death planning - SCOTLAND

doughuelas

Hello

Will try to keep things as short as possible. We reside in Scotland

My Gran has been a long sufferer of cancer. Currently she is in an NHS establishment receiving palliative care and has been in there for the last 4-5 weeks.

We have been given the sit-down by the doctors and been told the end will be sooner rather than later and they feel its better to keep her in the hospital to ensure she is as comfortable as possible.

My Aunt is the executor of Grans will, but my Aunt said last night that she feels she will struggle to cope with all the responsibility that goes along with being the executor.

Naturally I want to step in - not in an official capacity - more along the lines of doing as much as possible of the phoning/preparing/organising.

My aunt would double-check everything and sign off as appropriate.

I have already looked into the process of 'probate' (in Scotland its named confirmation) and we will be completing this without the aid of a solicitor.

My query is; as Gran has been out the house for over a month already, and we know she will remain in hospital until she passes, we felt it would be prudent to start to restrict accounts/services (virgin/gas/electricity and other irrelevant DDs) to the bare minimum?

Can I/my Aunt do this?

And are there any pitfalls (fast moves companys pull) that we should be aware of?

Many thanks for in advance for your assistance

D

Mojisola

Your Aunt can't do this as the executor because that role doesn't exist until someone dies.

Does anyone have Power of Attorney for your Gran? If not, there's very little you can do.

Check your Gran's house insurance. If the house has been empty for a month, the cover might be affected. If you can, have someone sleep overnight occasionally.

Also, some benefits are affected by a stay in hospital. If she's receiving any of them, you will need to let the DWP know - https://www.turn2us.org.uk/information__resources/benefits/illness,_injury_and_disability/benefits_and_hospital.aspx.

doughuelas

Mojisola wrote: »

Your Aunt can't do this as the executor because that role doesn't exist until someone dies.

Does anyone have Power of Attorney for your Gran? If not, there's very little you can do.

Check your Gran's house insurance. If the house has been empty for a month, the cover might be affected. If you can, have someone sleep overnight occasionally.

Also, some benefits are affected by a stay in hospital. If she's receiving any of them, you will need to let the DWP know - www.turn2us.org.uk/information__resources/benefits/illness,_injury_and_disability/benefits_and_hospital.aspx.

Hello

No power of attorney i'm aware of. But will double check this afternoon.

My Aunt mentioned something last night about her benefits having changed - but will also chase up.

The house is never empty - she has a cat so between the children/grand children we're there everyday to feed it/play with it and my Aunt stays over sporadically.

Understand that executing cant commence until deceased, we just wanted to scale back on some of the £ leaving her account. Paying for cable tv that she obviously has no use for at this point in time doesnt really represent money saving to me

But I take your points on board and will look into it

Many Thanks again

D

Mojisola

doughuelas wrote: »

Understand that executing cant commence until deceased, we just wanted to scale back on some of the £ leaving her account. Paying for cable tv that she obviously has no use for at this point in time doesnt really represent money saving to me

But I take your points on board and will look into it

Without authority from your Gran, it's really difficult to change any of these things. Very frustrating when it's money going down the drain.

doughuelas

Mojisola wrote: »

Without authority from your Gran, it's really difficult to change any of these things. Very frustrating when it's money going down the drain.

Frustrating indeed...

Thank you

I totally understand the point raised, but given the rapid deterioration we may not have to wait too much longer anyway

May I ask, once confirmation is concluded upon death is it more appropriate to open a 'probate' bank account (if that is the term to use) so my Aunt can write the cheques to credtors and those who may have to receive inheritance?

I know my Aunt will be executor but I guess what I am not sure about is my Aunt being able to sign my Grans cheques??

I actually dont even know if my Gran owns a cheque book

Please excuse me if I have got things muddled up

Thanks

D

Mojisola

I've sorted out Mum's estate but, because almost everything was owned jointly with Dad, it was very straightforward.

It's worth getting up-to-date copies of the Which? books - What to do when someone dies and Wills and Probate.

You will find companies vary enormously in the way they deal with deaths. Some swing into action and sort everything out very smoothly. With others, you start to feel as if it's the first time they've ever dealt with a customer dying.

daska

As long as she still has capacity she can write (sign) a letter or grant a Power of Attorney to you or your Aunt (or anyone else for that matter) it doesn't need to be a lasting PoA as that would only come in to force once she lost capacity.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/relationships_e/relationships_looking_after_people_e/managing_affairs_for_someone_else.htm

doughuelas

daska wrote: »

As long as she still has capacity she can write (sign) a letter or grant a Power of Attorney to you or your Aunt (or anyone else for that matter) it doesn't need to be a lasting PoA as that would only come in to force once she lost capacity.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/relationships_e/relationships_looking_after_people_e/managing_affairs_for_someone_else.htm

Hello

Many thanks for your help

Gran is not able to sign anything, we only get the occasional half-sentence from her now and she is awake little longer than 5-10 mins at a time...it really is quite heartbreaking

Whilst i remember, my Aunt mentioned at the hospital this evening that my little half-brothers (they live in England with my Dad and his new wife) are to receive a sum of money from her estate

Could you hazard a guess on what would be the easiest scenario to ensure they receive the full sum of money identified; without my father getting his grubby little hands on it?

Thank you again

D

daska

Awkward, it's very expensive to go for an LPA if you don't envisage it being longer term. But if you know all the details such as address, date of birth etc, how will the utilities know that it's your Aunt ringing rather than your Gran? Just a thought.

How little are your half brothers? If they have Child Trust Funds the money could be paid into them which would afford some protection. If not then a joint a/c would possibly be the next best.

doughuelas

daska wrote: »

Awkward, it's very expensive to go for an LPA if you don't envisage it being longer term. But if you know all the details such as address, date of birth etc, how will the utilities know that it's your Aunt ringing rather than your Gran? Just a thought.

How little are your half brothers? If they have Child Trust Funds the money could be paid into them which would afford some protection. If not then a joint a/c would possibly be the next best.

Hmmm, I take your point - and for the small amount of time that may be left; getting my Aunt to impersonate my Gran would/could eventually be more hassle than its worth

My little brothers are aged 13 and 4. I would presume that some ID would be required to open an account in their name? As they live down south obtaining the ID could be problematic...I will try to contact my Dads wife to see if they already have bank accounts

The biggest concern is having their inheritence put into an account that my father will be able to access. We would prefer a mechanism to be put in place to prevent him from getting anywhere near it

Any thoughts on how this would/could be done?

Thanks in advance

D

rpc

Is the money to be paid to them immediately, or held in trust until a certain age? The options available depend on the answer to this.

In any case, if your dad's name is not on the account, he can't access it. There will normally be a trustee which could be anyone (such as you or your aunt).