Power of Attorney, Executor of Will and Post-Mortem Debt?

[daKlone]

Hi All,

 

Not sure if this is in the right place, so Mods please feel free to move if necessary.

 

Right, this is a bit complicated so I'll try to explain as best I can.

 

My wife's mother sadly passed away about 6 months ago. During the last 5 years or so of her life, she lived in residential care and at some point, an issue developed regarding the payment of the fees. Unfortunately, I was not directly involved and my wife is a little vague on the actual facts of the matter, but we have recently received a demand from the County Council for a sum of almost £3,000 relating to her mother. They have not told us what exactly this money is for, just that if her mother's estate cannot pay it then my wife and her sister will have to.

 

Together with her sister, my wife held both an Enduring Power of Attorney and was named as Trustee in her mother's will. Suffice to say, her mother died with no money or possessions to speak of and certainly nothing of that value. My wife an I paid for her funeral out of our own pocket in fact.

 

So my question is this: Given that the money was owed by her mother and as far as I know was solely in her mother's name, does either the Enduring Power of Attorney or the fact that she is Trustee of the will make my wife liable for this debt?

 

The Council asked us to provide details of the money spent on the funeral in order to "write off" the debt, but we received a letter today saying that since we had paid for it ourselves there was no evidence of how the money was "legitimately spent" and therefore we would be liable. All I can assume is that they've looked at how much money was paid to her by them and taken that away from what they can account for and have decided that there MUST be some money available.

[cymruambyth]

i think you need to get in contact with the council for a breakdown of the fees and a copy of the contract for when your mother in law went into care. If you do not have assets or savings of over £22,000 ish the council is liable for the care costs. However if you go to somewhere 'better' the contract may make your family liable for the difference (I believe).

[daKlone]

Thanks for your reply.

 

I like the idea of going back and asking for a full breakdown of the costs.

 

But just to be clear; they are not asking for a contribution that we should have made at the time, her mother was assessed and we were not required to make any contribution so as such the debt is entirely hers.

 

They seem to be saying that the proper contributions were not made at the time from money that was paid to her mother (income support, pension or whatever the name of it is) and are insisting that since my wife and her sister had power of attorney that they are responsible for paying it.

 

From what I can gather this does not follow and that having power of attorney does not make you personally responsible for someone else's debts.

[daKlone]

This is what I've come up with to send to the Council - what do you think?

 

 

I am writing to you to in response to your letter dated 30th March 2011.

 

Please provide a full statement of account for the amount of £x,xxx.xx that XXXX County Council is claiming they are owed from my late mother’s estate. This should include, but not necessarily be limited to, full details of the amounts that make up this figure, the dates on which they became due, for what services they were made and by whom they were accrued.

 

Once I have this information I shall be in a position to consider the validity of the claim.

 

Please note that any and all correspondence regarding this matter should in future be made in writing, to me, at the above address.