Power of Attorney no will

redmerlot

Fifteen years ago my husbands long lost Uncle turned up on the doorstep of his mothers house with only a small suitcase having been thrown out of the house by his wife at the age of 70. He was deaf and disabled and very confused. My mother in law nursed him for a long time, meanwhile his wife divorced him and made him sign over the house to her and her daughter. We didn't know any of this at the time.


We found out that his wife and daughter were phoning and giving him abuse and had even nearly pushed him over in the street. Mother in law told us that they had bullied him most of his married life.


Mother in law continued to care for him, every week they went a drew their pensions out from the bank and he would give her £80 towards bills every fortnight.


He started to go down with dementia and mother in law was worried because he was getting confused getting his money out of the bank so we decided to go through Power of Attorney so we could manage his money for him.


Six months ago we had it all in place and were shocked to find that this Uncle has nearly £100,000 in the bank ! The pair of them had been living very frugly for years...we helped out when we could with new washing machines and tv. I think he honestly did not know he had this money. He has been getting a good work pension, a war pension and his state pension. He is now in a care home with dementia and his savings are still increasing.


The question is, will his daughter inherit all this money when he dies....I am sure its not what he would have wanted.

TonyMMM

If he has not made a will, and presumably he is no longer able to, then the rules of intestacy will apply and the money will go to his child(ren).

Is he paying towards the cost of his care - that should reduce the amount left ?

redmerlot

I think that is what l thought, that it would all go to the daughter who couldn't care two buttons about him. We changed mother in laws phone number because she was ringing and saying is he dead yet


He pays all the cost of his care, but savings are still increasing at about £300 a month.

nom_de_plume

Any money spent using the PoA may need to be accounted for at some future date so spend wisely. Is he in a self funded care home or is it a local authority run one? If the former, is it the best available or could his savings be used to improve his standard of care?

rpc

Is the dementia sufficient that he couldn't understand a will?

Is the POA registered?

nom_de_plume wrote: »

could his savings be used to improve his standard of care?

If he can't write a will then I'd be tempted to do this. Make him as comfortable as you can while he is still here.

Bear in mind that when he does eventually pass, you are under no obligation to notify anyone or assist with administration of his estate in any manner whatsoever...

Savvy_Sue

Take proper advice on this, and I could be quite wrong, but I thought with a PofA you could change a will, if not write one.

It might be worth contacting solicitors local to where he used to live to see if any of them have written a will for him at any time in the past.

But definitely spend, spend, spend!!!

dzug1

Take proper advice on this, and I could be quite wrong, but I thought with a PofA you could change a will, if not write one.


Definitely not - it's one of the few things that are totally taboo for an Attorney


It is possible to apply to the OPG to make/vary a will - but they will be very reluctant to do so