Inheritance - who gets the money?

Our wills state that our ES is not a beneficiary as he was amply provided for during our life time Nashville, not that there's likely to be much worth fighting over anyway.

I am very fortunate in that having worked in a solicitor's office for many years they did our Wills and Powers of Attorney for free. Even though I am retired 14 years.
Sent a nice bouquet.
Some of the prices quoted above are eye watering. I thought about £300 for a Will and £200 for a POA. Perhaps I am living in the past.

harrigran

I hired a solicitor to sort out my will and POA, the will is done but five months on I have not received any communication about the POA. I have tried getting in touch but they will not respond to my requests for updates.

Took me 18 months to sort out POA. The gov.uk site is hopeless to deal with. Several phone calls waiting for an hour, only for them to hang up. Emails responded to by different people, never coming back to me. Eventually got it sorted, but it was hard work. Persistence pays!

I did a POA for my Mum some years back which was invaluable when she was in later stages of vascular dementia. I have also done one for myself, both components and it cost about £82 for each. I have recently made my Will (a Trust Will) and as it is a little complicated cost £380 but it protects my partner who can live in my house and my children still inherit everything and any wealth I have when my time comes follows my blood line.

Grammaretto I know you mentioned no children in the specific case. Referring to children, in Scotland since 2012 your children have a claim on one third value of your moveable estate regardless of them being in the Will or not. So you can't leave what you want to whoever you like. They can't claim the house, unless its a caravan!

I had a POA for my parents written up by a solicitor, cost £450
When we did the same for my partners parents, we did so ourselves costing £85
A lot of the paperwork is not applicable, you just have to cross through with a diagonal line and only fill in the relevant parts

After you have filled in their details online you could print off the pages applicable to each child, post them to be signed and witnessed and then posted back to you. You don't need to post the whole document although there is one page which they are meant to read before signing. As previously mentioned you do need to be careful pages are signed in the right order but that is well explained. I wrote myself a note to remind me who needed to sign and when

'I also filled in the POA application online. The order of signatures is the only tricky bit and then after it has been granted there is an online code to allow access to any organisation with whom you need to register it. Quite straight forward.'

I want to get POAs sorted but worried about the signing bits as my DD and DS are not local so will it be difficult. My DD lives in Dubai! I'd appreciate any advice.

My lot won't be arguing over anything, I have nothing to leave them .

Going back to a will being contested after the death.

I was advised to specifically to exclude those I had not mentioned in my will who might try to contest the will.

Something like “ I wish it to be noted that I have intentionally excluded my (daughter, son, sister, brother ) ABC as a beneficiary of my will and do not wish (him/her) to benefit in any way from my death”.

Hopefully the the situation described in the documentary would thus be averted.

I also filled in the POA application online. The order of signatures is the only tricky bit and then after it has been granted there is an online code to allow access to any organisation with whom you need to register it. Quite straight forward.

sodapop

Bit rude, I was only asking what happened lemsip I can't access the programme now as I live in France.

Yes you can. You just need a VPN and use an English location and you can then access BBC IPlayer or any other UK tv channel.

There is currently quite a backlog for all POA applications so probably not the solicitors fault although it will be worth checking with them.
Yes, even valid Wills can be contested but if you are looking to exclude someone for a reason or include a non-family member for a reason, your Will will have much more strength if you add an expression of wishes to go with it. It also helps if the family know what you are doing why

I thought the situation was interesting and unusual, but the programme was tedious and spun it out unnecessarily.

Bit rude, I was only asking what happened lemsip I can't access the programme now as I live in France.

sodapop

lemsip

last nights case was about two sons who lost out to an adopted son.

How did that work lemsip surely an adopted child has the same rights as biological children.

what you asking me for?

watch it and see!

Grammaretto

I didn't pay the solicitor too much for the will, and the POA. It was less than £500.
It gives me peace of mind knowing it's all correct and the DC have copies.

Are you sure? That seems very cheap. When I was looking around it was roughly £1500 for one person for both parts. Double that for a couple. Then your Will on top of that. Ours is a bit complicated but it’s going to be around £750 plus VAT.
grammaretto

I have just watched this on catch up. I understood that the 3rd son was not formally adopted, but he did live with the two parents for years and became their carer.
It is so sad thought that the three men could not come to some arrangement, before the case went to court and ended up in the Supreme Court . The two brothers did not have to pay any fees, as they were covered by some sort of insurance that Solicitors have.
We have very recently updated our POA's , with the Health and Welfare part added. Our solicitor has sent them to the Office of the Public Guardian, and said that it could be months before we hear that registration has taken place.

Katie59

Primrose53

Katie59

harrigran

I hired a solicitor to sort out my will and POA, the will is done but five months on I have not received any communication about the POA. I have tried getting in touch but they will not respond to my requests for updates.

I’ve been chasing for 3 yrs and the solicitors are still making excuses, no complications just a few investments and a house.
Too many holidays spending the outrageous rates they charge!.

katie59. I am sure you could have done the POA yourself on the Gov website. It is honestly so straightforward and each of the two parts cost about £85. Solicitors charge About £1500. My Mum’s came back from the Office of the Public Guardian in about 6 weeks and was invaluable to us.

My OH said that but sister and husband wanted it done “properly”, hence the solicitor.
Lord knows what the bill will be, sister has had her comeuppance because it’s taken so long and they need the money. There’s no real animosity it’s just nice to see her “smart ass” husband proved wrong.

That made me laugh! 🤣

it’s usually people who don’t do any research who come out with stuff like “we want it done properly”.

It IS done properly. Whether you complete the paperwork or the solicitor does, it still goes off to the Office of the Public Guardian and gets registered and is returned to you.

I imagine most of us on here can fill in boxes without making a mess and sign in squares without going over the edges because that is really all it is. You have to provide all the personal info like DOB, address, marital status etc so you might as well put it on the form yourself rather than pay a solicitor to put in info you have given them!

Let us know when you get it and what the solicitor charges.

I didn't pay the solicitor too much for the will, and the POA. It was less than £500.
It gives me peace of mind knowing it's all correct and the DC have copies.

Primrose53

Katie59

harrigran

I hired a solicitor to sort out my will and POA, the will is done but five months on I have not received any communication about the POA. I have tried getting in touch but they will not respond to my requests for updates.

I’ve been chasing for 3 yrs and the solicitors are still making excuses, no complications just a few investments and a house.
Too many holidays spending the outrageous rates they charge!.

katie59. I am sure you could have done the POA yourself on the Gov website. It is honestly so straightforward and each of the two parts cost about £85. Solicitors charge About £1500. My Mum’s came back from the Office of the Public Guardian in about 6 weeks and was invaluable to us.

My OH said that but sister and husband wanted it done “properly”, hence the solicitor.
Lord knows what the bill will be, sister has had her comeuppance because it’s taken so long and they need the money. There’s no real animosity it’s just nice to see her “smart ass” husband proved wrong.

lemsip

last nights case was about two sons who lost out to an adopted son.

How did that work lemsip surely an adopted child has the same rights as biological children.

Ali08

What's a POA, please?

Power of Attorney. It is ensuring your wishes are taken care of while you are alive. When you die it ceases. Some people say a POA is now more important than a Will.

I helped my Mum do hers when she was diagnosed with Alzheimers at the suggestion of the doctor who assessed her.

She wanted me to make all decisions about her health and welfare as well and Property and Finance. So as she deteriorated I was able to liaise with GP, hospital, nurses etc. I was also able to pay her bills, deal with correspondence, see through the sale of her house and find the very best care home for her after viewing 14.

We could not have managed without it.

Power of Attorney Ali

I did Pof A for myself and OH for money and for health and welfare. It was not difficult - the website leads you through it step by step. As long as you get each item signed in its right order, then there is no problem. Also, even though we had savings, I was able to get a discount on the fee on the basis of income (they ignore savings) so it was very cheap.

What's a POA, please?