If you have a relative who has been detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, you may have been contacted by mental health services advising that you have been identified as the ‘Nearest Relative’. For some, this role will come as a surprise and you may not know what is expected of you or what powers you may have. It brings some important rights and powers in relation to your relative’s detention and discharge.
Some of the key rights and powers you have are as follows:
It is important to note that a nearest relative is different to the next of kin; it is defined by the Act and is not something that your relative can pick for themselves. There is a statutory list of relations and the starting point is that the nearest relative is whoever comes first in this list. If there are two or more people in the same category e.g. two children who are both over 18, it will be the eldest who takes priority:
There are several caveats to this general rule, for example if your relative ordinarily resides with or is cared for by anyone from numbers 1-8, they would jump up the list of priority and take precedence over anyone who does not ordinarily reside or care for them.
EXAMPLE:
Let’s say your relative is unmarried, lives with her aunt and has 2 children over 18 who live independently.
The starting point from the list would be that the nearest relative would be their eldest child as there is nobody eligible in category 1 so we move to category 2. However, the fact that your relative ordinarily lives with her aunt means that the relative who would usually fall way down in the list jumps to the top of the list.
We appreciate that this can be a complex issue in a lot of cases and if your relative instructs us to represent them in any mental health proceedings, we will ensure that we check that their nearest relative has been identified correctly and send you further information regarding your rights and powers and how to exercise them.
If you do not wish to act as nearest relative, you can pass the role on to someone else. In order to do so, you would need to write to the hospital to confirm who the new nearest relative will be. You can take back the role at any time, again by putting this request in writing.
There are various ways our experienced mental health team can assist you as nearest relative:
Please contact our mental health specialists on 0191 232 9547 extension 1711 or complete this contact form and we will be happy to offer advice or representation.
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