Category: Family

The Weekly Fostering Allowance

Each Foster Carer in Wales is paid a weekly fostering allowance, which is paid based on the age of the child in their care. The older the child the higher the allowance, which is intended to cover the daily cost of caring for children and young people in care, including food, clothes, toiletries and other household items.

Clothing and Equipment for New Placements

On arrival of a child foster carers can claim for a grant for essential items for a child’s bedroom and clothing. These grants are typically claimed on a one-off basis and will require foster carers to retain receipts of costs incurred for reimbursement by foster care agencies and local authorities.

Education and Activity Costs

School trips, sporting activities, instrumental lessons, etc can be claimed for. These are considered to be part of the child’s opportunity to have the same experiences as any other child, and would therefore be claimable.

Respite and Support Entitlements

All foster carers are entitled to respite as part of their support and the costs of the respite are met by the placing authority. The carer should discuss the arrangements with their supervising social worker and agree a date for the respite break and confirm what support will be available on the day.

Therapeutic and Health-Related Needs

If a child has any additional needs, (whether emotional, developmental or physical) then funding can be requested for items such as therapy, sensory aids and for activities that have been adapted for children with special needs. If you are looking for Foster Care Wales, see //saferfostering.org.uk/foster-care-wales/.

At every review of the fostering arrangement it is helpful to have a folder of receipts with a log of extra expenditure for the fostering agency or the local authority.

According to the latest market intelligence on UK legal services, 54% of people prefer to ask a solicitor to write their will, despite recent significant growth in alternatives.

IRN Legal Reports produced a report on Wills and Probate in November 2022 indicating that 54% of over 600 respondents to the research questions said they would prefer to use a legal firm or solicitor to write their will, compared with 26% who opted for a specialist will writer, either an individual or firm.

Emergence of tech firms

Although the researchers found there were 300 fewer law firms offering will services than when they did a similar survey two years ago, they put this down to the general reduction in the number of solicitors firms in the UK over that period due to closure or mergers. However, the emergence of specialist firms and the IT online revolution have also provided more options for clients.

Since there is no regulator for the wills market, there are few barriers to new entrants into this sector and new tech start-ups have started to join the sector in recent months, with the result that it has grown into a £5m plus market. Nevertheless, legal firms still attract the majority of the business.

Solicitors have also upped their game in terms of technology recently and wherever you are in the country looking for advice, Aberdeen, Acton or Ascot solicitors will be able to offer remote witnessing of wills thanks to an extension of the measures introduced by the government during the covid pandemic. This helps elderly clients or people still shielding.

Why do the majority of people use a solicitor?

There are two good reasons why the majority of people prefer to use a solicitor to write their will. First and foremost is that solicitors are regulated, whereas will writers are not. Secondly, you may wish to leave part of your wealth in trust or set up another legal document such as a power of attorney. A solicitor will be able to prepare these legal documents for you.

You will find plenty of information online about solicitors’ firms offering will writing services at sites such as Ascot solicitors, Parachute Law amongst many others.

Final reasons for choosing a solicitor

Plenty of people writing wills will already have used solicitors in the past, possibly when purchasing property, and may have developed a lasting relationship with them. It would be natural to make them the first port of call when it comes to preparing a will.

If you are having an initial discussion with your solicitor about your will, there are a couple of other matters to broach with them. Your will needs to be stored in a safe place and be accessible when it is required, either to be acted on or alternatively, if you wish to amend it at a future date. Remember that your circumstances may change, or a named beneficiary may predecease you and such events may mean your will needs to be changed.

The best way to make sure your will is accessible at all times is to ask your solicitor to keep it safe for you. They can store it and will provide easy access. Finally, you may wish to appoint your solicitor as executor of your will.

If you are planning to move abroad, either for a work opportunity, or for the experience of living in a different country, one of the hardest things about making this decision for many people is the fact that they will be so far away from family.

Something that you should always do before heading off to another country, is to explore these feelings and work out how you will cope when you are out there. Although there are lots of good things tempting you away (there must be or you wouldn’t be considering doing it!) This is something that many people often underestimate, and it can take time to settle and adjust.

Planning for how you will manage this now will help you when you are out there. Here are a few tips to help you settle in and cope with that feeling of missing the folks back home…

Good Communication – This is so important when you are separated by so many miles. Luckily, we now live in a world where communication is really easy. You can use apps on your phone or computer to make video calls to people at home, and you can easily send gifts back and forth, with the help of companies like this couriers Slough based uk-tdl.com/

Being able to communicate will keep the relationships strong, and you will still be involved in each other’s lives.

Get to Know the New Area – Spending time getting to know the area and immersing yourself in life in your new home, will help you to build relationships locally to you and get to know more about the place you live in now. This will help to stave off that homesickness, and keep you busy and occupied. It is also a great way to get involved in the local community and find some things to do that interest you.

Have things to Look Forward to – Making sure that you always have something to look forward to will help you to settle in and enjoy your new life. Plan trips back home, or plan for your family to come and visit you, planning holidays and days out, these are all things that are positive that you can focus on.

Selecting the best dog breed for kids and your family is a very important decision. It depends on various factors your lifestyle, your food habits, your personality and your budget. Introducing a dog should be smooth, it should not cause any hurdles to your daily lifestyle.

Do not beat yourself up here is an easy guide for your better selection:

TRAIN YOUR CHILDREN

Training your dog is necessary. However, before bringing a pet, you should also train your children how to behave. Usually when a dog gets introduced to a new environment they get nervous, therefore handle them with care. Look for positive signals from them like wagging tail, licking and then proceed towards petting. Teach them to treat the pet with respect.

LIFESTYLE

Most of the sturdy dogs like physical and outdoor activities. Your family should be able to give time to such dogs. A lot of children prefer dogs, which are active so that they can play with them. Dogs like Dalmatians and Alsatians require minimum one hour of daily activity. However, if you are remaining indoors most of the time, it is best you go for less active dogs like pugs.

YOUR LIVING CONDITIONS

The kind of dog you are going for is directly proportional to your living situation. Large dogs like German shepherds, Alsatians, Labrador and Bernard are suitable for people who own a lot of free space. You can also have them if you have a garden because large breeds need to exercise and play.

People who are dwelling in urban areas or flats are advised to go for smaller dog breeds. You can go for Welsh, Pugs, Dachshund, Beagles, Poodle and Corgi. These breeds prefer to stay indoors. Therefore, if you are working, you don’t have the tension of taking them out every day.

GROOMING AND PROPER CARE

All dogs need attention, grooming and care regularly, some breeds may require more. Dogs which have long fur and furry coats need to be bathed and brushed several times a week. Therefore, it is not possible for your children to groom them properly.

It is advised to go for dogs, which have short fur so that they are easy to handle and even play with. Go for adult dogs, puppies look cute, but cannot be maintained by children.

AFFORDABILITY

Buying is not the end point, you must also think about how to maintain them. Large breeds are expensive to maintain because they consume more food and needs to be groomed periodically.

Smaller breeds are less costly to maintain and even their healthcare costs are low. Moreover, they can fit in smaller environment. Pure breeds needs more attention than the mixed breeds because mixed breed dogs are usually genetically stronger and are not easily susceptible to weather change.

CONCLUSION

Given the right conditions and right situations, you can go for any type of dogs, but it is always better that you choose based on your lifestyle and family. Different dogs have different temperament, but given the right training most of the dogs make a great pet.