family matters and affairs( lasting power of attorney)cost my parents £1278

[Spent2much]

A solicitor just went to my parents , my parents have made a will that the house is to be split between me and my two brothers , but now there is this 'government ruling' that means my parents had to pay £1278 which includes court costs so that if either of them have to go in to a home or die then the government can't come and take the house .

Sorry for the brief explanation but my mum has just relayed this to me as i have written it .

I'm not just going to accept this as right because you hear of elderly people being ripped off and i don't want that to happen to my parents .

Anyone shed any light on this please ?

[MrsD]

Re: family matters and affairs( lasting power of attorney)cost my parents £1278

what was it for?

sounds like solicitors fees, a will should cost around £300 if it is straight forward

suggest you ask lots of questions and get a copy of the fee note from the solicitor and work out what exactly your parents have paid for

[Spent2much]

Re: family matters and affairs( lasting power of attorney)cost my parents £1278

what was it for?

sounds like solicitors fees, a will should cost around £300 if it is straight forward

suggest you ask lots of questions and get a copy of the fee note from the solicitor and work out what exactly your parents have paid for

just spoke to my mum she said it is because the government can overrule their will and take the house off us if they both die or go in a home . She is quite angry with me for saying Im looking into it because she believes the solicitor and believes the new ruling of the government . I'm going to get my brother to look into it and read what has been left , she says she hasn't signed anything yet or parted with any money but is going to go ahead with it because i no nothing and solicitors know what they're doing .

[Spent2much]

Re: family matters and affairs( lasting power of attorney)cost my parents £1278

I've looked on the CAB website and it has information on there , they have a form you can download and fill out .

From what i understand my parents are giving someone else authority over their affairs and I was under the impression that the will says me and my brothers have equal say ?

[Pixie]

Re: family matters and affairs( lasting power of attorney)cost my parents £1278

I think you're right to be concerned about this. Did your parents contact the solicitors or was it the other way around? Are the solicitors a well known local firm?

I've done a quick Google search and can't see anything about a new government ruling though it's well known that property may need to be sold to pay for care home fees.

What at I have found while searching Google is something called a Property Protective Trust. I haven't got the time to look into it properly but maybe you could S2M? From what I can see they are by no means compulsory and may not even offer full protection.

Unfortunately, your parents are of the age now where they are quite gullible and I don't mean that in a derogatory way. The fact that your mum said that solicitors know what they're doing says a lot. Yes solicitors do know what they're doing but it isn't always in the best interests of their clients.

I know how difficult it is to look into things of a financial nature for elderly parents as I'm doing the same sort of thing for my Dad. I suppose it's only natural that they don't want to think of themselves as naive or gullible or that their "child" might know better. You're going to have to tread carefully with this and try to explain to your parents that you're only acting in their best interests. After all, they're acting in what they think are yours and your brothers'. I certainly wouldn't want them signing anything or handing any money over until I'd really looked into it.

[cymruambyth]

Re: family matters and affairs( lasting power of attorney)cost my parents £1278

My husband and I have just written our first wills and there was no mention of anything like that. The only extras mentioned were about lasting powers of attorney.

[Still Waving]

Re: family matters and affairs( lasting power of attorney)cost my parents £1278

I was going to suggest that your parents should perhaps look into Lasting Powers of Attorney (should they become incapable of making their own decisions). An ordinary Will only expresses your wishes in the event of your death, but one should consider making your wishes known in the event of incapacity, but not death.

There are LPAs which cover
1 - Health and Welfare
2 - Property & financial affairs

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/overview

[Still Waving]

Re: family matters and affairs( lasting power of attorney)cost my parents £1278

Thinking about it - though I may be off track.

The fee you mentioned sounds as if it might related to the making of LPAs, which do need to be registered (for a fee) with The Office of the Public Guardian before they can take effect. This may have been referred to as "Court costs".

Edit: The registration fee is only around £110 for each LPA I think. The rest likely to be, as MrsD said, solicitors fees.

[Still Waving]

Re: family matters and affairs( lasting power of attorney)cost my parents £1278

Alternatively, it could be some kind of Trust designed to reduce the risk of losing the house to the Local Authority to pay for spouse's care.

It's difficult to know, as you have what info your parents have told you, and we have what you have relayed here. The passing of info from one person to another and to another being what it is, it may differ from what this solicitor has told your parents.