Declaring an inheritance while on benefits

getmore4less

cattermole wrote: »

You are both correct.

You don't have to tell anyone to set one up or make one.

However if it is used then Mojisola is correct. You cannot use power of attorney without registering the power as explained in the link and that means informing nearest relatives in the order described in it. So all three children would have had to be informed if a POA was registered.

As above the list is decided by the doner and does not have to include relatives.

tekman

FBaby wrote: »

Knowing all this and expecting it I would have thought you'd have done everything to prevent it and ensure your mum's will represented her true wishes. How come it took all those years for her to make one?

My mother has been rarely well for the past twenty years or so and since my dad died in 2007 this was too much for her to bear after 44 years of marriage her world had just collapsed and she suffered a terrible nervous breakdown the worst I'd ever seen her go through. A year after my father died my younger sister nudged my older sister into asking me if mum had a will and if not that she should have one.
In essence I agreed that mum should have one but after consulting with her doctors and various lawyers and of course using my own personal judgement as since the age of 7 I've seen my mother go through this awful condition, it was agreed that not only would it be unkind, unfair but also it could open up a can of worms to the vultures who always tend to surface when they are not included in a will.
My younger sister knew that she would not be included as she had caused so much pain and mayhem to our family so fundamentally decided to have no contact with Mum or myself during 2007 to 2011.
Let me assure you, there is nobody who is harder on me than myself but you need to understand I was living in an extremely stressful circumstance and unless you have personally looked after a close relative with this condition you really wouldn't understand how complex it is, waking up every day ensuring that person doesn't kill themselves, suffering unprovoked physical attacks, Having to deal with dressing and bathing your own mother who most of the time was uncooperative. Yes carers should have been in earlier than they were, but at the time I asked for help none was available.
There was very little I could do to prevent this mess regarding the will as I wasn't kept informed of all the facts. I believe it was purposely kept from me because my younger sibling knew I would cotton on very quickly and scuppered her plans.
Bear in mind this whole POA and will business was instigated conveniently for them within a week and although I make no excuse or apology for being 6000 miles away as I clearly have an Internet connection and I can just about use a telephone, communication was poor at best. Every time I phoned to speak to a doctor or other official, no-one was available. I asked my sisters boyfriend 6 times for the Solicitors details which he promised to supply but never did. eventually my other sister managed to squeeze it out from him. Why the secrecy, why wasn't my older sister granted POA instead of this non family member? There are still so many questions as yet unanswered and I imagine that is the way it will remain.
I do hope this goes some way to answering your questions

getmore4less

I would do two things as a fact finding exercise

Find out who the certificate provider and the to be notified were for the LPA.
Find out who the witnesses were for the will.

With a solicitor names as executor on a will drawn up by them you need to be very sure if you want to challenge.
Same with the LPA, if solicitors involved.

practice notes on LPA some guidance on what solicitors should do if acting as the certificate provider.

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/practice-notes/lasting-powers-attorney/

cattermole

getmore4less wrote: »

The giver decided who is in the list of people it can be 0 to 5 people

if none then there needs to be 2 certificate providers.

If you read the POA form carefully there only needs to be one certificate provider(section B

Then there only needs to be one one person to be notified they can both be the solicitor that was the certificate provider in section B if wanted.

NOWHERE in setting up a LPA s there a requirement to tell any relative.

Thanks for clarifying my fathers was an EPA and I wrongly assumed the notification rules for LPA's were the same. So less save guards really in a LPA if the caoacity of the donor to make one was questionable at the time.

getmore4less

The main responsibility lies with the certificate provider.

sidefx

tekman wrote: »

You have raised some very interesting and valid points, but as I stated earlier 1 - I have already signed off the accounts.
2 - I cannot afford to contest the will

The executor of the will is one of the partners of the same firm that the solicitor who is handling all this works for.

My blood boils for you. Your younger sister deserves it back in spades

I really hope you'll come back at some point and update us.

Ames

I just wanted to point out that it is possible for your sister to get the money and it not affect her benefits, if the will stated that the money should be held in trust for her. As a solicitor drew up the will it's quite possible that this was included.

antrobus

Ames wrote: »

I just wanted to point out that it is possible for your sister to get the money and it not affect her benefits, if the will stated that the money should be held in trust for her. As a solicitor drew up the will it's quite possible that this was included.

As a general rule, no.

An "absolute entitlement to the whole, or a share, of funds held on trust" counts as capital as far as the DWP is concerned.

tekman

Ames wrote: »

I just wanted to point out that it is possible for your sister to get the money and it not affect her benefits, if the will stated that the money should be held in trust for her. As a solicitor drew up the will it's quite possible that this was included.

The will did not state that at all, just a straightforward payout to each of the four beneficiaries. My older sister contacted me yesterday to let me know she has received an interim payment of £40,000 so the other two would have also received the same. I'm waiting until Solicitor has heard back from the Inland Revenue before any money is transferred to my account.
Those two will get what they deserve as I'm sure they think they are more clever than they really are. If their track record of dishonesty has anything to do with it then they will defraud the system and I hope they get caught.
Against what I consider to be my better judgement we have decided not to inform the DWP at this stage, rather wait and let these two live it up on the money and then with any luck fall foul to the weight of the law. My older sister is deeply worried about retribution as these two are mixed up with some very shady characters. I wish there was a way when reporting to the authorities anonymously that they would inform the perpetrators that the Inland Revenue informed them to hopefully prevent any comeback to my sister and her family or indeed me and my family.

Anyway, we will be keeping an eye on things as best as possible and will update on this thread accordingly. have a great Christmas all!:)

Ames

antrobus wrote: »

As a general rule, no.

An "absolute entitlement to the whole, or a share, of funds held on trust" counts as capital as far as the DWP is concerned.

Oh, sorry, I must have got confused. My mum was told that if she made a will she could put my share in trust for me and it wouldn't affect my benefits. She wanted me to buy a house with my share, so maybe it's only if the trust is specified for a particular use. Of course, it could just be chinese whispers, starting with someone who didn't know the rules properly.

Sorry to derail the thread.