Consumer Power: Should will writers be regulated?

John_Pierpoint

KoreArabin wrote: »

Again, total rubbish! Solicitors do not have to be involved in deputyship applications. Family members are often the best choice to be deputies.

And not having an LPA in place most certainly will not "bring a company or a family down", unless you have some untrained incompetent dealing with your affairs.

Have you ever tried to get Lasting Power of Attorney (with or without the assistance of a solicitor or perhaps despite the assistance of the professionals involved) for someone lying almost totally paralysed in a hospital bed ?

Good luck you will need it.

[Meanwhile if you have the fairly common situation of someone who is "careful" with the purse strings and comes from that part of society that does not readily talk about money, and a signature is urgently required on some critical decision..............?]

Alter_ego

Jens Gal, Please would you summarise the main points. It is very hard to read your post without paragraphs etc.

John_Pierpoint

Alter_ego wrote: »

Jens Gal, Please would you summarise the main points. It is very hard to read your post without paragraphs etc.

Hi GensGal,

Welcome to MSE.

I was going to make the same observation about your posting - it is a stream of what you are thinking, but you need to structure your thoughts; I'm still trying to understand them. Has your mother and the man to whom she is now married had previous legal partners? You seem to use father and step-father interchangeably; has the man who has died adopted you, if he is not your "blood" father?

It is so complex that it needs one or probably two threads of your own. [If you are not clear how to start your own thread, post again here and I or other members will sort it out for you].

You have two "problems":

One is the "complex" structure of your family and its internal dynamics - from what you have already posted you are obviously not all on intimate and trusting terms.
You are posting on the more huggy feely part of the forum and may well get good advice on how to handle family "dynamics"

Two is the law of the land. (Is the estate of the late testator in England and Wales? Rules in the "Celtic fringes" of the British Isles differ, as do the laws for property in other parts of the world).

If possible post a copy of the will (change the names but make them distinctive). The will can only be followed for as long as it is legal, if it is only partially legal then a chunk of it will default back to the law of the land based on people in "father's" family for; which we would need a family tree of who is named in the will and who might now get in on the act because of the default law. (As you and your mother are still alive, you have to remember that blood is thicker than water, when it comes to your step (?) father's family).
EG

[Paternal grandmother] nee "Green"
[Paternal grandfather] "White"
__________________[PaternalAunts/Uncles}
________________________[Poster's step Dad]"White"
_______________________________[New wife]"nee "Black" then "Grey" now "White"]
_______________________________Sibling"White"?
_______________________________Sibling"White"?
_______________________________Sibling"White"?

---

[Step Daughter(Original Poster)]Gal "Grey"

---

Sibling "Grey"

---

[Poster's Dad] "Grey"
--[Paternal grandmother] nee "Yellow"
--[Paternall grandfather] "Black"


Into this structure you can stitch more distant "legal" relatives and add any other non related persons named in the will.

Does the estate of you father amount to more than £325K, if it does there is a potent beneficiary hoping to be entitled to its inheritance before any of the above get their share - it well not be mentioned in the will, but will want all the details before anything can be done legally: HMRC.

I would try to put your second structured posting in something dispassionate like the "tax saving" part of this forum.

If you can keep a clear head, you can pick your way through the complexities and see off all the bar room opinions from others claiming involvement in you late father's estate.

For what it is worth, my "adventures" started here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1164505

John.

PS Who witnessed the will, there should have been two witnesses present at the time of signing (thus preventing giggery pokery, of an adult putting his signature to a document of his own free will - now that he is gone it is the only thing the law has to act upon).

PPS The executors have the power, for the first 6 months (HMRC might then start wondering how they are getting on) as just a beneficiary (?) you have the right to sit on your hands for the first 12 months, so be nice to the executor(s) or that is what you might be told to do

Update, I see that the chaos has been going on for 17 months - by now you should be able to demand copies of the paperwork.
First step - has you mother obtained probate, as she is one of the executors?

PPPS Perhaps your mother should do the posting on here?

PPPPS The ages and "marital" status of the people involved would also be helpful, there may be de facto "trusts" created - especially as you intimate that your step (?) father's blood offspring think they have a claim.

John_Pierpoint

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017ptyk

Will Writing Scam

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Episode 8 of 10

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Matt meets the ordinary people whose lives have been devastated by these scams, and hears how they were cleverly but cruelly manipulated into handing over their cash. Matt meets Terry and Pauline who wanted to get their affairs in order and decided to make a will. But they were then exploited by merciless conmen...