Help please-surviving partner does not have capacity

romancz

A friend lost his wife suddenly last Sunday. There is no will. He'd had a stroke 8 years ago which left him with significant cognitive impairment and limited capacity. Unfortunately their bank account seems to be in the wife's name only, at least it's only her name on on the chequebook and debit cards, and he says his pension is payed into her account. Clearly if we inform the bank of her death and indeed it is not a joint account it'll get frozen which means he won't have access to any money, bills won't be payed etc. He has no other family. I have today referred him to Social Services but any other advice you may have re this financial nightmare would be much appreciated.

lisyloo

He should be able to redirect his pension elsewhere.
It's not clear what limited capacity means. If he sometimes has capacity that might be good enough.
I presume there is no lasting power of attorney?
If he lacks sufficient capacity then someone may need to apply to the court of protection on his behalf. This is slow, expensive and somewhat arduous if he does not have the capacity to appoint an attorney.

What does limited capacity mean?
Does his lucidity come and go?

Intestacy laws will apply to the estate.
Does he live in owned or rented property? Who owns it?

romancz

Thanks for your reply. As far as we can tell he has a savings account (<£2k) in joint names so it may be possible to redirect his pension there. Re capacity ... while he is able to understand and express wishes for relatively simple things he is unable to understand/process more complex situations and certainly not the the difficult financial situation he potentially is in. As with many stroke victims he has aphasia, a language and communication disorder (I'm a retired doc).

There is no POA. He lives in rented social housing. I'm really hoping that Social Services can help here.

Keep_pedalling

Does he have children? If not the he inherits his wife’s estate in its entirety regardless of how much it is worth. 

romancz

No children or other family. He will inherit of course but because the bank account seems to be solely in the late wife's name as soon as the bank's informed it'll get frozen and he won't be able to access any money.

RAS

Any idea how much is in the bank account? Generally, banks will release sole accounts to the spouse or even administrator on sight of the death cert, up to to a limit, most I've seen are £50k, a few at £20k.

It may be possible to do this online. 

romancz

Thank you so much for that info. There’s probably not a lot in the account but at least he’d be able to access some money while an account for him is sorted out. 

RAS

Recent posters suggested it took as little as 2 days, but others had to wait longer.

But he will need an account into which the money is transferred. Does he have enough ID to get a Monzo or Starling account, both set up on-line?

Let any utilities know about the bereavement and they will wait. And make sure the Council knows about his health and should be exempt from CT.

romancz

Thanks for all your help RAS. The only photo id we could find are a bus pass and an expired passport. Fortunately we found birth and marriage certificates as well as some utility bills addressed to Mr and Mrs. The medical cause of death certificate still not issued but once that’s done we can register the death and start sorting things out. We’d contacted social services who have already been in touch and I think they’re now aware how vulnerable he is and the difficult situation he’s in. Once again, thanks for your help. 

lisyloo

romancz said:

Thanks for your reply. As far as we can tell he has a savings account (<£2k) in joint names so it may be possible to redirect his pension there. Re capacity ... while he is able to understand and express wishes for relatively simple things he is unable to understand/process more complex situations and certainly not the the difficult financial situation he potentially is in. As with many stroke victims he has aphasia, a language and communication disorder (I'm a retired doc).

There is no POA. He lives in rented social housing. I'm really hoping that Social Services can help here.

I'm not totally clear on the rules but he may have enough capacity to appoint an attorney or attorney(s) if there are any willing.
There are 2 (£82 each but he might qualify for reduction or exemption). One is for finances and one is for health & welfare e.g. choosing a nursing home.
It's a big commitment for a friend to take on.