Power of Attorney UK . Responsibility & Records

[Frederick]

Has anybody got or had power of attorney to act in the interests of another persons affairs . Are there legal requirements to maintain strict records ( I should hope there is ) when it comes to how a persons money has been disposed of that can be called upon by a solicitor .

A person I know has been dealing with her fathers affairs she is over 70 herself and in some matters I think she may have lost the plot.

Her father has just died and she feels she can fly relatives in for the funeral and put them up in a fine hotel and expect her fathers estate to carry the cost .

Surely now he has died the power has stopped and she is not free to do this ? Testamentory expenses surely cannot include travel and accomodation for the deceased's family to attend his funeral .

I have never heard of anything like this !¬

[Quillan]

The first and foremost question is a will, like is there one?

The next question is the lady the only living direct relative, i.e. are their any brothers and sisters?

The basic rule of thumb is that any tax liable on the estate is paid first. Second is the cost of burial and third is the solicitors bill then the money is handed over. I would strongly suggest she seeks legal advice, in fact given her age I would say thats paramount. She won't for example automatically have access to bank accounts etc in her fathers name. She would have to produce a death certificate and proof that the money would be rightfully hers, normally by the will. A solicitor can do this more efficiently than she can especially given her age.

With regards to the burial, the cost of the service and burial or cremation normally comes out before any dividing up of the estate takes place. As to who she invites and paying for them well thats down to her but it comes out of her share not out of the general estate unless there is specific requests in her fathers will (like I want brother Bert from Australia to attend and money should be put aside for his costs).

As I said tell her to get a solicitor. I know they can appear to drag it out but if there are any other family members involved it stops any arguments, they can take up issues they have with the solicitor. There can be some financial benefits as well. In my fathers case he had some old 'penny policy' books from some weird insurance companies I had never even heard of. The solicitor traced them back through all the take overs and mergers resulting in us getting another 15k. Mind you her fees cost us around 2k but then nothing is for nothing and I thought that was a good result as I ended up with 13k I would never had got as I probably would have binned the books as they were so old and I thought them worthless.

[Quillan]

Sorry I forgot to say that she can be reimbursed for anything she has to do like post letters to the solicitors, visit the solicitors, phone calls to the solicitors, basically anything that involves her in administrating the estate providing she has receipts.

Yes the power of attorney ends on her fathers death, you might find THIS covers all the points with regards to that issue.

[Clarkkent]

When her father died, then her responsibilies under the power of attorney ceased and responsibility for the administration of his estate passed to the persons appointed by him as his executors. It is their duty to distribute the estate according to the wishes of the deceased, making certain, as Quillan has said, that tax is settled and the undertaker is paid, and that any other debts are settled. Until there is a grant of probate, money cannot be spent.

If the daughter wishes fly people from around the world and accommodate them, she must do this from her own resources not from the estate. If her father died intestate, then she must apply for Letters of Administration.

If necessary, as Quillan has said, seek advice. Perhaps the Citizens' Advice Bureau would be more appropriate than a solicitor.

[Alan Zoff]

Probate is required to convince third parties that you (i.e. the executors) have title to deal with the estate. Without it, banks, etc are not obliged to hand over the dosh. However, they will often do so if the sum is below a certain amount (as much as £15,000 with some banks) if the person receiving the money can sign the payer's own document, usually in the form of an indemnity to release the payer from liability.

Unlike an intestacy (where there is no valid will appointing executors), the authority of executors comes from the Will itself. Therefore, in theory - and often in practice for small estates - they can deal with the estate without probate. But they would be well advised to make sure that they are dealing with the last valid Will as otherwise they could be personally responsible for putting things right if a later one turns up with different provisions.... Probate (or letters of administration where there is no Will) will always be needed if the deceased had legal title to land.

As far as the air flights, etc are concerned, the cost of these would normally be borne by the mourners themselves. Reasonable mourning expenses are an allowable deduction from the estate for inheritance tax purposes. And it is often the case that executors will obtain the agreement of the residuary beneficiaries (who are after all effectively bearing the cost) to meet such expenses from the estate, whether or not they are tax deductible. 

[Frederick]

Thank you very much everybody..it is as I expected and I will diplomatically steer her to the solicitors who hold her late fathers will ASAP . There are things she has got in her head that should happen and her late fathers estate should pay for . I think she has not quite grasped yet that her power of attorney has now gone with his death . I am sue she has not informed his bank he has gone and I would not wish to see her in trouble if she drew on the account when not legally authorised .. Again many thanks guys. Her husband was a family friend he has gone now so she is finding things a bit difficult at the moment .

[Quillan]

No problem, happy to help.