All of us are likely at some stage of our lives to have to address the challenges of a family member suffering from dementia. What can you do to help and protect them when they lose the mental capacity to handle their own legal and financial affairs?

After sinking the myth of the “power of attorney is forever” option, we set out three legal alternatives available to you, with notes on when they are available and the merits of each. Understanding these options will go a long way to helping you (and your family) navigate this difficult journey.

Supermarkets, for all their many advantages, must be navigated with care – spillages, slippery floors, boxes in the aisles and goods fallen from shelves are just some of the perils that await the unwary. 

If you are unfortunate enough to fall victim, you will want to claim damages, but what exactly must you prove to succeed? We address that question with reference to a recent “slip ‘n trip” case before the High Court, in which a shopper slipped on a spillage that seems to have been a very small one, but with serious results.

Of course we all want our loved ones to be looked after when we are gone, and we all know the importance of leaving behind a valid and properly drawn will to ensure that our last wishes are honoured.

But knowledge and action are different things, and our courts must regularly sort out bitter family fights resulting from people not prioritising this vital duty while they can. We illustrate with a discussion around two tragic cases, one involving a father leaving instructions for a new will in a video call but dying of Covid-19 before he could sign it. 

“Rei vindicatio”

Literally “vindication of things” and often referred to simply as a “vindicatory action”, this will be an important legal remedy for you if, as legal owner of something, you are trying to recover it from someone else who possesses it unlawfully and without your consent. The action originated in ancient Roman law but is still much used today for recovery of both movable and immovable property - in the latter case it would normally take the form of an application for eviction.