Changing someone else's Will

moveover0

Hello.

First time poster so hope i don't cross any boundaries posting this.

i am a court-appointed deputy for someone and oversee the day to day running of the finances (paying bills etc), but i am looking to change the persons will.

They no longer have the mental capacity to make decisions in a legal sense, due to Alzheimer's disease and i am concerned that the beneficiaries named in the will are just waiting for the person i am a deputy for to pass away. (they have not visited in the last 4 years or been in contact).

When the person is lucid they often refer to the beneficiaries in somewhat derogatory terms(!) and have commented that their mother is the only person who cares about them (their mum is often visiting them at the home, buying their day to day items, sitting with them for hours on end etc).

The mother isn't in the will as the person didn't expect to be passing away before their parent
(i can't go into too much detail as you never know who is on here - and i am not the mum!)

so why am i posting this?

I am looking for advice from anyone who may have had a similar experience and if they used a solicitor and if so, what did it cost you? how did the process go etc?

any help of information would be really appreciated.
thank you.

~Beanie~

There is some information here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-statutory-will/overview along with the costs if you do it yourself. To use a solicitor would obviously incur additional costs.

lika_86

Did they make the will when they were of sound mind? If so, I'm not sure why you're looking to go behind that now, just because you don't think the beneficiaries deserve to receive anything from them. As for whether the mother should be included, the possibility that the person in question may predecease their mum may have been considered by the person in question and they might have decided not to make a provision for her, you don't know that, do you?

Savvy_Sue

~Beanie~ wrote: »

There is some information here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-statutory-will/overview along with the costs if you do it yourself. To use a solicitor would obviously incur additional costs.

Using a solicitor might well incur additional costs, but in this situation I wouldn't risk doing it without!

If the person has some lucid moments then it is possible that a visit from a solicitor could be arranged, and notes of such a meeting would be kept in case those written out of the will challenge it.

moveover0

Thanks Savvy Sue. Re: your post LIka_86, i did consider the persons named in the will and their mother being left out of the original will, but for reasons i can't go into on here, i am very sure the actions i wish to take are in line with their wishes (if they had known beforehand how it would play out).

moveover0

oh and thanks for your suggestion as well Beanie!

PeacefulWaters

I think you're playing with fire.

fairy_lights

I'm confused, has this person actually told you in their lucid moments that they want to change their will?
If not, it seems incredibly unethical for you to be considering doing this.

curty510

not being rude, but would you be including yourself as a beneficiary?

newcook

the problem with alzheimers and dementia is that although the person may have lucid moments you cannot guarantee when they will have them or how long they will last.

the will you refer to must have been written when sound of mind so the beneficiaries mentioned in it must have meant something to the person who wrote it at some point.
do you know the person well enough/long enough to know that the lucid moment is actually a lucid moment rather than their memory of a few years ago?
did the person and the beneficiaries have a falling out many years back but then made up and when the 'lucid' moment comes its actually a memory of when they fell out?
has this person requested in their lucid moment that they want to change the will?

personally I think you are playing with fire - the will was made sometime ago when the person was of sound mind - while you may not like the beneficiaries or think their treatment is acceptable it is not for you to change the wishes already made.

can you not talk to them instead and ask them to visit more often before the person dies?

lika_86

OP, it sounds like you're inferring intent on the person in question, you can't know how they would have wanted things to be.

I agree with newcook, the lucid moments may seem that way but may not be. Who knows, sat in a solicitor's file (if there was one), there may be an attendance note where the person in question was asked about their mother and explicitly decided not to include her. there may also be reasons for including the other beneficiaries.

I'd leave well alone to be honest. In any event, I doubt the Court of Protection would allow a new will to be made just on the basis that beneficiaries haven't visited and the person in question has badmouthed them in a supposedly lucid moment.

Some things are the way they are and much as we may not like them, we have to live with them.