Power of attorney and will

Yorkshireman99

You need to read the stickies at the start of this forum.

Linton

Horizon81 wrote: »

Thanks for the assistance here Linton. It's difficult to get my head around never having gone through this before. As I understood it, upon death the will is executed (either by solicitor or named individual, which would be my brother rather than me). Doesn't this then go to probate? It's just your last sentence implies that there might not be probate? I thought probate was what happened after the executor was 'authorised'.
Just reading about 'caveats'...is this what you're talking about?

It needs to go to probate if there is property involved (which there may not be if your brother sold the house prior to your father's death). In addition banks and other financial institutions normally require probate to release any money beyond funeral costs if the account is larger than a relatively low threshold. If the estate is small without any of these complications then probate isnt required.

Sea_Shell

I think is sounds like the OP is worried that the money will have been 'hived' off by the Brother whilst acting as PoA, rather than what happens after. (timescales withstanding)

How can they find out what exactly has happened, or might happen, to the fathers assets before death. i.e. if all, or a lot, of moneys are transferred to accounts in the brothers name, leaving the estate short.

Is the only way an expensive battle through the courts??

Can you go to the court of protection with a 'suspicion' or do you need hard evidence?

Yorkshireman99

Sea_Shell wrote: »

I think is sounds like the OP is worried that the money will have been 'hived' off by the Brother whilst acting as PoA, rather than what happens after. (timescales withstanding)

How can they find out what exactly has happened, or might happen, to the fathers assets before death. i.e. if all, or a lot, of moneys are transferred to accounts in the brothers name, leaving the estate short.

Is the only way an expensive battle through the courts??

Can you go to the court of protection with a 'suspicion' or do you need hard evidence?

Suspicion is not enough but the OP can always write to the COP setting out their concerns. If the COP decide to investigate they will pay. Nevertheless without evidence the OP faces an uphill struggle to convince them.

getmore4less

Mojisola wrote: »

If there's a sum of money from a house sale, probate will probably be required.

If the assets have been liquidated it would be very easy to bypass needing/getting the grant.


It is pure speculation on the OP part the brother may be a crook.

so why not a little more.

Brother may have got POA, OP suspects/suggests he may only be a minor beneficiary and is not sure if they are included as executor it would appear from the limited information that the OP was potentially estranged from both and the father trusted the brother.


if all is above board the brother should have no problem producing the cashflow paper trail of the fathers assets even if he tries to hide some there will be the house sale on public record as a starting point and the care fees taken from that.


As has been said it is time to repair the rift.

Horizon81

Hi all. To clarify, I was never estranged from our father. We enjoyed a good relationship (I use the past tense due to his current mental state) however owing to many factors my father has a closer relationship with my brother than myself. This in itself is not a problem for me and I can understand why he would chose my brother for matters of PoA and potentially to execute the will. However I do know that I am in the will as explained above, my father told me this when in better health and told me the solicitor he has instructed. As for matters of execution, will the solicitor tell me who is responsible? I am guessing not? From what I've read, it is much more commonplace to appoint only 1 executor.

My concerns are indeed purely speculation at this point, but are based on past history and therefore I want to ensure that I am clued up as to how matters can/will/should play out. There is no malice between myself and my brother but again, due to circumstances we are likely to remain estranged, and this is an arrangement that suits us both.

I suppose I'm looking for practical advice on how best to proceed from here, to safeguard myself and ensure my father's will (both when alive and in death) is followed. Shall I make contact with the solicitor who hold my father's will in the first instance?

Yorkshireman99

Until the death the will has no relevance. The solicitor is not going to disclose if there even is a will let alone tell you what is in it. There is no default number of executors.

Mojisola

getmore4less wrote: »

If the assets have been liquidated it would be very easy to bypass needing/getting the grant.

But if so much money is missing from the estate, that would be grounds for concern.

getmore4less

Mojisola wrote: »

But if so much money is missing from the estate, that would be grounds for concern.

How would you know it was missing?

Mojisola

getmore4less wrote: »

How would you know it was missing?

Either the house is part of the estate or the money from the sale should be there.