Terminally ill mother given urgent assistance to record her wishes

When Simone’s* family approached JusticeNet for assistance, Simone was in hospital with only weeks to live. Her condition was deteriorating and she urgently needed the help of a lawyer to prepare a will.

In particular, Simone wished to record her wishes for the future care of her young teenage daughter. Simone had been the full time carer for her daughter since she was a young child. Unfortunately, her daughter’s father suffered from a serious mental illness and was not in a position to provide full time care for her.

With the help of Relationships Australia, Simone, her daughter’s father and Simone’s wider family had agreed on a plan for the long term care of her daughter. Simone wanted this agreement to be included in a will to make it easier for the family members who were going to care for her daughter to liaise with organisations like Centrelink and the school.

Christopher Parker from Treloar & Treloar accepted the referral from JusticeNet to assist. He attended at the hospital to take instructions from Simone and executed the will within a few days. In addition, he prepared and executed an advanced care directive in accordance with her instructions.

Christopher’s invaluable assistance to Simone and her family at a very difficult time in their lives helped them to properly plan and prepare for the transition of her daughter’s care.

* name changed to protect privacy.

First published 10 Apr 2017
Image credit: Sharon McCutcheon