when someone passes away and joint account

Tamperer

My sister passed away a few months ago in Scotland. My brother went to live with her a few years ago as she had learning difficulties. My brother had power of attorney for money and anything else and eventually making their bank accounts joint. My brother works but sister had been made redundant 2 years ago. My sister got the high rate care and mobility components of pip and my brother was given the money from the care allowance each month. They shared all the bills and food shopping etc just as would be with anyone sharing a rented property . I asked the question to my brother " what happens to all my sisters money now she has passed away " , the reply was that he keeps it all as he cared for her and its in his bank and sisters name been taken off after presenting death certificate to bank. There is quite a substantial amount off money my sister accumulated through wages and pensions etc and i thought it would have been shared between the 3 surviving siblings. Neither my brother or sister were married or had partners or children. I hope someone may be able to clarify if probate would sort this mess out or is it pretty straight forward that my brother does have a right to my sisters estate entirely with no iffs or buts. something just does not seem right and i may feel better knowing where we stand. I get the whole thing about joint accounts and and once the person has passed that person becomes the owner of account. why then is it made so easy for someone to get power of attorney without the other family members being notified.

xylophone

My sister passed away a few months ago in Scotland. My brother went to live with her a few years ago as she had learning difficulties. My brother had power of attorney for money and anything else and eventually making their bank accounts joint. 

 In general

https://www.gdlaw.co.uk/site/blog/our-services/joint-bank-accounts-the-survivor-takes-it-all#:~:text=The%20general%20starting%20point%20in,to%20the%20surviving%20account%20holder.

"The general starting point in cases of jointly held bank accounts is that on the death of one of the account holders, the account balance passes in its entirety, by the ‘principle of survivorship’, to the surviving account holder. The principle of survivorship will override any terms that may be to the contrary in the deceased’s Will. This means that the surviving account holder can present the deceased’s death certificate to their bank and the bank will likely transfer the account balance into the survivor’s sole name, usually even before probate has been granted. "

BUT 

joint accounts held under Scots Law

 

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/inheritance-tax-manual/ihtm15054#:~:text=Under%20Scots%20Law%2C%20where%20Bank,the%20account%20to%20the%20survivor.

"Under Scots Law, where Bank or Building Society Accounts are held in joint names the special (or survivorship) destination (IHTM15050) does not by itself pass the ownership of the money in the account to the survivor.

This applies to all Bank/Building Society accounts governed by Scots Law. So it will apply to taxpayers living in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have an account which is governed by Scots Law."

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

badger09

Without wishing to derail OP's thread, why would someone with POA (OP's brother) choose to make the accounts joint, when he could already operate the sister's accounts as Attorney?

sheramber

If the person granting POA is mentally capable of doing so then that is all that is required. While it might be prudent to advise others  there is no requirement  to do so. That is up to the person granting the POA.
Did your sister have a will?
Did your sister  have any estate apart from the bank account?
 

Tamperer

badger09 said:

Without wishing to derail OP's thread, why would someone with POA (OP's brother) choose to make the accounts joint, when he could already operate the sister's accounts as Attorney?

sheramber said:

If the person granting POA is mentally capable of doing so then that is all that is required. While it might be prudent to advise others  there is no requirement  to do so. That is up to the person granting the POA.
Did your sister have a will?
Did your sister  have any estate apart from the bank account?
 sheramber said:

If the person granting POA is mentally capable of doing so then that is all that is required. While it might be prudent to advise others  there is no requirement  to do so. That is up to the person granting the POA.
Did your sister have a will?
Did your sister  have any estate apart from the bank account?
 

Sister had no will. All she had was a large bank balance topped up with 40 years redundancy payment and a couple of private pensions 

sheramber said:

If the person granting POA is mentally capable of doing so then that is all that is required. While it might be prudent to advise others  there is no requirement  to do so. That is up to the person granting the POA.
Did your sister have a will?
Did your sister  have any estate apart from the bank account?
 

Keep_pedalling

The OP originally posted this on another thread where the said there was no will. Some people do this as an alternative to making a will, but whatever the reason was here there is little the OP can do about it unless they have proof that any kind of fraud was involved.

Having LPA does not mean that he had sole control of the bank accounts, unless she had lost mental capacity and the brother had sole power over the account then she would have had to be involved in converting sole to joint account.