Friend's Will Has Expensive Unintended Consequence

bobster2

Marcon said:

bobster2 said:

Even if it was legally possible I'm wondering what alternative way of distributing the estate the OP was thinking of? They don't mention any other potential beneficiaries. If there were any financially dependent children I suppose they could take legal action if the will makes no provision for them. But the OP doesn't mention children.

Doesn't matter what OP was thinking - he can't do anything but act in accordance with the content of the will. 

Of course. Was just curious who the OP thinks should be the beneficiary if it's not the person named in the will. 

eddyinfreehold

Some hypotheticals here....

Had the OP's friend died intestate and he was not married (the phrase girlfriend is used) then the estate would be distributed to his living relatives according to the law, after an Administrator has been duly appointed.

This is not the case as there is a will and an Executor has been appointed. The  will cannot be 'unfound.' That would be illegal.

Presumably the girlfriend has either a legal Attorney or Deputy to represent her interests owing to disability, and as said above, that should be checked with the Local Authority and Social Services.

Once Probate has been obtained the OP as Executor is obliged to pass the sum bequeathed to the Attorney or Deputy to administer for the benefit of the girlfriend beneficiary. It may be that some of the sum bequeathed could be used to further enhance the life of the girlfriend to allow her more comfort or enjoyment. The Executor would have to discuss that with the Attorney or Deputy before handing the legacy over. I would see that as being a reponsible Executor, although any decision lies with the Attorney or Deputy.

In the event of the girlfriend unfotunately dying prior to the distribution of the boyfriend's Estate, then the legacy would become part of her Estate. If she has a will, then the sum should be distributed to her stated beneficiaries after administration costs, tax etc. If she dies intestate then as there are no living relatives, her estate, including anything inherited from her deceased boyfiend becomes Bona Vacantia and is administered by the Crown.

It strikes me that either way the OP's friend's legacy to his girlfriend will be administered by one arm of the State or another.

My accountant once said to me "We all have to pay our dues or we wouldn't have a society."

keith_wright1

the former girlfriend has a captal limit for care costs ie money she can possess that cant be touched its about £16k thats entirely protected, theres also an upper limit of about £22k that triggers partial funding of care.  Any income and savings she has would be part of assessment they have to make and be part of her estate when she dies.

Under the terms of the will you must give the money over as specifed or be succesful in a legal process thats deprives her ( unlikly to succeed )

 What she might already own and where it goes is not something you can concern  yourself with. Tempting as it is tto try to dodge high care costs its nothing more than a bill or dedt that has to be paid like tax or a utility

Keep_pedalling

I would hope that most people would want the best for their nearest and dearest in twilight of their lives. And having the ability to fund the best care possible for them rather than think it was a waste of money.

TBagpuss

mathsForFun said:

My friend made his will 20 years ago, he has unfortunately died, and I am the executor. He left a large amount of money to his girlfriend (who has no living relatives), who was in excellent health when the will was made, but is now in a care home with stage 6 Alzheimer's disease. Her money has been spent paying for her care, which is now being paid for by social services. If the money is given to her, all that will happen is that it will be used to pay for her ongoing care. Her life won't change in any way.

I know my friend wanted to avoid paying for care. A few years ago, he had discussed with me in detail how to minimise the amount of his own money that would go to pay for care if he ever needed it (unfortunately, he died before that question ever arose). I am stone cold certain that he would have seen paying for his girlfriend's care as a waste.
Is it possible for me to do something different than exactly what his will states knowing that it would absolutely not be what he would have wanted if he had known the outcome?

As others have said, the answer is no, you have a legal duty, as executor, to do what the will says. Failure to do so would potentially render you personally liable for the losses (which in this case could mean being pursued for the money left to the girlfriend, so that some of the burden was removed from the state) 

Your friend could have changed his will, to reduce the amount he left to his partner (also - when you had your conversation a few years ago, was his partner still in reasonable health? It's possible that his view may have altered when he actually knew someone needing care) 

If you aren't willing to follow the provisions of the will, then provided you haven't yet obtained probate or dealt with the estate, you could renounce as executor, but if you act, you must act in accordance with the terms of the will. 

Malthusian

mathsForFun said:

I know my friend wanted to avoid paying for care. A few years ago, he had discussed with me in detail how to minimise the amount of his own money that would go to pay for care if he ever needed it (unfortunately, he died before that question ever arose). 

But apparently he wasn't concerned enough to think about where the money could end up after he left it all to the girlfriend, despite having a detailed conversation about it. At a time when the girlfriend may have already been in care or declining? (As this was only a few years ago.) 
I wouldn't lose too much sleep about the money being used to fund her care, or not being inherited by whoever her beneficiaries are. He didn't, and as his executor, you only have to think about what he wanted. 
Who is looking after the girlfriend's finances? They could in theory buy an Immediate Needs Annuity with the inheritance, which could near-guarantee leaving some funds to her heirs, at the cost of most likely losing some money to the insurer if she dies in the early years of the annuity. (She and her heirs would be likely to lose out to the insurer, as that's how insurance works, but it would substantially reduce the risk that all her funds are spent on care and she leaves minimal inheritance.)
If the state is managing her finances this seems likely to be a dead end, as they have little reason to care about her funds being run down to the threshold at which they have to step in. If a relative or family friend is managing them, it may be different.

Keep_pedalling said:

I would hope that most people would want the best for their nearest and dearest in twilight of their lives. And having the ability to fund the best care possible for them rather than think it was a waste of money.

I'm always quick to criticise the idea that people should try to dump themselves in Overmydeadbody Grove in the hope that the the taxpayer will subsidise their heirs. However, this is a bit different because the girlfriend is already in care. Even if she could in theory now afford to move somewhere nicer thanks to her inheritance, it may be completely inappropriate due to the distress and upheaval that would result, for a benefit she may not be able to appreciate. And for all we know her current LA-funded home is perfectly fine.
This doesn't mean that the inheritance is "wasted"; she is in the same position as a compos mentis person who lives on means-tested benefits and then comes into a large inheritance that means they no longer need them (temporarily or otherwise).

Spendless

When my Mum got POA for my Nan who went into a home with dementia she bought her a funeral plan. This meant when she died the funeral was already mostly paid for and meant the money she did have left (less any expenses that still needed to come out of her estate) could be shared between Nan's relatives as per her will. Nan was in her care home for 8 years so a lot of the money from the sale of her property had gone.

Whilst you don't have a choice as Executor but to give the money to the gf, maybe her POA could purchase a funeral plan with it (be careful which one as there's been issues with some recently) which in turn would mean if she lives in the care home long enough to be down to the minimum she can have it would mean that her funeral money isn't coming out of the bit she leaves.

Keep_pedalling

Spendless said:

When my Mum got POA for my Nan who went into a home with dementia she bought her a funeral plan. This meant when she died the funeral was already mostly paid for and meant the money she did have left (less any expenses that still needed to come out of her estate) could be shared between Nan's relatives as per her will. Nan was in her care home for 8 years so a lot of the money from the sale of her property had gone.

Whilst you don't have a choice as Executor but to give the money to the gf, maybe her POA could purchase a funeral plan with it (be careful which one as there's been issues with some recently) which in turn would mean if she lives in the care home long enough to be down to the minimum she can have it would mean that her funeral money isn't coming out of the bit she leaves.

I don’t see how this could help, and anyway POA ceases on the donors death and you can’t buy funeral plans for dead people.

p00hsticks

Keep_pedalling said:

Spendless said:

When my Mum got POA for my Nan who went into a home with dementia she bought her a funeral plan. This meant when she died the funeral was already mostly paid for and meant the money she did have left (less any expenses that still needed to come out of her estate) could be shared between Nan's relatives as per her will. Nan was in her care home for 8 years so a lot of the money from the sale of her property had gone.

Whilst you don't have a choice as Executor but to give the money to the gf, maybe her POA could purchase a funeral plan with it (be careful which one as there's been issues with some recently) which in turn would mean if she lives in the care home long enough to be down to the minimum she can have it would mean that her funeral money isn't coming out of the bit she leaves.

I don’t see how this could help, and anyway POA ceases on the donors death and you can’t buy funeral plans for dead people.

`I think Spendless is suggesting that potentially the POA for the beneficiary could look into buyinhg a funeral plan for the beneficiary with part of the bequest. Thus potentially decreasing the amount left to be used up in care home fees and/or increasing the amount left in the estate when the beneficiary dies as the funeral wil lhave already been paid for.

Keep_pedalling

p00hsticks said:

Keep_pedalling said:

Spendless said:

When my Mum got POA for my Nan who went into a home with dementia she bought her a funeral plan. This meant when she died the funeral was already mostly paid for and meant the money she did have left (less any expenses that still needed to come out of her estate) could be shared between Nan's relatives as per her will. Nan was in her care home for 8 years so a lot of the money from the sale of her property had gone.

Whilst you don't have a choice as Executor but to give the money to the gf, maybe her POA could purchase a funeral plan with it (be careful which one as there's been issues with some recently) which in turn would mean if she lives in the care home long enough to be down to the minimum she can have it would mean that her funeral money isn't coming out of the bit she leaves.

I don’t see how this could help, and anyway POA ceases on the donors death and you can’t buy funeral plans for dead people.

`I think Spendless is suggesting that potentially the POA for the beneficiary could look into buyinhg a funeral plan for the beneficiary with part of the bequest. Thus potentially decreasing the amount left to be used up in care home fees and/or increasing the amount left in the estate when the beneficiary dies as the funeral wil lhave already been paid for.

Ah! I was obviously not with it when I replied.