I have joint and severally financial POA with my sister for our parents. Mum and Dad have been self-funding in a care home since they were unable to continue living in their house due to both of them being in the latter stages of dementia and Alzheimer's. Now their bank account has been depleted we are in the process of selling the house. My sister has not been the greatest at managing finances so it's been mainly me who has dealt with that side of things for our parents. Now though my sister has taken the lead in selling the house as she is based locally whereas I am living a long way away. We have had arguments in the past since I don't feel she's always had Mum and Dads interests in mind even though I tell her that we are legally obliged to do that under POA. She even let her son stay in my parents house with his friends rent free without telling me until after they'd moved in and I was furious at the time about her lack of respect. So, to come to the point I don't trust my sister to make good decisions and want to ensure that when the house is sold the funds are used solely for the care of Mum and Dad. Would I be able to open a separate bank account for the funds to go into with restrictions on use - probably in Mum and Dad's name? I wish we had done a joint POA so all decisions need both our input - at the moment I'm worried she will do what she wants and not tell me until after. Any advice appreciated.
Concerns on sale of parents house
- Thread starter AnnieJay
- Start date
Contact the solicitor who is handling the sale and tell them your concerns. You could also tell the authorities for the POA that you would like them to contact your sister and remind her of her duties under POA and that the funds being to your parents for their care.
Being joint attorneys has problems, if any of the attorneys dies, looses capacity, or in the case of a financial LPA becomes bankrupt, all attorneys cannot act jointly and the power lapses.
All documents have to be signed by all attorneys, banks will want the usually proofs of ID and residency for all attorneys. Cards are not issued and internet banking cannot be done as there is no way of showing that all attorneys are authorising any transaction.
Take legal advice about whether to put the sale proceeds into a joint account or sole accounts. A point to note is that on the first death all the funds in the account will belong to the survivor and be available for care fees, you may or may not want this to happen. A clue to the donors' wishes is If the current house is owned as tenants in common and wills have been made to leave the half share of the property to other than a surviving spouse
Watch out about anyone occupying that house besides your parents previously, as there are new rules coming 2020 that could see CGT being applied against it in FULL back to when they bought it.
So someone in it as a tenant for 2 years could cause issues if for some reason it was not sold after April 2020....like a property downturn after Brexit.
I'm not a lawyer, I just read about this recently....good luck with the problem sister.
So someone in it as a tenant for 2 years could cause issues if for some reason it was not sold after April 2020....like a property downturn after Brexit.
I'm not a lawyer, I just read about this recently....good luck with the problem sister.
