Power of Attorney fee cut to £82

phillw

Pincher wrote: »

I did a Will once myself, using whoever happened to be around as witnesses. Twenty years later, these people have disappeared, and if the Probate Office requires confirmation from these witnesses, that would be interesting, particularly as I will be deceased.
Not that it matters, as that one is superseded now.

Marley v Rawlings has proven that solicitors & witnesses make mistakes. What is most important is that whoever produces your will has decent insurance to pay for any resulting court action. The same goes for an LPA.

Pincher wrote: »

I passed the offices of Slater Gordon recently, the personal injuries lawyers, which does not bode well for the ethics of lawyers.

Lawyers ethics are based on self preservation. They'll do anything for money within the confines of their indemnity insurance and regulatory bodies.

pphillips

priorslee wrote: »

Good news that fees are being reduced, but VERY annoying in my parents' case as their LPA forms were sent in mid-March. If they had waited a couple of weeks it would have cost them £112 less :mad:

Has anyone seen anything about transitional arrangements for applications in the pipeline? The only comment I've managed to find is for payments made after 1 April the extra payment will be refunded.

Also, if anyone sees any mention of this prior to 21 March, please post details on here. It was discussed at 'Grand Committee' on 21 March. I'd be interrested to hear of anything earlier, ready for my conversation with the Office of Public Guardian next week.

The draft statutory instrument was produced by the stationary office on 15 February 2017 and then as you say the statutory instrument was passed unamended on 21 March by a Grand Committee of both houses of parliament.

The OPG began taking payments at the new fee from 1st April and are refunding any overpayments that were made after that date. Therefore one would assume that they are not refunding payments made before 1st April.

Pincher

phillw wrote: »

What is most important is that whoever produces your will has decent insurance to pay for any resulting court action. The same goes for an LPA.

So, you do a Will in 2017, and the person dies 20 years later, you can easily find the lawyer and claim off his insurance? Remember it's not the Executor that hired the lawyer to draw up the Will.

The solicitor is acting for the person setting up the LPA, who is in theory the paying client, not the recipient of the power. If the recipient can exercise the power, all is well. Now, if the principal becomes incapacitated, and there is something wrong with the LPA, so the recipient cannot act for the principal, can he sue the lawyer, since the LPA is invalid?

I have claimed against insurance for other things, and it's always a struggle to make them pay out. I don't expect any different when it's against lawyers. Even if you do win after three or five years, it's a nightmare best avoided.

pphillips

Case law shows that solicitors owe a duty of care to the expectant beneficiaries of a will even when the estate has suffered no loss. With an LPA it is the donor who suffers the loss if it was drafted negligently by a solicitor and not the attorneys, it therefore seems it would be practically difficult to bring a case against solicitor over an invalid LPA after the donor has lost mental capacity.

izoomzoom

Can I ask about the flip side of this coin?

What rights / access does a 'deputy' have when they have to take over the affairs of a person who has lost capaity?

pphillips

It all depends what the court order says.

troubleinparadise

izoomzoom wrote: »

Can I ask about the flip side of this coin?

What rights / access does a 'deputy' have when they have to take over the affairs of a person who has lost capaity?

As always, Google is your friend:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/deputy-guidance-how-to-carry-out-your-duties

Malthusian

Pincher wrote: »

So, you do a Will in 2017, and the person dies 20 years later, you can easily find the lawyer and claim off his insurance?

Maybe, maybe not. Another good reason to review your Wills every 5 years as conventional wisdom suggests, even if nothing has changed.

The concept of doing it yourself is suspect, as a mentally diminished person could be robbed so easily just by a few signatures. Anybody can download the form and get an elderly person to sign.

If I wanted to rob an elderly person who was weak-willed enough to sign a power of attorney form for no good reason, I'd talk them into handing over their bank cards and PIN, or sign them up for Internet banking, and do whatever I liked with their money. I would certainly not get them to appoint me as an attorney, as all that does is leave a paper trail.

If I use a power of attorney to instruct their bank to pay ten grand into my personal account, then I have blatantly broken the rules about acting in the donor's best interest and I have stuck my signature on it. It would be much better to log into their online banking and pay ten grand into my personal account, then when it's disputed I simply say they made a gift to me of their own accord - try proving otherwise.

Mentally diminished people can be robbed easily regardless, if they don't have the State or a loyal friend or relative looking after their interests. Getting them to sign a power of attorney is a lousy way of going about it.