Abstract:
Every day, large numbers of altruistic individuals, in the absence of any legal duty, provide substantial and essential services for elderly and disabled people. In doing so, many such informal carers suffer financial and other disadvantages. Drawing on his recent book, Informal Carers and Private Law, Dr Sloan will consider the scope for a “private law” approach to rewarding, supporting or compensating carers, an increasingly vital topic in the context of an ageing population and the perceived need for savings in public expenditure. Adopting a comparative approach covering England and Wales and several other common law jurisdictions, Dr Sloan will explore the recognition of the informal carer and his or her relationship with the care recipient within diverse fields of private law, from unjust enrichment to succession. In considering the potential for expansion of a “private law” approach for carers, he will address the fundamental and controversial question of the price of altruism.

Speaker(s):
Dr. Brian Sloan, College Lecturer in Law, Robinson College, University of Cambridge, London

“Brian Sloan read for his BA in Law and LLM degree at Robinson College, Cambridge. He then undertook doctoral studies in family and property law at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge under the supervision of Professor Kevin Gray and Dr Jens M Scherpe. His PhD was conferred in 2011. Between 2009 and 2012, Brian was Bob Alexander Fellow at King’s College, Cambridge. In October 2012 he returned to Robinson as College Lecturer, Director of Studies and Fellow in Law, where he teaches Equity, Family Law and Land Law. His research interests include informal carers in comparative private law, the regulation of adult relationships, the application of property law in the domestic sphere and the law of adoption.”