No strangers to the field of elderly people and the law, the authors have updated their excellent text to incorporate changes that have taken place in the 20 years since the first edition was published. There have been some considerable changes since then, not least the introduction of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The original aim of the book was to inform and educate practitioners and the ‘elderly people’ of the title. I wonder if such a weighty text would be of interest to the ‘man on the Clapham omnibus’ owing to its density. But this is certainly a useful text for professionals working in what is a rapidly growing area. There is so much to learn when advising the elderly and managing their affairs that any summarisation of the law’s minefields is welcome.

Gordon Ashton, Caroline Bielanska

Jordan Publishing (£50)

The book covers the basics of the law and its jurisdiction. However, it also discusses other areas that may have an impact on the practitioner, such as health care and community care. I found those chapters particularly useful as these are areas that are perhaps not well known.

As someone involved with managing the finances of the elderly through both powers of attorney and deputyships, the insights provide a useful tool. One criticism is that the book does not cover the Care Act 2014, though I suspect that this will command its own chapters in future editions.

I can do no better than to quote Gordon R Ashton’s preface when he says that the aim of the book is to consolidate the numerous sources of the law from legislation and case law to government guidance to ‘achieve an overview in a world of legal specialisms’. This book achieves just that.

Heledd Wyn is an associate at Clarke Willmott in Bristol

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