A legal expert has explained how grieving relatives who have a Power of Attorney in place may end up falling foul of the law without realising it. Power of Attorney (PoA) arrangements, also known as living wills, are legal safeguards that make sure that, if someone is incapacitated either through ill health or an accident, their wishes are respected and carried out.
But some relatives make the mistake of thinking the PoA still remains in force if the relative dies, a solicitor has claimed. Bex Seeley Harris, who is also founder of MyPowerofAttorney, said she had been contacted by someone who was facing legal action because they had assumed they could still act on a close relative’s behalf after they died. This person had Power of Attorney because their relative had dementia, and the PoA made sure their bank account was looked after and bills paid.
The expert said, recalling the experience of the person who had contacted them: “When that relative died, they paid a couple of bills from the deceased relative’s bank account, not realising that as soon as someone died, the PoA is no longer in force.
“It was only when a sibling, who was not involved in the care of the relative, decided to sue them for spending their parents’ money that it ended up going to court.”
Seely Harris explained what constitutes intermeddling. It happens when people start administering the estate, including, for example, paying bills.
Seely Harris said: “Intermeddling is predominantly a civil offence but, if there is theft, fraud or dishonesty, then it could end up in a criminal conviction.”
Seely Harris said that as soon as someone dies, the estate will enter probate.
The expert added: “The problem I think if you have been a power of attorney is the letting go and understanding that, literally as soon as someone has died, you are no longer allowed to act at all. Some people will find that quite difficult because they have been used to dealing with everything.”
A Power of Attorney is a legal safeguard you can put in place to make sure that if you are incapacitated either through ill health or an accident, your wishes are respected and carried out.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is sometimes referred to as a living will, although you can have a legal document called Advance Decision, can set out what happens with your medical treatment, if you want to refuse certain treatments for example.
You can register your LPA online and the cost is £82 per LPA. If you choose to take out both types of LPA then you pay £164, for each. There is a 50% discount if you are on an income of £12,000 a year or lower, and certain benefits may allow you to make an LPA for free.
All LPAs go through the Office of the Public Guardian and can take up to 20 weeks to be registered. It used to be longer but the Government streamlined the system to allow online registrations in 2020.
There is no legal requirement to make an LPA, but financial experts believe more people need to make them as the number of us needing complex care will rise over the next 20 years and it warned this increase would also come with increased dependency, dementia and comorbidity.
Setting up an LPA is associated with older age, but most legal experts recommend setting one up as soon as possible.
