I go downstairs make a drink and decide to write a list – an attempted brain dump that might clear my mind enough to snatch a bit more precious sleep. Ordinary daily items such as food shopping, buying presents, returning school slips all pour from pen to paper, followed by the ‘should do’s’ - items that up to now were harmlessly filed away in my brain’s filing cabinet. Out of sight but clearly not out of mind. Quite serious ‘should-do’ things emerge, giving me a slight feeling of vulnerability.

Included on the list? 

Lizzy. What should Lizzy do? Her marriage is going through a severe rough patch, should she get some advice or ride this one out. Will it get better, what can I do to help her apart from just be there as a sounding board?

Wills. My one’s hardly robust and I’ve not updated it in yonks (as the article in the paper suggested doing last week). Lasting Power of Attorney – my father has Alzheimer’s and as a family we’ve had some tough decisions to make around this. Am I too young to consider my future health and long term family welfare? 

Then there’s the state of our finances, savings we could make, money that the kids will need for their long term education... don’t even go there! As ever, I promise myself I will do some research on all these things and change my ‘should do’s’ to ‘dones’.

Does this real life scenario sound familiar to you? 

How many of us have nights when try as we might we can not get back to sleep and our brains turnover the same things over and over again? And why does my hubby seem immune to such nights?! 

During the day I work at Nockolds LLP (the Solicitors in Bishop’s Stortford), prior to which I was very blase about things that sat in my ‘should do’ pile. I would spend time researching online – deciding what I should do based on one source and then rapidly changing my mind once reading the next. I was very much ‘go compare’ rather than ‘go get it sorted’. I would be tempted by the cheapest options then would question why it was so cheap. 

Ok, we live in a dynamic information age where we can find out anything and everything; we can be tweeted and facebooked but sometimes there is just too much info to read, too many sources, so we become stunned rabbits looking at the headlights!

Because of the nature of my work, I am exposed to the legal options that are available to us and as a result am starting to get my personal ‘should do’ pile under control. Here are a few ‘did you know’ nuggets that I have learnt in the last 18 months that may help you sleep better at night:

Getting divorced or separating 

You don’t need to tear strips off each other. You can go through the process together either through mediation where you talk it through together with a mediator, or you both select a solicitor who is collaboratively trained – focussing on getting the right solution for both of you and for your children.

Lasting Power of Attorney

It is far better to have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, but if you don’t or your loved ones don’t – there are options – it is not all doom and gloom.

Wills

You don’t have to worry about your estate getting depleted by paying for nursing care, you can protect it or ring fence it so that your children or your favourite charity or nieces and nephews have a nest egg.

Nursing Home Fees

You don’t need to sell your house or your parents house to pay for this – you can challenge the fees that you are charged.

Claiming for injury after a car accident

You don’t have to use your insurance’s legal support. You can select your own solicitor and use legal cover that have with your home insurance to cover the costs or go for no-win-no-fee.

Redundancy

If you are called in for a meeting and advised that you are at risk and presented with a package for redundancy, you have options and you can challenge the offer made to you.

I have learnt that Solicitors are real people with similar concerns to our own. Their job is to provide you with your legal options, initially advising you of the possible solutions and consequences of each option and the costs. And an appointment costs nothing.

It is up to companies like Nockolds to look after you – so that when we wake up in the middle of the night, we know that we are doing all we can to turn your ‘should do’s’ into ‘dones’.