The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, a private member’s Bill to give adults the right to assistance to end their own life, as long as they met certain criteria, divided legal critics. Some saw it as an essential civil liberty that could relieve suffering, while others warned of insufficient safeguards and a risk of exploitation.
The Bill, backed by MPs 314–291 last summer, will now not proceed in its current form.
Jasmine Ivory, legal director at Michelmores, said: ‘Whether and in what form the wider debate around assisted dying continues remains to be seen.
‘Crucially and notwithstanding this, the existing legal framework remains unchanged. The law relating to assisting another person's suicide, and the potential impact of the Forfeiture Act 1982 in inheritance and succession cases, continues to apply.
‘Actions motivated by compassion can give rise to significant and often unforeseen legal and financial consequences.’
