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Symposium: Legal and Ethical Issues in Dementia

Symposium: Legal and Ethical Issues in Dementia. Legal problems as experienced by people with dementia and their carers in Belgium Philip Bentley. What is a legal problem ?. I need to take this or that legal rule into account when: Organising my life as a person with dementia;

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Symposium: Legal and Ethical Issues in Dementia

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  1. Symposium: Legal and Ethical Issues in Dementia Legal problems as experienced by people with dementia and their carers in Belgium Philip Bentley

  2. What is a legal problem? • I need to take this or that legal rule into account when: • Organising my life as a person with dementia; • Caring for a person with dementia; • Managing the affairs of a person with dementia, or acting as personal confidant. • The law is inadequate to deal with the practical difficulties posed by dementia.

  3. An ideal situation • My medical condition has been explained to me fully, as also the way it is likely to evolve. • The relevant law has been explained to me fully.

  4. Managing my property • I have appointed an attorney to manage my affairs and report back to me. • I have designated a personal confidant to keep the situation under review. • I have taken tax/legal advice and have made the necessary testamentary dispositions in accordance with my wishes as to how my property should devolve.

  5. Personal Civil Liability • I have adequate personal civil liability insurance (and so does my carer). • I have taken the aptitude test to drive a car. • I have instructed my personal confidant to oblige me: • to take this test regularly; and • to surrender my driving licence the day I am no longer in a fit state to be in charge of a car.

  6. Provisional Administrator • My personal confidant will apply for appointment of a provisional administrator if this should become necessary. • I have specified who I would prefer to have as my provisional administrator.

  7. Confinement • My personal confidant will also apply for my confinement if this should unfortunately become necessary. • I trust my personal confidant to ensure that the doctors and the judge apply the rules strictly in determining whether I have to be confined. • I have specified that, if possible, I would prefer to be confined with my close family rather than in an institution.

  8. Medical matters • I have designated a personal confidant in medical matters. • I have left this personal confidant with written instructions as to: • (i) the types of medical treatment I do not wish to undergo, • (ii) the conditions in which I am prepared to take part in medical experiments, • (iii) the conditions in which, and the persons to whom, I am prepared to donate certain organs while still alive, • (iv) my intimate wishes concerning palliative care and dignified treatment as end of life approaches.

  9. How shall I survive financially? • My financial adviser/personal confidant has drawn up a plan but I have no idea how long I shall live. • Sickness and invalidity insurance does not cover much. • It is not easy for a close relation to interrupt his/her career to care for me. • I would hate to be a financial burden on my children, even though they have obligations under the Civil Code.

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