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Kent Lawyer Leads Seminars On Issues Facing The Older Generation

27 August 2009

A Kent lawyer is leading a series of seminars aimed at helping older people cope with potentially stressful issues in their advancing years.

Over the next few months Nicola Rostron, partner and head of the elderly and vulnerable client team at leading regional law firm Furley Page, is involved in five retirement seminars at the University of Kent in Canterbury. She will also give talks to local branches of the Macular Disease Society on powers of attorney, Will-writing and care fees, and give advice to residents of Demelza House in Sittingbourne during its Free Will Week.
 
Forty two year old Nicola, who has battled deafness since childhood, can empathise with a sense of being marginalised by circumstances. She suffers from a hearing disorder of the middle ear known as otosclerosis - a degenerative condition which affects more women than men and in Nicola’s case worsened after the birth of her two children.
 
But she has adapted to her situation - both in her career and her personal life - saying that hearing aids plus support systems at home ease her day-to-day routine.

“Sometimes conversation can be tricky if people speak quietly or in low tones but generally I’ve learned how to deal with it. When I’m in a meeting or out to lunch I know where I need to sit and I also lip read - though not consciously.”

Nicola, who lives in Sittingbourne, is a British Sign Language speaker. She also works closely with the Macular Disease Society in order to be aware of the problems of the partially sighted.

She describes British Sign Language, which is estimated to be the first language for about 70,000 people in the UK, as “fascinating, superb and very logical”.
 
“It’s different grammatically from written and spoken English. For example, if I asked ‘where do you live?’ I would say ‘live you where?’ Body language and facial expressions are also very important.”

Nicola was drawn to private client law because she finds it “very rewarding” that she can make a difference to people’s lives. “This area of the law is complex and clients are facing difficult situations in their lives. You just never know how they’re going to react. I can empathise with them.”

She deals with a variety of needs associated with older or vulnerable clients (the mentally handicapped; people traumatised by an accident) including powers of attorney, Wills, probate and Court of Protection issues.
 
She is a member of Solicitors for the Elderly - a national organisation of lawyers committed to providing independent legal advice for older people, their families and carers - and The Probate Section of The Law Society. She is also a student member of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners).

Nicola has been involved in the Kent seminars for some years and says the feedback is “great”.

  • Retirement seminars at the University of Kent are on September 7 & 8 (Nicola’s session is on September 7, 2009); October 5 & 6, 2009 (Nicola’s session is on October 5); November 2 and 3, 2009 (Nicola’s session is on November 2) and November 23 & 24, 2009 (Nicola’s session is on November 23.)
  • Talks for the Macular Disease Society are on October 26, 2009 at Bexley and on November 11, 2009 at Herne Bay
  • Free Will Week at Demelza House in Sittingbourne runs from October 26 – 30, 2009.

For further information on seminars, talks and general issues facing elderly or vulnerable people contact Nicola Rostron on 01227 763939.
 

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