Changing a will

Clarethecat

My parents have mirrored wills. Sadly mum now has advanced dementia. Dad wants to change the will , can he do this? My sister has LPA 

elsien

No, an LPA can’t change a will.
It would need a specific application to the court of protection for a statutory will, and a very good reason for doing so.

That doesn’t stop your dad changing his own will if he wants to do so;  it’s just your mums that will have to stay as it is unless you look at the statutory will route which will have a cost implication as well as as checking whether there are sufficient grounds. 

Marcon

Clarethecat said:

My parents have mirrored wills. Sadly mum now has advanced dementia. Dad wants to change the will , can he do this? My sister has LPA 

He can certainly change his will, but not your mum's.

Brie

Maybe dad should write down what he would want mom's will to be so that everyone is aware and then when she dies a variation of the will might be possible?

Suggesting he writes it down as he might not be able to later for whatever reason.

elsien

But that is dad’s wishes for Mum’s will whereas it’s her own previous views that are important. 

Her own wishes are presumably already in the existing will so why would she want it changed?

Marcon

Brie said:

Maybe dad should write down what he would want mom's will to be so that everyone is aware and then when she dies a variation of the will might be possible?

Suggesting he writes it down as he might not be able to later for whatever reason.

He might want to change things, but if his wife's wishes were already set out in her will, not sure what this would accomplish?

Keep_pedalling

I can understand him wanting to change his will in case he dies before her, but there seems little point in changing hers. If her will leaves everything to him and he does not want that to happen he can make a deed of variation when the time comes.

If the house is currently held as joint tenants he may want to sever the tenancy to change that to tenants in common so that he can leave his share to his children rather than it automatically going to the surviving owner. 

Brie

Marcon said:

Brie said:

Maybe dad should write down what he would want mom's will to be so that everyone is aware and then when she dies a variation of the will might be possible?

Suggesting he writes it down as he might not be able to later for whatever reason.

He might want to change things, but if his wife's wishes were already set out in her will, not sure what this would accomplish?

I was thinking that if he wanted his wife's share of whatever to go to their children instead of him that might be best to be stated in writing on the off chance that by the time she dies he also has dementia.  Maybe it wouldn't be valid at that point but would merely be an expression of a wish rather than something that could be acted on due to his lack of capacity.

Clarethecat

To expand a little! Since wills were made there has been a shift in family dynamics. Dad no longer wants to leave a certain person anything, and if mum were of sound mind, she would most certainly agree! Yes, dad can certainly change his will, but the worry is that if he dies first then the said person would benefit on mums death, which we all agree she would not want to happen. That’s the issue.

p00hsticks

Clarethecat said:

To expand a little! Since wills were made there has been a shift in family dynamics. Dad no longer wants to leave a certain person anything, and if mum were of sound mind, she would most certainly agree! Yes, dad can certainly change his will, but the worry is that if he dies first then the said person would benefit on mums death, which we all agree she would not want to happen. That’s the issue.

Unfortunately you mother no longer has the capacity to change her will, it will have to remain as it is. 
Your father can change his, and you will have to hope that he outlives your mother.

Keep_pedalling

p00hsticks said:

Clarethecat said:

To expand a little! Since wills were made there has been a shift in family dynamics. Dad no longer wants to leave a certain person anything, and if mum were of sound mind, she would most certainly agree! Yes, dad can certainly change his will, but the worry is that if he dies first then the said person would benefit on mums death, which we all agree she would not want to happen. That’s the issue.

Unfortunately you mother no longer has the capacity to change her will, it will have to remain as it is. 
Your father can change his, and you will have to hope that he outlives your mother.

Even if he doesn’t he can change his will so that none of his estate goes absolutely to his spouse. He can either cut her out of his will or have the will create an immediate post death interest trust. He should sit down with a solicitor to discus what he wants to achieve and have an appropriate will drawn up.