Is a little will admin needed?

madlyn

My sister and I have been chatting about our dads will and we wondered if it's worth suggesting that he do a little admin on it?

He's not ill or anything like that, but him and our mum wrote their wills at least 15 years ago and our mum passed away in 2018, so things have changed, his circumstances are as follows.

He owns his home, has a pension from his employer and his state pension, some savings but no POA, since mum died my sister and I have spoken to him about getting a POA and he just says "we'll sort it another time". he's a proud man and a little stubborn and we think doing this would feel like he's giving away control, like he cannot be trusted any more, which is most certainly not true (he's 82 by the way) my sister now has a son and he may want to leave him something when he passes.

My sister also mentioned that she had seen something on the MSE facebook page about wills and possibly looking into a trust if there is a property involved, but neither of us can find it.

He's already said that what he has goes to us when the time comes, but if we are the beneficiaries can we also be the one's who execute the will.

There is also probate, I've read the advice on here but find it overwhelming and I know he would if we spoke to him about it.

Are we overthinking things?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6652815/is-a-little-will-admin-needed

If your dad wishes to redo his will then he should go to a solicitor to do this. I must emphasize that using "Facebook ads" to find people to do estate planning is very unlikely to end well. An "MSE post" you now can't find may also be a fake.

Trusts are also likely to have adverse consequences if your dad needs care in future- especially as at 82 that is a distinct possibility, (from a local authority perspective) he may get caught by deprivation of assets and treated (i.e. forced to self fund) as though the property was still in his possession... With a trust he won't own it

Keep_pedalling

Forget all about trusts, that may have been appropriate when he was married but is almost certainly pointless now. If he has not appointed his children as executors then that is a prime reason for making a new will.

Setting up a lasting powers of attorney should be a priority, so I think you need to make him understand that he will not lose control of his finances unless he wishes to or he loses mental capacity through accident or illness. One approach to this (if you don’t already have you own in place) is to tell him that you think it important that you need to put your own LPA in place and that you should do his and yours at the same time.

BooJewels

My personal recent experience with setting up LPAs for the generation above me, had them fall into 2 categories - those that get them and see the value and definitely want to get it sorted. The rest just don't see their purpose, don't see what value it could possibly have. My MIL fell firmly into the latter and it took us a long while, giving examples of how it might be used etc to persuade her to set it up. From that point onwards she always referred to it as "that thing you made me do so that you could change my will" (which is actually the one thing that you absolutely cannot do with it). So I can understand how it can be difficult to address this important issue with a reluctant family member.

The solicitor who set up my Dad's rang me about it and cited an example of how she'd needed to use hers when she broke her leg skiing and was in traction, so her son had to represent her in various ways, when she couldn't attend in person. So it's not just something needed by the elderly - nor does it mean that you'll take over or they'll lose control. In my elderly aunt's case, she was in total control and made all her own decisions, but found it much easier for my sister and I to do some tasks for her - like logging in to her account and checking if a bill had been paid or a payment received - and we did online shopping for her.

A couple of other points to make - yes, you can be an executor and a beneficiary. Probate isn't something you need to address with your Dad - it's basically a court issued document that proves you are authorised to undertake certain processes in your role as Executor - like selling a house, accessing larger bank balances, selling shares etc. So it's not something to trouble your Dad with.

Savvy_Sue

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860917#Comment_81860917

You can be an executor and a beneficiary, but you CANNOT be a beneficiary and a witness. A solicitor drawn up will would cover that. However, whoever is named in the will as Executor, is executor, so if it's currently a firm of solicitors it might be worth suggesting that you and your sister would be capable of obtaining probate (because unless his affairs are very complicated, you would be, with a little help from your friends here whenever you felt overwhelmed …)

I agree the way to approach LPA is that you and your sister (and partners / significant others) are doing one, because one never knows when one might fall under a bus, and the alternative to LPA is more onerous for those of you trying to obtain it, more expensive to obtain, and takes forever.

And the same approach might be used with 'persuasion' to do a will - unless yours were very recently drawn up, you may want to look at them, and "look what I found out Dad, these new rules mean … "

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81861118#Comment_81861118

Executors also have the option of hiring a solicitor to do things, even if they do most of the work themselves. This is what I did as a sole executor when I discovered some more complicated aspects of the deceased"s finances - I didn't want to get the handling wrong as I'd be financially liable.

madlyn

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860716#Comment_81860716

At no point in my post did I say I was using an ad seen on facebook.

My Sister had read a piece posted on the official MSE facebook page, that had been written by one of their experts and I'm very aware that should our Dad decide to do anything, then he will need to go back to the solicitor who first wrote the will.

Keep_pedalling

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81861207#Comment_81861207

He does not need to use original solicitor he can choose any solicitor, a new will automatically replaces an older one.