Inheriting with dementia

[Smiler123]

I'm looking to understand what is likely to happen in the following situation please.

A married couple have wills that leave everything to each other when one of them dies, to then be split between their children when they both die. All fairly standard as far as I'm aware. Unfortunately one of them is currently very ill (the doctors say it's final stage end of life) and their spouse has fairly advanced senile dementia and would not be considered capable of managing their own financial affairs without assistance.

1) Presumably the spouse does still inherit everything on the death of their partner as per the will, regardless of their own illness and mental capacity?

2) What happens regarding things like paying bills etc. during the life of the surviving spouse? Do the children need to enact the lasting power of attorney to take control of the finances and if so is this a speedy or lengthy process?

3) Does it make a difference if the care needs of the surviving parent mean that doctors advise that they need to move out of their own home and into a care home?

4) Are there any issues to be aware of (e.g. relating to pensions, tax or whatever) where action may need to be taken on behalf of the surviving spouse? They are extremely unlikely to be sorting out any paperwork or updating authorities themselves.

Thank you.

[atticus]

Sorry to read this, it's a difficult situation. Can the spouse who is terminally ill urgently consult a solicitor about revising wills? I ask as it seems that the spouse with dementia may no longer have capacity to make decisions such as granting power of attorney (see below).

Answers to your questions:

1. Yes.

2. & 3. It may be too late to put a lasting power of attorney in place for the spouse if he/she no longer has sufficient mental capacity. It seems a plan needs urgently to be put in place.

4. Care costs may be a reason to review the first spouse's will, rather than leave all to the spouse with dementia.

As I said, this is a sad and complicated situation. Good professional advice now may save difficulty and expense further down the line.

[Sam101]

So sorry to hear of this, but in the event of neither being capable of making a decision, then the children could apply to the court of protection for power to manage their affairs.

Should either or both they need to go into care, then the costs of such would need to be paid from their assets within the rules.

I cannot see how the Wills can now be changed at this stage to avoid any care costs without the LA consideration of deprivation of assets

[atticus]

I cannot see how the Wills can now be changed at this stage to avoid any care costs without the LA consideration of deprivation of assets

Put simply, if spouse B has not inherited an asset from spouse A, then spouse B has not deprived him/herself of the asset he/she did not inherit.

But that is putting it simply. Specialist legal advice may well be a good investment.

[Sam101]

I appreciate the point ATTICUS, although I was more concerned that spouse A may be considered as not having the capacity to change the Will.

It is always worth taking professional advice from specialists and in this case the sooner the better.

[Smiler123]

I appreciate the point ATTICUS, although I was more concerned that spouse A may be considered as not having the capacity to change the Will.

It is always worth taking professional advice from specialists and in this case the sooner the better.

It's past the point of the dying parent/spouse being in a state to get the will changed, so it's more a case of understanding how these things play out. As well as the will a lasting power of attorney does appear to have been set up for the spouse and the children, so it sounds as though the surviving spouse inherits everything and the children then need to do whatever is required to activate the lasting power of attorney to access bank accounts etc. to make sure the bills are paid. How long does this sort of thing normally take? I would assume (perhaps incorrectly!) that the surviving spouse inheriting would be quite straight forward and it would be enacting the lasting power of attorney that may take the time?

[des8]

To save lots of writing a couple of helpful websites:
https://beyond.life/help-centre/admi...y-made-simple/
https://publicguardian.blog.gov.uk/2...orney-service/

and if in doubt just contact the office of Public Guardian. I found them very helpful.

[atticus]

Is there any reason not to activate the power of attorney now?