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Original poster

Does anyone know about wills?

22 replies

ruksak · 04/03/2008 21:29

we are a abit concerned about MIL

she is 80 and becoming more and more confused.

she has had a few home visits from a 'wealth manager' from the bank...doing 'what?' we don't really know!

she had now told us that the nice lady from the bank has told her she needs a new will . But she only made the last one about 5 yaers ago. nevertheless she has had a new one drawn up... it is almost the same as the last one with one major difference. The bank are now the sole executors. the last one DH and his sis were executors as well as the solicitor.

does anyone know if this is normal? wrong? illegal?(we reckon the 'nicelady from the bank' knows that MIL is confused) worrying?

what, if anyhting, should we do?

OP posts:
Freckle · 04/03/2008 21:33

Have you spoken to her doctor to see if she is truly compos mentis? If not, then the will is likely invalid as it could be argued that she didn't understand the contents or understand what she was signing.

DH could speak to his mum and find out what she thinks was going on. If the bank is the sole executor, you can bet your life they will charge an arm and a leg for the service. If the only substantive change to the will is the executor, then I would raise a complaint with the bank and then pursue it with the Financial Ombudsman, if necessary. If MIL truly didn't understand and didn't want a new will, she can always tear up the new one (leaving the old one valid) or make a newer one to render the bank's one obsolete.

K999 · 04/03/2008 21:36

first of all, your MIL really has to be of sound mind to enter into making a will for it to be valid.

have never heard of a 'wealth manager' before! has your MIL entered into any kind of equity release scheme with her home??

all sounds a bit odd tbh....you could perhaps contact CAB to see what their take on this is.

the only reason that I can think that the bank would tell her that she needs a new will is if she has entered into something that I mentioned above.

It is up to individuals to decide whether or not they want to make wills and not for others to decide......

it does sound a little strange tbh

RTKangaDYSONMummy · 04/03/2008 21:36

As far as I know it will mean that the bank will charge alot of money to carry out the contents of the will

And will charge for sending letters and everything else

They may also be charging for holding the will in their vault

DH aunt did this with her solicitors and it has cost £££££££££££ cos of all their expenses

most of which were not needed like paying for a locksmith to break into her flat when DH had a key and would have let them in whenever they wanted or given them a key

Hulababy · 04/03/2008 21:37

DH is a probate laywer.

The person who sold her the will will be on comission.

She should revert back and change her will to as it was. The bank will charge about 4% of the gross estate when it goes to probate.

She needs to speak to her solicitor asap.

She should probably also get a lasting power of attourney.

DH also thinks there is probably a case for complaining to the bank.

Hulababy · 04/03/2008 21:39

Apologies for lack of detail there but have had a couple of glasses of wine; Dh is a bit more lucid thn me though - that was his brief comments!

Main point: get it changed back asap!

welshdeb · 04/03/2008 21:41

I agree, banks make a nice lot of money from doing this. Often its not very efficient for the beneficiaries too as its really not in the banks interest to deal with these affairs quickly.....Just think of all that money tied up where.... in the bank of course!!!

If you can get a copy of this new one and the old one and there are no other changes then its grounds for a complaint,as the other poster siad

Insist that your mil get no more vists from this "nice lady" without your dh being present.

Also perhaps you could arrange for the solicitor to make a home visit and draw up a new new one which will cancel this one.

RTKangaDYSONMummy · 04/03/2008 21:43

who witnessed this "NEW" will????

surely it can't be the "nice lady" or a bank employee can it?

Original poster
ruksak · 04/03/2008 21:43

thank you

all very difficult as MIL believse evreyhting is fine and 'NLFB' is being very helpful -helping her sort it all out withourt bothering DH and SIL

we obviously need to think carefully about this

SIL has spoken to CAB but they were cautious with their advice

old will was with old family solicitor, i think perhaps DH/SIL needs to speak to them

OP posts:
Original poster
ruksak · 04/03/2008 21:45

witnes??? hmm....NLFB brought a colleague with her.
SIL has seen will so we will check with her

OP posts:
Original poster
ruksak · 04/03/2008 21:50

SIL doesn't know who witnesed it

OP posts:
Freckle · 04/03/2008 21:51

Sort what out though? If the will has barely changed, there was nothing to sort in the first place. I would speak to the bank and find out what this woman's role is, whether she contacted your MIL first or whether MIL contacted her, who raised the issue of the will, why was the only change the executor, etc. These sound like very devious and underhand tactics.

Original poster
ruksak · 04/03/2008 21:53

we think the bank asked her

the NLFB has done some 'donkey work' cos MIL had her money dotted around ...NLFB has sorted this out and (We think) the money is all in one place ..ie NLFB's bank!!

OP posts:
Hulababy · 04/03/2008 21:56

Honestly DH specialises in this area of law. He is a partner with several years experience. It is important thst your MIL gets this sorted or yu will find yourself paying our a lot of money when it hits probate.

Original poster
ruksak · 04/03/2008 22:00

thanks Hula

I have emailed SIL a link to this thread.

i will keep you updated

OP posts:
lalalonglegs · 04/03/2008 22:02

Can you talk to Trading Standards about this? It sounds very dodgy especially if, as Hulababy says, they are charging a percentage of estate for unneccessary administration and receiving commission for advising a confused old woman. I would be extremely suspicious about the home visits which put an older, vulnerable person under a lot of pressure.

At the very least, I think you should write to the bank voicing your concerns so that, if the will isn't changed, you have something on record about it. I would ask them about commission and their probate administration rates and want them to specify exactly how the arrangement was entered into.

RTKangaDYSONMummy · 04/03/2008 22:06

the business with the will signing sounds very dodgy to me

Is that legal HULA's DH?

TO have a rep from the bank who are the exactutors to sign th will?

Surley they are an interested party

Our solititor and his scecretary co signed our wills a few weeks ago and they charged us for it but that was ok cos we knew they would do beforehand iyswim

DEFFO ask her own solictor

Has her house been sold to the bank as a sort of payout thingy too so that when she goes into a home or dies that the =bank own the house or part of it?

RTKangaDYSONMummy · 04/03/2008 22:08

sorry that was supposed to be an angry face about how awful it is that banks etc try to do this to the eldery

Freckle · 04/03/2008 23:14

When you have a bank as an executor, they appoint their own solicitors to carry out the legal stuff - and then add their own commission on top, so you end up paying far more than if you were the executor and employed your own solicitor. It's an absolute con - firms I've worked for in the past used to make a fortune out of this type of thing.

Does MIL live nearby? Can your dh or sil visit and try to get to the bottom of things? Chances are the bank has charged her for changing the will as well. And they will have the original stored in their vault so you can't just rip it up.

Original poster
ruksak · 06/03/2008 08:06

MIL lives 2 and a half hours away from both us and SIL.

SIL rang the bank and has asked NLFB to ring her; as yet she hasn't but i think SIL is going to ring again today.

OP posts:
Freckle · 06/03/2008 09:39

She probably won't and, as you and your SIL are not their client, she will probably cite client confidentiality if she does.

I would write a formal letter of complaint to the bank and to trading standards. Preying on obviously vulnerable old people is absolutely not on and the bank may not be aware that their employee is using these tactics. If your MIL had called the bank and requested an overhaul of her finances, all well and good, but if all this happened as a result of cold call tactics then I think steps need to be taken to reverse whatever NLFB has done.

Original poster
ruksak · 08/03/2008 18:00

she finally rang SIL back on friday lunch time but SIL was out. she will try to talk to her next week.

last night a friend told me that the same bank sold her mum an ISA when she didn't really understand what she was agreeing to; she is 85.

OP posts:
RTKangaDYSONMummy · 14/03/2008 23:08

wot has happened this week?

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