife Doonan BL said: “I am delighted to be working with Community Law & Mediation and Family Carers Ireland on the content for the Guide on the Legal Aspects of Caring and the Practical Guide for Family Carers on The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act.

“These guides will be of assistance to family carers who wish to plan ahead for the future and who would like to learn more about the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. I hope that carers in Ireland find these guides resourceful.”

Catherine Cox, head of communications and policy in Family Carers Ireland, said the free legal advice programme for family carers “has proven to be a tremendous success and a huge source of support and comfort to family carers as well as hugely beneficial to our own staff within our advocacy roles”.

She added: “Family Carers Ireland are delighted to be working with Community Law and Mediation on this innovative project and to be launching this element of the project, A Guide on the Legal Aspects of Caring.”