A Question on "State of Attorney"

[Doc Holliday]

Can someone clarify this for me please. I was telling someone the other day about me & the OH getting married in September and that it would prevent her family getting their claws in to her assets and my family getting theirs in to mine, seeing as we want to leave everything to the surviving spouse/partner and sod the rest.

 

He told me that being married doesn't automatically give state of attorney or rights of ownership by default if one spouse dies. I had been under the impression that this was the case. Now, not that I doubt this guy but he has been know to be wrong before and he argues a convincing case. Still, he works in a department store I look after and I can't help wondering if it's just a little knowledge on his part and if he is right/wrong.

 

Grateful for earnest replies, as always.

 

 

Doc.

[Piebob]

I think the term in England is "Power of Attorney" and, in my experience (Scots Law), your mate is correct and it can be a bit of a pain, and a delay, to get PofA in place should someone die intestate. Best bet is for you both to make a will, and PoA will be covered in that.

 

 

But, like I say, that's Scots Law.

 

If Mung doesn't appear soon there's always this http://www.desktoplawyer.co.uk/dtl/index.c...p;subsite=76050

[berties]

Can someone clarify this for me please. I was telling someone the other day about me & the OH getting married in September and that it would prevent her family getting their claws in to her assets and my family getting theirs in to mine, seeing as we want to leave everything to the surviving spouse/partner and sod the rest.

 

He told me that being married doesn't automatically give state of attorney or rights of ownership by default if one spouse dies. I had been under the impression that this was the case. Now, not that I doubt this guy but he has been know to be wrong before and he argues a convincing case. Still, he works in a department store I look after and I can't help wondering if it's just a little knowledge on his part and if he is right/wrong.

 

Grateful for earnest replies, as always.

 

 

Doc.

most peoples knowledge comes from experience and thus if you die with no valid will, so no legal will you are intestate and this is a flow chart of were the money goes not to where you want it to go,and most solicitors like to have a family tree drawn up by a profesional firm and take out a insurance to some one else coming out of the wood work, my advice is go to a solicitor and get it done simple will under £150 more complicated above £500 includes asset stripping (but it pays in the long run)I had a great aunt die we had £8k in legal exs and £75k in inhert tax an some one we had not seen for years we had to find and give £120 when we looked after the old lady in the latter years, just because she never left a will,my bug is that if something happens to me and my wife remarrys some one with kids I would not want my money to go to them,so this is my next move,remember solicitors do make mistakes so a bit of knowledge is king,we made a gift to the kids and this was not filded within 24 months so if something happens to me within so many years there should be more tax to pay,but the head of the solicitor practice put there hands up to this,for your future wifes sake and the kids get it all done properly

[Mungler]

Alright, it's not just a question of being married it's also how you hold your property, bank accounts (and more particularly joint bank accounts) and assets generally.

 

If you hold property as joint tenants then the surviving tenant takes all outside of what happens in the deceased's will - the deceased's interest automatically slides to the surviving tenant. You don't have to be married to be joint tenants however.

 

If you hold as tenants in common then it is normally in specified shares e.g. 90% and 10%, or 60% and 40% or even 50% and 50%. Here, in the event of death the deceased's interest in the property will be dealt with under the terms of his or her Will.

 

Just Google joint tenants and tenants in common.

 

If there is no Will and there is a Wife or Husband (there must have been a marriage or a civil partnership [one for the Suffolk men] at the date of death, being "shacked up" doesn't count), then under the rules of intestacy; if the estate is worth less than £125,000 then your other half gets everything. If your estate is worth more than £125,000 and you had no other surviving relative (eg children, grandchildren, parents), then your other half will still get everything.

 

The complicated bit under intestacy is where there is a large estate and or children and or other relatives.

 

I have no idea what your chum is babbling on about regarding "state of attorney". There used to be something called an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) which could be executed such that if you got vegetablised you could nominate your other half (or anyone you wanted) to take control of your affairs and bank accounts. It's a really good idea, because without one it's an expensive game of back and forth to the Court of Protection who then have to decide what's best for you - major league expensive and wasteful.

 

EPA's are now no more (although if you did one before the cut off point they are still valid). If you want one now, going forwards you have to get a "Lasting Power of Attorney" and these are structured such as to deal with money and administrative affairs and to deal with medical decisions.

 

The old EPA could be knocked up in 20 minutes whereas the new regime for Lasting Powers of Attorney is a real pain in the back side and costs a fortune. Mind you, they are still worth doing - they effectively mean that you can select your nearest and dearest as the decision makers and not an unknown 3rd party from the Court of Protection.

 

Invoice is in the post.

Edited July 1, 2010 by Mungler

[pegleg31]

Alright, it's not just a question of being married it's also how you hold your property, bank accounts (and more particularly joint bank accounts) and assets generally.

 

If you hold property as joint tenants then the surviving tenant takes all outside of what happens in the deceased's will - the deceased's interest automatically slides to the surviving tenant. You don't have to be married to be joint tenants however.

 

If you hold as tenants in common then it is normally in specified shares e.g. 90% and 10%, or 60% and 40% or even 50% and 50%. Here, in the event of death the deceased's interest in the property will be dealt with under the terms of his or her Will.

 

Just Google joint tenants and tenants in common.

 

If there is no Will and there is a Wife or Husband (there must have been a marriage or a civil partnership [one for the Suffolk men] at the date of death, being "shacked up" doesn't count), then under the rules of intestacy; if the estate is worth less than £125,000 then your other half gets everything. If your estate is worth more than £125,000 and you had no other surviving relative (eg children, grandchildren, parents), then your other half will still get everything.

 

The complicated bit under intestacy is where there is a large estate and or children and or other relatives.

 

I have no idea what your chum is babbling on about regarding "state of attorney". There used to be something called an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) which could be executed such that if you got vegetablised you could nominate your other half (or anyone you wanted) to take control of your affairs and bank accounts. It's a really good idea, because without one it's an expensive game of back and forth to the Court of Protection who then have to decide what's best for you - major league expensive and wasteful.

 

EPA's are now no more (although if you did one before the cut off point they are still valid). If you want one now, going forwards you have to get a "Lasting Power of Attorney" and these are structured such as to deal with money and administrative affairs and to deal with medical decisions.

 

The old EPA could be knocked up in 20 minutes whereas the new regime for Lasting Powers of Attorney is a real pain in the back side and costs a fortune. Mind you, they are still worth doing - they effectively mean that you can select your nearest and dearest as the decision makers and not an unknown 3rd party from the Court of Protection.

 

Invoice is in the post.

 

 

i was just going to say the same

[rodp]

if you got vegetablised

 

 

 

Straight to the point, no PC there. I do like straight talk

[MM]

Good O'l Mung Glad to see you didnt just **** up your years at Uni

[harv]

Don't believe a word of it he's a brief to the mafia you know