Renunciation

laroc

My elderly mother is the Executor to my fathers estate
My father has severe dementia and my mother very frail

If I have Power of Attourney for my mother, can I deal with the estate when my father passes away

It just seems overly complicated for her to Renunciate being an executor, then we have to find someone else to take her place
I presume that would be a solicitors job ?

Tom99

You can apply for probate to be granted to you as your mother's attorney.

See sections 3.7 and 8.0 of form PA1

Robin9

OP do you also have POA for your father should your mother die first ?

Keep_pedalling

Tom99 wrote: »

You can apply for probate to be granted to you as your mother's attorney.

See sections 3.7 and 8.0 of form PA1

It is not that straight forward, An executor cannot appoint an attorney if they a are joint executor, and I do not believe an LPA can be used here, they only give you the authority to deal with the donors personal finances and the duties of an executor go way beyond that. According to the PA 1 notes the appointed executor need to send the P.O. a letter th state that they are appointing an attorney to act on their behalf, so this can only be done if they still have the mental capacity to do so.

http://www.probateforms.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/PA1A-Probate-Application-Form-guidance-notes.pdf

If all executors have died or no longer have the mental capacity to act or appoint an attorney then a grant of probate would need to be applied for.

When making a will never appoint a lone executor, and make sure at least one of them is considerably younger than you.

laroc

Robin: do you also have POA for your father should your mother die first ?

No, my father flatly refused to give anyone POA, basically"nobody is going to touch my money !"
He has a Will leaving all his possessions to his wife, who is also an Executor
The 2nd Executor is his sister who has onset Dementia, so we can count her out

I know he has various Shares, Income Bonds, Life Insurance etc, but nobody knows where he has the hidden the paperwork.

We only know this from the annual statements that arrive about the interest etc

In no way can my mother deal with those problems. She has no ides what the term "internet" means let alone deal with Shares
So you can see the dilemma that I am in, a minefield ?

Keep_pedalling

You are in a very difficult possition, but as your mother still has mental capacity she will be able to give you power of attorney to act for her as executor. The major issue is being able to act for him while he is still alive, especially If those assets are needed to pay for care costs.

Even with the paperwork you cannot do much, so I think the only option is to apply for deputyship through the courts.

https://www.gov.uk/become-deputy

Rich2808

I have a similar but slightly different issue with my recently deceased father's estate. My mother is named as the executor and trustee in the will but it also states should 'she fail or be unable to act'; then I would be appointed as executor to act in her place. She is the sole beneficiary of my fathers estate and I also have power of attorney for her. She has not intermeddled as I have been dealing with the initial contacts with banks/utilities.

She is also elderly and I don't want to burden her with all the work associated with being an executor and dealing with banks/building societies/inheritance tax. She has mental capacity - but I really just want to avoid her having the stress of it.

I found this renunciation form online - presumably she can just complete and sign this with me named as the other (substitute) executor and submit this to our local probate registry and then I can act as executor?

https://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/law-shop/consumer-products/legal-documents/probate/renunciation-of-probate

I am employing a solicitor to deal with probate/IHT (none should be payable in the latter case) but I would rather not pay them some ridiculous sum (e.g. £200) for the renunciation which my mother and I could deal with ourselves directly?

Would welcome any thoughts. Does me having power of attorney for my mother enable me to act as executor of my dad's estate anyway or do we need this renunciation.

laroc

Rich2808:-
Would welcome any thoughts. Does me having power of attorney for my mother enable me to act as executor of my dad's estate anyway or do we need this renunciation.

This was my original question, we seem to be in the same boat ?

As far as finance goes, the majority of my fathers savings (those we know of) are in a joint bank account. So my mother can access this money to pay for his Care.

I think I should get POA for my mother asap, before father passes on.

Yorkshireman99

laroc wrote: »

Rich2808:-
Would welcome any thoughts. Does me having power of attorney for my mother enable me to act as executor of my dad's estate anyway or do we need this renunciation.

This was my original question, we seem to be in the same boat ?

As far as finance goes, the majority of my fathers savings (those we know of) are in a joint bank account. So my mother can access this money to pay for his Care.

I think I should get POA for my mother asap, before father passes on.

No. The LPOA only allows you to deal with your mother.s affairs.

badmemory

Nonetheless, a POA is still a good idea even if it won't help with regards to being an executor. Quite simple to DIY & the price has come down too.

Keep_pedalling

badmemory wrote: »

Nonetheless, a POA is still a good idea even if it won't help with regards to being an executor. Quite simple to DIY & the price has come down too.

You should definitely get her to do a LPA, she could could also give you powers to act for her in regard to your fathers estate with a separate POA.