Can a solicitor's firm be used as a Next of Kin?

[Gingernaut]

As per the title really.

Due to a number of circumstances, I need to pick another NOK besides the twat listed now

Can a solicitor's firm be put down as NOK?

Has anyone done this?

Does a fee or a regular retainer have to be paid?

I would think you mean them having a POA?
I think lawyer can do this for a fee

I understand POA, but in case of hospitalisation or other emergencies, can a solicitor fulfil the role of NOK

There is no legal rights attached to ‘ next of kin’. If you appoint a solicitor as your POA for health and welfare they would make decisions in your best interests if you lacked the capacity to make that decision for yourself. It’s a good idea if you go down that route for them to understand your specific wishes around life support , CPR rescusitation etc .

There is no legal position of NOK. Hospitals may ask who that person is, but it’s pretty meaningless because it could be anyone - just the person they would phone in the event of you dropping down dead.
You would need POA for health and welfare.

Next of kin has no legal standing in the UK. There is no formal role to fill beyond it being noted as the person who you would want to be contacted to be informed you had been admitted to hospital or had died. A solicitor couldn't be a NOK as its not something official you can pay someone to be.

If you mean you want to appoint someone officially to make decisions about treatment etc that would be a health and welfare lasting power of attorney. Solicitors can do this but it's not that common. You can ask anyone you trust to be your health LPOA - e.g. a trusted friend.

the non health and welfare NOK has no enforceable role in hospitalisation or medical decisions generally. If you want a solicitor to take that role, they need a health and welfare POA and I am guessing they wouldn't takr it on without copious notes from you expressing your wishes. Some 30 or a bit more years ago I had a fairly wealthy patent who had dementia. As soon as she was diagnosed and while still competent, she put all her affairs into the hands of her old and trusted firm of family solicitors (yes she was that rich) and they did everything for her, arranged and managed care staff and so on, so it can't be impossible but I don't know the ins and outs and, as I said, she had known the firm for at least all her adult life.

I've been a social worker for nearly 20 years and only come across it once and it was an absolute waste of money for the person involved.

The solicitor who had been appointed originally had moved on long before it needed to be used so the senior partner of the solicitors firm and a paralegal who was doing the actual donkey work on the additional finance LPOA attended any meetings, but they didn't know the patient and just agreed with everything the medical professionals/adult social care said.

As the social worker I tried to get the patient an independent advocate as well but couldn't because the existing health and welfare LPOA meant they weren't eligible because they already technically had an appointed deputy.

OP would be far better appointing someone like her hairdresser or a close colleague who actually knows her over a solicitor. Or just appointing no one at all so the professionals can get her an independent advocate if the circumstances require a decision to be made that she is no longer able to make.

So you have seen it once and it didn't work, I have seen it once (NHS community elderly care) and it did. I have no view about what the OP should do and they did not ask what they should do, only whether it was possible. My hairdresser died before me so that's not a great suggestion either.