Granny wants all money from her account to be split amongst her kids.

gazzer

Hi.

This should prob be asked in the Legal thread but I mainly wanted to know about bank requirements at this stage. I told my dad I would check for him.

My 98 year old grandmother is cared for by her 7 kids on a 1 day each basis

My dad is a Co name on her bank account and will occasionally take money out of it for things like buying a new sofa and general home improvement. These withdrawals will be done on request from other family members. The main source of income going into the account is her pension and money from the sale of a plot of land.

2 of her children informed my dad last week that my granny wants to forego her will and instead wants my dad to take all the money out of her account and distribute it evenly amongst her kids. Talking roughly 10k each. My granny never said this to my dad. When he said it to her she just said "Ah whatever"

While my dad has reservations about this (prob more suited for a legal area) he has been trying to explain to his siblings that he can't just take out 70k from the bank in cash and hand it over to them. They would have to use their accounts to receive the money.

My Dad doesn't have power of attorney and it would be a stretch to get his mother to the bank in current circumstances.

I suggested that if he is dividing the money out that he get a form of contract drawn up to make it all legal from the solicitor who is involved in her will so that the siblings have something to show the bank/post office where the money came from? Is there an amount over where a lodgement into a personal bank account is queried?

In current circumstances my Granny would not be able to go to the bank. Can my dad close his mothers account? He doesn't want to leave the only thing going into her account to be her old age pension.



Thanks.

GerardKeating

gazzer wrote: »

he can't just take out 70k from the bank in cash and hand it over to them. They would have to use their accounts to receive the money.

Most banks will not pay out that amount of cash, with out prior arrangements. He would have to get banks drafts for everyone.

Any cleaning out the account would (should) sound alarms bells in the bank, of elder financial abuse.

gazzer wrote: »

Can my dad close his mothers account? He doesn't want to leave the only thing going into her account to be her old age pension.

If you close the account, how will she get her pension ?

Account can normally be closed by letter (some banks even insist on a letter).

salamiii

financial elder abuse


https://www.ageaction.ie/sites/default/files/29253-age_action_a5_leaflet_web.pdf

homer911

Dodgy from a legalilty POV and potentially from a Tax POV - what other assets does she have?
How does this differ from the terms of her will?

coylemj

gazzer wrote: »

2 of her children informed my dad last week that my granny wants to forego her will and instead wants my dad to take all the money out of her account and distribute it evenly amongst her kids. Talking roughly 10k each. My granny never said this to my dad. When he said it to her she just said "Ah whatever"

Unless the granny gives specific written instructions to your dad, he should do nothing.

If he did act on what those two are saying, cleans out the account and distributes the money, what is his Plan B if, in her will, she leaves all of her money to just one of the children.

Has he given any thought as to how he explains to that child that, on hearsay and with no written instructions, he pre-empted the will and gave away his or her inheritence?

gazzer

Thanks everybody for the posts. I spoke to my dad earlier and said he needs to get legal advice on this.

Just to be clear, he doesn't want to take the money out and even if it is my Granny's wishes (I seriously doubt it) he said he would leave his share in her account

I'm going to ring him later to see if he has made progress in getting a solicitors appointment

daheff

theres no tax benefit to doing it this way (unless she has sizeable other assets).

Your dad & his siblings can each inherit 335K EUR tax free from their mam (your granny). thats about 2.3m EUR. Does granny have this much in assets?

I think this is more 2 siblings are looking to get their hands on the money now rather than wait for granny to depart.

Tell your dad to do nothing....what if she needs the money for something after its been given out...will people give it back?

Eduard Khil

Are any of the siblings hard up could they have been putting pressure on your granny to do this to benefit them.

gazzer

Eduard Khil wrote: »

Are any of the siblings hard up could they have been putting pressure on your granny to do this to benefit them.

Let's just say some of them are work shy. That would be a nice description.

sasta le

Sounds well dodgy

mickdw

If granny is coherent and able to make the decision, distributing some money is not a bad idea.
Ideally if it could be administered via solicitor, it would cover off any issues down the line but an equal amount being given out to each child should be reasonably safe.

When asked about this granny said "ah sure whatever"

Does that not sound like it wasn't her idea at all?

If her will days even split, Grand. If she had no will, it's an even split and Grand.

Why is this other person pushing this option?

amdublin

Umm. What if Granny needs $50k next year for a roof that is damaged in a storm and flood damage and all her money is gone to some work shy children.

Granny should keep her money where it is available if she needs it, write it in her will what she wants done, and then when she dies her remaining money can be split up

893bet

amdublin wrote: »

Umm. What if Granny needs $50k next year for a roof that is damaged in a storm and flood damage and all her money is gone to some work shy children.

Granny should keep her money where it is available if she needs it, write it in her will what she wants done, and then when she dies her remaining money can be split up

Or if she needs medical care. Hold on to it and let it be willed on her death.

wildwillow

Even if you had power of atorney you could not remove the money for that purpose.. It is her money and should be her decision.

If she needs nursing home care that money is calculated as belonging to her for a number of years after the gift.

You need to safeguard her interests and not allow her to be financially abused by her work shy family members.

cannotlogin

Thread title is wrong. No evidence the woman ever said that and a "whatever" response certainly doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement.

He shouldn't do any thing unless she raises the issue herself.

Total & utter opportunism & complete abuse of the woman.

What is he going to get legal advice on because I hope it's how to protect the women from unscrupulous relatives.

physioman

Dont touch it. Try to find out what the will says. If it says split evenly then wait until she passes away. Are they concerned that your dad is maybe spending the money on stuff he shouldn't?

laserlad2010

elder abuse exactly. sickening

her response says it all "ah whatever". The response of an elderly lady who doesn't want trouble.

Your dad needs to act deaf and blind and make sure that account is untouched

gazzer

cannotlogin wrote: »

Thread title is wrong. No evidence the woman ever said that and a "whatever" response certainly doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement.

He shouldn't do any thing unless she raises the issue herself.

Total & utter opportunism & complete abuse of the woman.

What is he going to get legal advice on because I hope it's how to protect the women from unscrupulous relatives.

Oh totally. My dad wants to make sure that he safeguards the money for her. To be honest, most times she needs anything he buys it out of his own money. He would very rarely take money out of her account. He was just a but thrown that two different siblings said it. The siblings range in age from 45 to 75. My Dad been the oldest. Just spoke to him. He is going to explain everything to the solicitor and mention elder abuse etc. This solicitor also did up the will 10 years back. Its horrible how money can make people so mercenary.

I havnt seen her since Xmas so I don't know how her mental alertness is. She is very hard of hearing but won't wear her hearing aid. Thanks again everybody.

gazzer

physioman wrote: »

Dont touch it. Try to find out what the will says. If it says split evenly then wait until she passes away. Are they concerned that your dad is maybe spending the money on stuff he shouldn't?

I doubt they think that as my dad has his own private pension. The will splits the money and house evenly to the siblings

coylemj

gazzer wrote: »

He is going to explain everything to the solicitor and mention elder abuse etc. This solicitor also did up the will 10 years back. Its horrible how money can make people so mercenary.

Why is he spending money consulting a solicitor? He should tell his layabout (sorry, ‘work shy’) siblings to xx. They obviously want the money as cash because they’re on means-tested social welfare like Jobseeker’s Allowance. The brass neck of some people!

Mind your language.

P2C

I would make sure what ever happens leave some money in the account to pay for funeral expenses and any other costs that may be coming at some stage . The average cost of a funeral, plot and headstone can be very costly. We recently forked our circa €13 k for same, wake and plus a nice headstone and a good send off. You will also have expenses to deal with such as probate at some stage if applicable and if their is a plot of land that will have to be administered. The executors can be responsible for such expenses if their is no money available. So get that all checked out but could be a good excuse for your dad to go back to his work shy siblings

coylemj

P2C wrote: »

The executors can be responsible for such expenses if their is no money available.

What you seem to be suggesting is that, in the absence of cash or assets, an executor is personally responsible for funeral expenses. Which is not the case.

HeidiHeidi

It's HER money, surely?!! Not his or anyone else's to divvy up.

Unless there's power of attorney in place, which it sounds like there isn't (and shouldn't be).

amdublin

amdublin wrote: »

Umm. What if Granny needs $50k next year for a roof that is damaged in a storm and flood damage and all her money is gone to some work shy children.

Granny should keep her money where it is available if she needs it, write it in her will what she wants done, and then when she dies her remaining money can be split up

Not that I agree at all with the proposed “distribution” without her written consent but why would she spend 50k of her cash on roof damage rather than claim the repair cost from her house insurance?