Power of attorney

[PAWS]

Not urgent but I was wondering if anyone could answer this question.
My MIL is with a couple of church groups and they have regular speakers. They recently had a woman who claimed to be a solicitor who specialised in wills and probate. Now MIL often gets details confused but she is adamant that this woman told her she had to appoint her son (my husband) as power of attorney or the government gets everything when she dies.
Now my first conclusion is this is a load of Bull but I am not sure. She has always had a will which she made with a solicitor. She had it re done about a year ago as some relatives peed her off and although they were only getting small bequests she wanted them cut out completely. My husband is the only child and sole beneficiary. I do not think it is necessary because if it ever came to it we would apply for POA but I would be interested in what you clever peeps have to say when you get a sec.
Pxx

[Peridot]

Re: Power of attorney

Hi Paws,

I think your MIL may have got wires crossed. Not unusual when lawyers are spouting at you

The Will and Powers of Attorney are 2 completely separate things. The Will made a couple of years ago, stands unless it is revoked by your MIL.

Power of Attorney (probably lasting powers (LPA) is what was being discussed) are used during someone's life time. It is always advisable to have LPA's in place. Hopefully they will not be needed but if a person loses capacity to appoint someone (and no it doesn't have to be the closest relative) then an application would be required to the Court of Protection to appoint someone. A very expensive process which is easily avoided if LPA's have been put in place already, for the cost of the registration fee (£82 for each type of LPA - there are 2 - Property & Financial Matters and Health & Welfare).

The LPA can just sit in the background until such time as the person loses capacity or if the person requests, it can be used just to make their life a little easier dealing with bills etc if they wish. Any attorney must ensure that the person's instructions, who created the LPA are followed. If the person then loses capacity the attorney still has a duty to make all reasonable steps to help the person make their own decisions. If they are unable to make their own decisions any actions taken by the attorney MUST be in the person's best interest.

This link may help: https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney which gives an overview of the types of LPA and how to go about creating one and the duties of attorneys.

Although your MIL may have got slightly the wrong end of the stick here it may still be worth considering creating LPA's so they can be used in the future, if needs be.

The Will remains as it is unless your MIL wishes to change it, of course but this is separate from any Power of Attorney arrangements.

Hopefully that clarifies things.

[PAWS]

Re: Power of attorney

Thank you very much [MENTION=85500]Peridot[/MENTION] - makes more sense now and I will have a look at that link.
Pxx