Wills

Sterlingtimes

Floss said:

Have you spoken to anyone at the solicitors, or just emailed them?

My mother wrote a letter several weeks ago prior to subsequent hospitalisation consequent upon an accidental fall. The solicitors have failed to respond. I have emailed, but that has also been ignored. It may be that the solicitors are concerned about my interference, but they could tell me that.

Worse still, my mother has lost the key to her safe. We are now employing a locksmith to establish whether the 
The will is in the safe. We really just need to establish whether the solicitor holds a copy of an extant Will. 

Savvy_Sue

If you have power of attorney, I'd be phoning or visiting their office after the weekend, although it's possible that if your mother 'only' wrote earlier this month, that the solicitor is still working their way up to a response. 

Sterlingtimes

Savvy_Sue said:

If you have power of attorney, I'd be phoning or visiting their office after the weekend, although it's possible that if your mother 'only' wrote earlier this month, that the solicitor is still working their way up to a response. 

Thank you, Savvy. You have helped me in the past. I was not sure whether I could use the power of attorney for Will matters when I am a beneficiary of the Will. I thought it reasonable for them to state that they have an extant Will on file.

My mother is coming out of the hospital next week but is suffering from severe delirium with hallucinations. She would not be in a fit mental state to write a new Will in her present state of health.

Albermarle

Sterlingtimes said:

Savvy_Sue said:

If you have power of attorney, I'd be phoning or visiting their office after the weekend, although it's possible that if your mother 'only' wrote earlier this month, that the solicitor is still working their way up to a response. 

Thank you, Savvy. You have helped me in the past. I was not sure whether I could use the power of attorney for Will matters when I am a beneficiary of the Will. I thought it reasonable for them to state that they have an extant Will on file.

My mother is coming out of the hospital next week but is suffering from severe delirium with hallucinations. She would not be in a fit mental state to write a new Will in her present state of health.

You said in your OP she does not have dementia. 
However the shock of a fall, a stay in hospital and drugs can have an alarming effect on older people.
It may well calm down though once she gets home. It may not, but worth taking into account she may return more to normal at some point. 

Sterlingtimes

Albermarle said: You said in your OP she does not have dementia. 

However the shock of a fall, a stay in hospital and drugs can have an alarming effect on older people.
It may well calm down though once she gets home. It may not, but worth taking into account she may return more to normal at some point. 

Thank you. Indeed, it has taken me several hospitalisation cycles to understand this. After a period in hospital, it takes about two months to stabilise. My mother could not meet a solicitor in her current state. Based on prior experience, I would expect some improvement. I understand that dementia does not occur suddenly, so I am currently dealing with delirium which is quite delibating in itself. It is a great worry to me.

Savvy_Sue

Sterlingtimes said:

Savvy_Sue said:

If you have power of attorney, I'd be phoning or visiting their office after the weekend, although it's possible that if your mother 'only' wrote earlier this month, that the solicitor is still working their way up to a response. 

Thank you, Savvy. You have helped me in the past. I was not sure whether I could use the power of attorney for Will matters when I am a beneficiary of the Will. I thought it reasonable for them to state that they have an extant Will on file.

I think my argument would go: I have LPA for my mother. I know that she wrote to you about her will. She has not had a reply, and as she is in hospital I am following this up on her behalf.

Sterlingtimes

Savvy_Sue said:

I think my argument would go: I have LPA for my mother. I know that she wrote to you about her will. She has not had a reply, and as she is in hospital I am following this up on her behalf.

Thank you. That is really helpful. I did this in effect. But your approach is better.