Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill - Our legal services

Stone King’s Public Law and Regulatory Team provides highly specialised advice for both public law bodies, businesses and individuals impacted by public law matters. The Bill interacts with public law in a number of ways. Examples of this include the Bill being subject to the legislative process and that the Bill touches on a myriad of human rights issues. Our Public Law and Regulatory Team are therefore expertly placed to advise on challenges to the Bill, possible amendments and, if enacted, on working with the law or how to mitigate any impacts. 

This team also gives advice on the full range of public and regulatory bodies, many of which will be impacted by the Bill. We can provide highly specialised advice on  regulatory requirements and how the potential introduction of a new regulator will impact both professionals and regulators. 

Stone King has a team of highly experienced private client lawyers able to assist you when making decisions about yourself or your family. This includes estate planning and estate administration around death, and experience in dealing with various capacity issues and highly sensitive family situations. They are well placed to assist you with end-of-life decision making.

Stone King’s practice covers a wide range of contentious trusts and probate claims. The team advises on all contentious aspects of trusts and estate administration, often in complex, high value and multi-jurisdictional disputes. This often will also involve questions around capacity, and sometimes undue influence, which are key considerations for the Bill if it becomes law.

A key aspect of our full service firm offering in this field, is our dedicated criminal team. If the Bill becomes law, there will still be associated criminal offences. If it does not, our team can help with  defending anyone who falls the wrong side of the current legal position.

A vast range of charities will be impacted by the provisions of the Bill, whether these are charities in the healthcare sector, those campaigning for changes to the Bill, or perhaps a charity that currently supports end-of-life decision making. Stone King is recognised as one of the leading charity law firms in the UK, and so will be expertly placed to identify how the Bill will impact your charity and what your options are moving forward.

Stone King has built a reputation over many years as a leading firm advising the full spectrum of faith organisations. All faith organisations will have their own approach to the issue of assisted dying. We can offer advice on the implications for your organisation and how it affects your operations.

Where an employee is planning, or may be planning for end-of-life decisions, there are a raft of crucial decisions that employers will need to carefully consider. One such consideration may be drafting a new policy to address final leave requests or how to address end-of-life planning. Stone King’s Employment Team has excellent expertise in both contentious and non-contentious employment issues, both of which will need to be considered if the Bill becomes law.

Our Real Estate Team acts for a wide range of clients covering the full range of property matters, both contentious and non-contentious. The Bill is currently unclear on whether there will be any premises where medically assisted dying is prohibited, or dedicated premises where it can take place. This leads to some uncertainty, and depending on whether this issue is addressed, may form a key consideration for a broad range of property transactions.

Our Education Team is positioned to provide expert advice to any educational, or educational-adjacent institution on this matter. These organisations will need to be fully appraised of the legal significance the Bill holds for them, such as adopting their mental health policies to accommodate where a student’s family member, or indeed a student, has opted for an assisted death.