I am the executor of my grandmothers will, who sadly passed away from dementia after being diagnosed with dementia 14 months prior.
Until 4 months prior to her death, she remained living independently with full control of her finances, access to her bank card and cheque book. She only received minor support from relatives and a career who only attended to encourage her to take her medication.
During the 14 months from diagnosis, my mother gave her children money via cheques which she wrote herself to her children who live a considerable distance away- At no point was this money requested by any of her children. This was not due to her wanting to reduce her assets etc as she was not aware of her diagnosis and there were no plans for her to stop living independently. One of these payments was refused by her child.
I am now at the stage of finalising the amount each beneficiary is entitled to. My grandmothers will simply states that her remaining money be divided equally between her 3 children. However I am being told by another relative that I have to deduct the payments made from the date of the diagnosis as 'lifetime transfers' even though they were never classed as these. Also, that she was vulnerable and unable to understand her finances (despite remaining to be solely in charge of them until her admittance into a car home as no deputyship or power of attorney was applied for)
If I do take these payments into consideration this effects how much each beneficiary gets and I want to ensure I am doing this correctly.
A) can I alter the terms of the will and deduct these payments from the balance owed to each beneficiary
B) what proof/documents do I need to make these alterations
I would like to keep it simple and pay each beneficiary equally as per the terms of the will but I know some will argue that the other payments should be taken into consideration due to my grandmothers dementia. I would like to know legally where I stand with whatever route I take
Until 4 months prior to her death, she remained living independently with full control of her finances, access to her bank card and cheque book. She only received minor support from relatives and a career who only attended to encourage her to take her medication.
During the 14 months from diagnosis, my mother gave her children money via cheques which she wrote herself to her children who live a considerable distance away- At no point was this money requested by any of her children. This was not due to her wanting to reduce her assets etc as she was not aware of her diagnosis and there were no plans for her to stop living independently. One of these payments was refused by her child.
I am now at the stage of finalising the amount each beneficiary is entitled to. My grandmothers will simply states that her remaining money be divided equally between her 3 children. However I am being told by another relative that I have to deduct the payments made from the date of the diagnosis as 'lifetime transfers' even though they were never classed as these. Also, that she was vulnerable and unable to understand her finances (despite remaining to be solely in charge of them until her admittance into a car home as no deputyship or power of attorney was applied for)
If I do take these payments into consideration this effects how much each beneficiary gets and I want to ensure I am doing this correctly.
A) can I alter the terms of the will and deduct these payments from the balance owed to each beneficiary
B) what proof/documents do I need to make these alterations
I would like to keep it simple and pay each beneficiary equally as per the terms of the will but I know some will argue that the other payments should be taken into consideration due to my grandmothers dementia. I would like to know legally where I stand with whatever route I take