Month: October 2022

The impact Lasting Powers of Attorney bestow is tremendous and without one, the consequences can be catastrophic.  Similar to an insurance policy, you hope to never need to rely on an LPA but if circumstances arise and you need to, you will be in a much better position than without one.

We posed the question ‘Why does anyone need to make a Lasting Power of Attorney?’ to members of our Probate department and the number of horror stories they were able to recall about the dreadful consequences of NOT having a Lasting Power of Attorney was alarming. 

Scenario 1.

Your bank can freeze your accounts, even ones in joint names.

Banks have the power to freeze accounts; both sole and joint ones. In this instance the husband had lost capacity and given the circumstances the wife thought that because their account was in joint names everything would be fine, unfortunately this was not the case. Having not appointed his wife (or anyone else for that matter) as his attorney, the bank had no choice but to freeze the joint account. This meant the couple had no access to any of their funds; mortgage payments were stopped; bills went unpaid and debts built, ultimately, everything was at risk.

Making a Lasting Power of Attorney would have mitigated this. The appointed attorney would have been able to continue to make financial decisions on the husband’s behalf and the account would not have been frozen. The Attorney can be anyone over the age of 18 and needn’t be the spouse.

Scenario 2.

When money is stolen whilst backpacking abroad no one can call your bank on your behalf.

Travelling abroad usually has positive connotations but things can go wrong. Having arrived in China, the parents back home in the UK received a message from their backpacking daughter to notify them her bank card had been stolen and could they call her bank to request a new one. Unfortunately, when the parents called the bank, no one would speak to them because neither of them were her appointed Attorney.

Stranded thousands of miles away with funds running out, all of this could have been avoided had the daughter appointed either one of her parents as her Attorney prior to travelling. Had this been done, the bank could have spoken to the Attorney on her behalf and resolved the issue immediately.

Scenario 3.

If you are involved in an accident the authorities can take control of your financial and health affairs.

In this example the individual was involved in a road traffic collision and suffered severe injuries, resulting in a loss of capacity. Having lost capacity, she was unable to make her own decisions and without a Lasting Power of Attorney no one in her family was able to speak on her behalf regarding her health and welfare decisions (life-sustaining treatment). Her next of kin was consulted but because she was not her appointed attorney, the authorities were the overall decision makers in terms of her treatment.  Being involved in an RTC still meant the bills had to be paid and similar to scenario 1 without an appointed attorney in place the management of her financial affairs were in the hands of her bank and not someone she trusted.

Nobody expects to lose capacity, especially so unexpectedly but had the individual made a Lasting Power of Attorney for both her financial and health affairs, someone she trusted would have been able to maintain her finances and ensure her wishes were granted in relation to her health and ongoing care.

Scenario 4

If you struggle with budgeting no one can support you with important financial decisions.

On becoming 18, the son was now classed independent despite suffering from learning difficulties which meant he struggled to live independently. Having his own bank account meant he was responsible for making his own financial decisions and would often make costly mistakes with regards to the decisions he made. He understood that it was a problem and it often caused him a great deal of stress and anxiety.  The parents tried to discuss the situation with his bank but because neither parent was an appointed attorney they were unable to support the son with the management of his finances.

As soon as the son became 18, it would have been advisable for him and his family to discuss the idea of making a Lasting Power of Attorney. The son would have kept his independence and the LPA would have allowed his appointed attorney to legally manage his finances on his behalf.

Scenario 5

Being diagnosed with Dementia does not make you exempt from making a LPA.

The common assumption is that upon diagnosis of dementia an individual is automatically exempt from making an LPA because they are deemed to have lost capacity. In this given situation this is what the family thought to be case and decided it was too late to make the suitable provisions. As a result when the Father lost capacity there was no one able to make his financial and health decisions on his behalf.

In the majority of cases, Dementia is usually progressive. Just because someone has dementia, it does not stop that person making an LPA – they may still have the relevant capacity to decide who should manage their affairs and a doctor or other independent body may be consulted to assess their capability. The family in this case could have made the suitable provisions after the father’s diagnosis so he could have appointed someone he trusted to make his financial and health affair decisions on his behalf.

See our ‘Making an LPA‘ helpful flyer

Find out more information about Lasting Powers of Attorney and arrange an initial no-obligation discussion with our probate and wills team. Contact us by calling 0116 212 1000.

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October is “Make a Will” month, and it’s the perfect opportunity to make sure your affairs are in order.

Many people think that they don’t need to make a Will for a variety of reasons, ranging from “everything will go to my spouse/children” to “I don’t have anything to leave”.

 

So let’s talk about 5 reasons why you SHOULD make a Will!

 

1. We don’t know when we’ll die

Some people think it’s horrible to think about death – but as the saying goes, it is one of two certainties in life!

The reality is that people die unexpectedly all the time. I have dealt with the estate of a lady who slipped over in the street in the winter and died as a result. I have also spoken with a family where the young father had an ear infection and later died of complications.

The truth is that if you have a Will in place, you are prepared for any unexpected circumstances. For complete protection, you may also want to think about a Lasting Power of Attorney in case you lose the mental capacity to manage your affairs yourself.

 

2. Control over who benefits

Whilst in some simple cases your spouse or children will inherit everything, the intestacy rules (which apply to anyone who dies without leaving a Will) don’t consider your personal circumstances.

That means that your beneficiaries are based on who would usually be considered your closest relative objectively. For example, if you aren’t married to (or in a civil partnership with) your partner then they are unlikely to inherit. If you have fallen out with your parents, they may still inherit. If your sister is a millionaire and your brother is poor, they would still inherit equally.

Making a Will means that you can easily decide who receives what from your estate when you die.

 

3. Funeral wishes

I am seeing more and more clients who want a small funeral service, or sometimes no service at all. If you have strong wishes about anything to do with your funeral then this can go into your Will, so that your wishes are there in black and white. It makes things much easier for the loved ones left behind if you have left guidance about what you want. This can range from burial vs cremation, to which songs you would like to be played during the service.

 

4. Guardianship for young children

If a child’s parents die whilst they are under 18 then the rules around guardianship can be complicated.

In your Will, you can appoint one or more guardians who become legally responsible for your child as soon as the second parent dies – no questions asked and no Court applications necessary.

This is significantly easier than the alternative – leaving your children with uncertainty about who will look after them whilst Court proceedings are ongoing.

 

5. It makes the process quicker

Many people are still unaware of how long probate takes – usually between 12 and 18 months in my experience, but it can be much longer if things are complicated.

Dying with a Will makes that process much quicker. This is because the Executors (the people appointed to collect in the assets and pay them to the beneficiaries) are authorised by the Will to deal with your estate. If you die without a Will, someone must make an application to the Probate Registry asking them to authorise you – and again, there is a priority order based on blood relationships. This process takes at least 8 weeks at the time of writing, meaning you can’t do very much until that authorisation is granted.

 

For more information about making a Will, you can contact our experienced team of lawyers on 0116 212 1000 or 01858 445 480. Contact Us here.

 

When you lose a loved one it can be an emotional, confusing, and stressful time. To help ease the worries you may have when considering what to do next, the Government has usefully created a function called “Tell Us Once”.

TELL US ONCE

What is the Tell Us Once service?

The Tell Us Once service was set up in 2011 in order to assist in the administration of an estate. Whilst the service is optional, it provides you with a time-efficient process to inform a variety of organisations about the passing of your loved one. The service is completely free and takes around ten minutes to complete if you have all the required information to hand.

 

What does the Tell Us Once service do?

The Tell Us Once service informs a particular group of organisations about the death of your loved one. This saves you the time of contacting them all individually. Once you have registered the death, you will be provided with a unique reference number for the Tell Us Once service. Before attempting to complete the service, it will be useful to have the following information to hand:

 

Your loved one’s:

• Full name

• Date of birth

• Date of death

• Most recent address

• Spouse/Next of Kin details

• Executor details

• Benefits information

• Public or Government Pension information

 

If your loved one had a passport or a driving licence, you will also need the information relating to these.

Who does the Tell us Once service not inform?

Tell us Once will not inform banks or building societies of your loved one’s passing. They will also not inform any private pension companies, and so you will need to do this yourself. As well as this, you will also need to ensure you inform any utility companies in order for them to update their records. It’s not possible for the Tell us Once service to identify all creditors your loved one may have had, and so placing a notice in your local newspaper and in the Gazette will alleviate any concerns.

If you wish to take advantage of the Tell Us Once service or wish to find out more information, you can do so by following this link: https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death/organisations-you-need-to-contact-and-tell-us-once.

 

Whether you use the Tell Us Once service or not, Lawson West Solicitors are here to help. If you’ve recently lost someone and need advice on the next steps to take, please do not hesitate to Contact Us.