Power of Attorney - URGENT HELP PLEASE

nikkikl

Hi guys

I am hoping one of the thousands on here might have some knowledge and advice on a Power of Attorney situation I am in.  My Grandad died last month.  Before he died he signed over all his money (£95,000) to my Dad because he was told social services would pinch it all to look after my Nan who is in residential care.  Personally I think my Dad scared him into signing it all over as he was told not to and was very wary of doing so..I will explain why in a min!  In a nutshell, that money is clearly my Nan's although she knows nothing about it.  My Dad has said that he is going to apply for Power of Attorney and that myself and my sister will be receiving a letter from his solicitor to explain this.  So, the questions are..
1.  Can I block him from taking control of Nan's money?
2.  Is it usually a bitter battle thru court to block a P.O.A?
3.  Can I tell social services that Nan has this money because it should be used to pay for her upkeep in the home?

Just to clarify why I want to do this - My beloved mum died 3 years ago.  She left a total of £100,000 which my dad spent (with his new girlfriend he found 6 weeks after mum died) within a year.  NONE of it came to her children or grandchildren, not one single penny.  He spent it on boozing, holidays, building an extension onto his girlfriends house, buying her expensive sports cars etc etc.  She is a gold digger, he can't see it and therefore the money vanishes VERY quickly.  I don't want any of Nan's money, I just don't want my dad or his girlfriend to spend it.  His girlfriend has benefitted from the death of my mum, i don't want her to benefit from the death of my Grandad, especially as she didn't even know him very well.  So it is important that we block the P.O.A or the money will be spent on themselves and not on Nan.

Can anyone help me...please!!!!

Cheers guys

Nikki

Bossyboots

Okay. I may have misunderstood the situation but if the money has been signed over to your dad, what does he think he needs a Power of Attorney for? The money must already be in his name and I am assuming it has not been put into trust.

1. Your Nan would have a claim on that money under the Inheritance (Provison for Dependants Act).

2. Money clearly dissipated to prevent it being used to pay residential care charges can be claimed by the authority paying those charges.

On the basis that your intentions are honourable and you want the money to go to the rightful person (not that I agree with people having to pay for the residential care but for the purposes of this problem it seems preferrable to the girlfriend getting the money) I would notify social services immediately that your grandad has died and tell them about the money. It will then be up to them to sort it out. Inform them that the money appears to be rightfully your gran's and you are worried that she has been cheated. If they sniff the chance of getting some money back for her care, I am guessing they will be in there super fast.

Incidentally, even if the money is spent the DSS can sue for it and your dad could end up paying it back.

nikkikl

Thanks for the reply Bossy! I assume he wants the POA because he wants to take full control of what is left in nan and grandads joint account, I THINK another 8K although I'm not positive, her pension, benefits etc - in other words a regular income. The money was originally in their joint account, grandad wrote dad a cheque for 95K about 2 weeks before he died, my sister was there and saw dad pay it into his own account. The money is definately not in trust. I should have explained, my nan has severe short term memory loss so she doesnt even remember the money is there, hence needing someone to look after her finances. I accept she needs someone to look after her money but my dad is not the right person to do so. He cannot be trusted with money. It is Nan's and not his and I don't want him and that girlfriend of his spending her money - quite frankly I would rather it was spent on her upkeep in the home, every single penny of it.
I am hoping I can tell social services and that they will act on it and chase the money out of him before it goes on booze and holidays, which it will, for sure.

jaybee

I'm not really sure but I think that Power of Attorney is to set things up so that someone (ie you) can take charge of paying bills etc with someone's money if they become incapable of dealing with these things (through illness, old age etc.)

Maybe you could take advantage of a free half hour consultation with a solicitor who could explain it to you.

Bossyboots

A Power of Attorney needs to be signed by the person giving the power.  It does not sound as if your nan has the mental capacity to do so which is the overriding test for this.  It would need to be witnessed by two people and the residential home should be in a position to prevent that happening.  

I presume he has mentioned you hearing from his solicitor because there is a POA that can be done when a person has lost capacity.  Other close relatives have to be advised of that and can raise objections.  That will clearly be your opportunity to try and put a stop to this. I think a doctor will also have needed to sign to say that he is of the opinion she cannot manage her own affairs.

You could take some legal advice but from what you have said it seems that the local authority should be receiving this money and you should notify them immediately of what has happened.  Hopefully they will then jump in and take steps to get their hands on the money.


You might find this sitehttp://www.publictrust.gov.uk/Protection.html of some interest to you.

elona

This may be over the top but would the police consider this fraud as your grandparents were not capable of giving informed consent.

elona

Just a quick thought but if the inland revenue think he is dodging tax there will be real trouble for him.

Bossyboots

I did a quick check on the tax position and I don't think there is an issue for Inland Revenue as the estate does not seem big enough to fall into the Inheritance Tax bracket. If it did, he would have to pay a whacking sum out of the money for tax.

nikkikl

well, now you mention tax I should say that my dad is self employed and that money, i assume, will go down as undeclared income on his tax return??

I did wonder about the fraud aspect but haven't a clue. It must be fraudulent with him 'hiding' it from social services at the very least surely?

jockettuk

if you worried abt him spending the money soon then i would get something sorted out with a solicitor soon.. mabey you can freeze his acct so the money cant come out .. even if its his works acct you can make arrangements for the money to be frozen but still pay out work bills.. best you get some legal advice and soon..

Bossyboots

As far as tax is concerned the money is a gift, not unearned income.

I don't think fraud is an issue here as the OP's dad does not appear to have obtained the money by promising something in return which has not materialised (a simplistic way of putting it). He may have used unfair coercion or something like that but as the grandfather has now passed away, there is no-one to give evidence to back up any complaint to the police.

There is of course an element of fraud in relation to social services but it is they who will have to make the complaint. I still think they should be notified as soon as possible of the situation so they can take the necessary steps to protect the nan's interests. As the next of kin of the deceased and being under the care of the local authority, it is their responsibility to ensure she is protected. The original fraud was commited by the grandfather when he handed over the money but if the dad now takes the rest without notifying social services of the position then he commits a separate offence.

Presumably the residential home have been informed of the death of the grandfather. I am surprised wheels have not already been set in motion by social services to ascertain what assets there are that they could take. Perhaps the staff at the home have not informed the local authority.