A carer, who was the sole beneficiary of a woman’s will, failed recently to persuade the court that a new will should not be created on the woman’s behalf.
The case arose when the deputy of the woman, who was agreed to lack mental capacity, requested the court to write a statutory will for her. A statutory will is a will created by the court for persons who lack the mental capacity to make one themselves.
The woman, a childless widow, was placed in a care home in 2008, having written a will in 2004 leaving her entire estate to her carer. This replaced an earlier will in which the bulk of her estate was divided between nine charities.
At the same time, she executed an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) in favour of her carer, with the result that more than £170,000 was paid to him over time. He failed to provide a proper accounting of these payments.
The local council objected to the carer’s authority under the EPA as it believed him to be an unsuitable person to fulfil the role. Proceedings ensued with the result that the Official Solicitor was appointed as interim ‘property and affairs deputy’ to look after the woman’s affairs, the judge concluding that the carer was ‘someone in whom the court cannot …have that trust and confidence which in this kind of situation the court must have if such a person is to be in a caring relationship with the patient’.
Vulnerable elderly people sometimes need protection from those who abuse their position of trust and seek to use their influence over them for personal gain. If you are worried about circumstances similar to these, contact us for advice.