A significant Acquired Brain Injury is often associated with cognitive impairments, which may have a significant impact on the person’s ability to independently manage their finances. Management of money and finances requires adequate cognitive skills including attention, memory, numeracy, forward planning, reasoning, organisational and communication skills.
Issues regarding finance may also arise if the person receives a financial settlement in compensation for their brain injury. It is important that any financial settlement is appropriately managed and is used to meet the person’s care, treatment and social needs. Conversely, the brain injured person or their partner/family member may experience a reduction or loss of income following brain injury e.g. through loss of employment and earnings.
Acquired brain injury can impair the person’s mental capacity. Mental capacity refers to a person’s ability to make decisions and act on them. When this occurs the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 legislation allows others to help. This Act provides a framework for safeguarding welfare, property and financial matters for adults who are deemed to lack capacity.
Whilst aiming to protect people who lack the capacity to make particular decisions, this Act also supports the person’s involvement in making decisions about their own lives as far as is possible.
When the person with brain injury is assessed as lacking capacity for specific decisions, the Act allows for someone to be appointed to make the decisions on their behalf. The appointed person is often a family member or close friend. In other circumstances the Local Authority can appoint a Financial Guardian. Where there has been a substantial financial settlement in compensation for the brain injury a solicitor may be appointed as Financial Guardian to manage the trust fund.
If the brain injured person is deemed to have capacity to grant Power of Attorney, their solicitor can make an application to appoint a family member or close friend as their Financial Power of Attorney. For further information regarding the management of financial matters please see Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland.
Navigating the Welfare Benefits process can be daunting or confusing. There are a number of different types of benefits for the person and their carer. Forms are often lengthy and for some they can be challenging to complete without support, particularly as it can be difficult to explain or describe the effects of a brain injury within these forms. Organisations offer information and support e.g. Local Authority Welfare Rights Services or voluntary agencies such as Citizens Advice Bureau and Headway.