Mum's in a care home, I've got her jewellery, can I put on my contents insurance?

noideapleasehelp

Hi Knowledgeable Forumites

I'm about to renew my contents insurance.  
I'm LPA for my Mum.
Mum's just gone into a Dementia care home and her house and contents have been sold to pay for care-fees.
But I have kept her jewellery (because it's personal) and now have it at mine.
I found a copy of her will when selling her house, and her jewellery is not left to me, which is fine by me and the reason I have kept it to pass on as instructed under her will.

My head is in a tail-spin, because I'm guessing under legal terms, I don't own her jewellery because she is still alive so technically, she owns her jewellery.
But if it is stolen from my property, it is not insured under my contents policy.

But because Mum has advanced dementia and is DOLS, I can't get her legal approval to give the jewellery away in advance of her death to those in her will, and then get a codicil added to her will to cover giving it away.

Where do I stand with this?  What can I do?  I don't live in a great area, so break-ins happen and I'd like to ensure that Mum's Will is carried-out and her jewellery protected.

I could obviously ask her solicitors for advice but they are charing £250 per 30 mins, so forgive me for asking this forum for advice.

Any advice offered is greatful accepted.

All the best.















  

Keep_pedalling

Are any of the pieces of significant value? Most second hand jewellery is not worth more than scrap value.

mebu60

Can you pass on the jewellery to the beneficiary/ies now? 

Brie

For items to be listed on a policy you would need to have them valued.  

noideapleasehelp

Items have been valued and would push up my insurance contents.
There items of significant value.
Yes, I have had a formal valuation done.
I don't believe I can pass on to the potential beneficiaries before Mum dies.
Which is why I'm in the puzzle of can I ensure her jewellery on my contents when technically I don't own her property?
Thank you all for responding.

Aretnap

noideapleasehelp said:

My head is in a tail-spin, because I'm guessing under legal terms, I don't own her jewellery because she is still alive so technically, she owns her jewellery.
But if it is stolen from my property, it is not insured under my contents policy.

Not necessarily. Check exactly how your policy defines contents - is quite likely that it will say something along the lines of "property that you own or are responsible for", rather than just "property that you own".

noideapleasehelp

So Hi Aretnap

If my contents policy says "that you own or are responsible for" - Mum's jewellery is covered?

My contents poilicy has no such wording.

Spendless

I *think* jewellery of significant value forms part of your Mum's assets and may need  to be sold to pay for her care, assumming she lives long enough to have run out of money to pay her own care.

I didnt think personal effects were exempt from this but happy to be corrected. If its a wedding/engagement ring I should imagine she could keep them though. I think this because when the financial assessment was done on my Nan entering a care home, I was present and we were asked about Nan's jewellery (nothing of significance). 

MyRealNameToo

noideapleasehelp said:

So Hi Aretnap

If my contents policy says "that you own or are responsible for" - Mum's jewellery is covered?

My contents poilicy has no such wording.

Do you have a link to the policy book? 

Generally you are covered for things in your home other than for paying guests. Generally doesnt really help you though and you need to check the terms of your policy or contact your insurer to confirm. 

You need to be careful of both the total amount of "valuables" you have - check the definition too as traditional policies it will be limited to jewellery, watches, art and items made of precious metals but budget policies often add in electronics like TVs and laptops.  Plus the single article limit, any item or set over £X needs to be declared individually. X can vary from £500 on the cheapest of policies to £15,000 on higher end policies or more. 

Sea_Shell

IF the jewellery was stolen, and a cash settlement was made from any insurance in place...would the bequest under the will then fail, as those items no longer exist??

Would you HAVE to have replicas made, to enable those replacement items to be passed to the beneficiaries, despite the new articles no longer having the same attachment to the deceased?

How specific is the will to a description of the items, or does it just state "jewellery to X"

Interesting questions raised.

My instinct is to also agree with @Spendless in that these items remain within her estate, and may need to be sold if cash runs dry.        


Also, if they were stolen and NOT insured, would the beneficiaries have any right to complain that the items had not been "secured" for them.   AIUI, no beneficiary has a right to ANYTHING, other than what the deceased actually OWNED at the time of their death. 

So what would YOU lose if they WERE stolen?    Nothing.     

Keep_pedalling

Spendless said:

I *think* jewellery of significant value forms part of your Mum's assets and may need  to be sold to pay for her care, assumming she lives long enough to have run out of money to pay her own care.

I didnt think personal effects were exempt from this but happy to be corrected. If it’s a wedding/engagement ring I should imagine she could keep them though. I think this because when the financial assessment was done on my Nan entering a care home, I was present and we were asked about Nan's jewellery (nothing of significance). 

Personal effects are not included in financial assessments for care costs, so that is not an issue.

As attorney for their mother the OP needs to act in the best interest of their mother not in the interests of any beneficiaries of her will. Any costs associated with insuring these effects should be paid for out of her mother’s assets not her own so whether it is in her mother’s best interests to do that is going to depend on what other assets she has and if they will cover the cost of her care for the remainder of her life.

If for example the house sold for £500k and her life expectancy is 1 - 2 years then they could reasonably gift the jewellery to the beneficiary without affecting the ability in funding her care. If on the other hand it only sold for £100k in would be in her best interests to sell it to help fund care for as long as possible. 

Who has she appointed as executors of her will?