Advice for Shropshire’s aged aided by solicitor’s accreditations
A Shropshire solicitor specialising in advising older people and vulnerable clients has secured membership of a respected industry organisation – and is well on the way to securing a further qualification from another leading professional body.
Susan Grazier of PCB Solicitors has successfully become a member of Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE), a UK-wide independent organisation that brings together the country’s most experienced and knowledgeable experts specialising in advising older and vulnerable individuals, while she is also set to achieve a prestigious qualification from worldwide body the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).
To obtain membership of SFE, Susan had to demonstrate significant practical experience in areas such as wills, probate, Lasting Power of Attorney, estate planning, trust administration, care home contracts, and state benefits for older and vulnerable people. She also had to pass an in-depth written examination, and will now have to abide by SFE’s strict Code of Conduct.
Susan is also more than a quarter of the way through achieving a STEP Diploma in Trusts and Estates (England and Wales). Combining her regular client work with distance learning, the Diploma requires Susan to pass four exams taken at six month intervals, the first of which she passed with a distinction back in November.
“With people across Shropshire, and indeed the wider UK, living for longer and longer, there are huge challenges we face from an increasingly aging population,” Susan Grazier explained. “Particularly with older and more vulnerable people in society, it is absolutely essential they receive the most accurate and relevant legal advice possible, and my membership of SFE and my work towards the STEP Diploma will enable me to continue to do that. Not only do both accreditations prove we abide by the strictest of professional standards with each and every client, but they also give me the opportunity to share knowledge, experience, and skills with some of the most senior practitioners in these particular legal fields.”
The additional accreditations are already standing Susan in good stead with her drop-in work at the Hagley Place Care Home in Ludlow, where she first attended to give advice as part of a formal seminar on care home funding, but now holds informal sessions to share advice with residents and their families.
“I think being a Ludlow resident myself, and having worked as a nurse for more than 20 years before I became a solicitor, have really helped with these sessions, as I’m able to explain what can often be fairly complex legalese in simple, easy-to-understand language. I’m sure the residents at Hagley Place, and our wider clients, will benefit from my SFE membership and work towards achieving the STEP Diploma in the months to come,” Susan concluded.
