Relative in care home

Murphybear

Hoping someone can help, this is a subject that I have no knowledge of.

My 79 year old brother has severe dementia and is in a care home.  His wife has been taking care of everything.  Sadly she had a stroke recently and died a few days later.

My brothers social worker has contacted me to ask if I want to have POA, I think that’s what she meant.   She told me yesterday that he will never be able to live at home again.  
My brother never had children and our mutual brother died a few years ago so I am his next of kin now.  Our parents are long dead.

No one seems to know if he left a will so I want to do an online search for one.  My question is can I do this while he is still alive but doesn’t have the mental capacity to tell us if he did.  

They have a house which I will need to sell to pay for his care home bills.  Until now Social Services have been paying and I am keen to get the financial issues sorted. 

Thanks for reading 

Keep_pedalling

What is now required is deputyship, as POA can only be granted while someone still has the mental capacity to do so. 

This is not exactly a simple process and there are court fees that need to be paid and you will need to provide an annual report to the court. You have a choice here, either to take on this responsibility or to let the LA do it. 

https://www.gov.uk/become-deputy/responsibilities

poppystar

Did his wife have a Will? If not, he may well not have one. If she did, then they may have had Wills drawn up by the same solicitor. There is no way online of searching for Wills before they have been used to obtain probate. Who was executor for his wife? 

Do you have access to his house? Going through paperwork there is probably your best bet. 

TBH I think your first step is to get POA which will give you authority to deal with his finances. As he already has dementia it may be that this will be a long process itself unless he still has capacity to sign the necessary forms. 

Why do you need the Will at this point? 

Remember too there is absolutely no reason why you have to do any of this. Someone will step up if not - particularly if the local authority need the money for his care. You may feel a moral obligation but do also consider the burden this may put on you and your own health. 

elsien

All of this is presuming that you want to act on your relatives behalf, because you do not have to. And there is no obligation on you to pay anything at all, just so you are aware of that in case anyone tries to pressure you. In some areas the local authority will take this if there is no one else otherwise it gets referred to a specialist solicitor to deal with. But they always ask relatives 1st. 

As above, if he does not have capacity to make a power-of-attorney, it will need an application for a financial deputyship. This is not a quick process (you are talking months at least, possibly longer as during Covid it was taking 18 months ) so the local authority will have to continue to cover his costs because at the moment no one has the authority to sign anything on his behalf and they can hardly throw him out on the streets. 

Ignore a health and welfare deputy ship because the court rarely grants these.
https://www.scope.org.uk/advice-and-support/become-a-deputy?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21382452616&gbraid=0AAAAADrhH8H8SfdGqxFb5F0lix1rZELP5&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvbXf44WukAMVxI1QBh0RsiBBEAAYAyAAEgLVJPD_BwE


In the meantime, you can apply for appointeesship with the DWP. This is a lot quicker, will allow you to have his  state pension and attendance allowance (as he is likely to be self funding) into a bank account in your name so he at least has some spending money for the basics, if I were you I would set up a separate bank account for this so it’s clear what’s happening with his money. 

And yes there’s nothing to stop you searching for a will if it is a matter of public record. 

Keep_pedalling

The most pressing thing here is the administration of your SILs estate. It is her will that needs to be found (if she made one). If she didn’t then everything goes to her your brother (I am rather assuming they had no children). Does she have any close relatives? 

SVaz

A will is only public record, AFTER it’s gone through probate.

There is an official will depository but it’s optional and very few people even know of it’s existence so the chances are minimal.   Worth checking though.
It’s the National Will register.   

It really should be compulsory for wills to be traceable. 

If that throws up nothing then it’s a case of searching SiL’s house/paperwork for clues or her will itself.  
If no will then it’s up to you whether you want to apply for letters of administration,  if your SiL died intestate then your Brother inherits everything if they have no children or grandchildren. 

The issue of your Brother’s will is irrelevant as he’s still alive.

buddy9

SVaz said:

A will is only public record, AFTER it’s gone through probate.

There is an official will depository but it’s optional and very few people even know of it’s existence so the chances are minimal.   Worth checking though.
It’s the National Will register.   

It really should be compulsory for wills to be traceable. 

I don’t think that you can describe the National Will Register as official.

The National Will Register, despite its official sounding name, is a private commercial company that stores wills for persons who pay the company for storage. It's nothing to do with the government.

The storing of wills by HM Courts and Tribunals Service might be described as an official will depository (for England and Wales).

Murphybear

poppystar said:

Did his wife have a Will? If not, he may well not have one. If she did, then they may have had Wills drawn up by the same solicitor. There is no way online of searching for Wills before they have been used to obtain probate. Who was executor for his wife? 

Do you have access to his house? Going through paperwork there is probably your best bet. 

TBH I think your first step is to get POA which will give you authority to deal with his finances. As he already has dementia it may be that this will be a long process itself unless he still has capacity to sign the necessary forms. 

Why do you need the Will at this point? 

Remember too there is absolutely no reason why you have to do any of this. Someone will step up if not - particularly if the local authority need the money for his care. You may feel a moral obligation but do also consider the burden this may put on you and your own health. 

I only wanted to find out the inheritance line with his wife dying unexpectedly.  

Murphybear

Thanks everyone, it’s very helpful.  I’ve never had to deal with this before as our brother dealt with everything when our parents died.  

RAS

Also  check HMCTS who store wills for a small fee. 

In the house, check for any sign that either spouse had dealings with a solicitor. They may have organised a will with that firm, or the firm might be able to circulate other local firms in case they have one.

SVaz

We found my Dad’s will in an old handbag of my Mum’s in a wardrobe,  she pre deceased him by 20 years and he’d not had to do probate for her. 

I hope the house was registered on the Land registry,  if the mortgage was paid off years ago it may not be - if it’s not you will need the Deeds,  that’s a whole other nightmare.   No Deeds = not being able to sell the house.

You can check the Land registry website for a small fee,  if it’s registered it will also say how it’s owned, jointly or as tenants in common.  You might have to change it to your Brother if it’s the latter.  I don’t know how it affects Probate, if it needs doing prior then it could take many months, the LR have quite a backlog. 

I’d be seeking the advice of a probate/intestacy Solicitor if intending to deal with all this. 

I’m not sure I’s even want to start unpicking all this tbh.