Stanley (80+)
Will and Lasting Power of Attorney

Lasting Power of Attorney Case Studies

By : Stanley's son

My first contact with Mrs Burke was very definitely “sceptical”. My father had, on several occasions, had contact with various solicitors with the intention of preparing a will. These contacts had never reached an acceptable conclusion and here comes yet another solicitor making an offer of a free will if only one made a donation to a local “elderly care” organisation!

Mrs Burke came to see us at my father’s home, (the first pleasant surprise, she visited us not the other way around) where father first outlined his requirements for his will. Mrs Burke’s intention being to first understand what is wanted, make a draft in plain English and then translate this into a legally binding document. After the needs of the will had been clarified we started with the next subject, that of drawing up a “Lasting Power of Attorney (LPoA)”. As father was already in his high 80’s and his bank would accept no other form of authorisation this was the route we had to go down. Both of the documents were duly prepared, including all of the intermediate steps which, when official bodies are involved, can take time.

After the successful completion of the will and LPoA we spoke to Mrs Burke concerning a property issue which other solicitors, many years earlier, had failed to successfully complete. Due to the persistence of Mrs Burke (a bit like a terrier that won’t let go) we were able to conclude the issue, after many months, to our total satisfaction.

Fortunately the above mentioned issues had been clarified before my father became noticeably ill with dementia where once again Mrs Burke was extremely helpful. Father had fallen into the scam-trap of sending “processing costs” to organisations who maintained that he had won thousands of pounds. As I am not normally resident in the UK it was impossible for me to monitor his mail, so armed with the LPoA and the help of Mrs Burke we setup a mail redirection to her office where she checked the mail, emailed copies of things relevant to me and dumped the junk mail (regularly 20 letters per day).

Sadly 6 months later my Father died and, as Mrs Burke and myself were the named executors in his will, we were again working together. In our first conversation after his death Diane stated that there were three ways in which we could deal with Father’s estate, either she would do everything including empty his house using an external contractor, I could do everything (including all of the paper work) or we could work together which is of course the way we did it.

As a result of Father’s illness I had, over the months, acquired a detailed knowledge of his financial situation, so most of the relevant information for the probate application was readily available very soon after his death. Missing information was speedily obtained and Probate was granted within 4 weeks. Whilst I mainly concerned myself with the utilities and house and contents Diane was dealing with the bank, accountants (for tax returns), cancelling of very obstinate subscriptions, the transfer of shares and Premium Bonds, a change in the house insurance (as the house was now basically no longer lived in), a change in the ownership of the house and of course paying bills which were due.

At times of great loss it is more than helpful if a calm and competent companion is around to provide the professional and moral support which is so necessary in today’s regulated world, especially then when one’s own ability to think straight is not at its best.

I would hesitate not one second to recommend Diane Burke to anyone looking for assistance on tidying up their affairs for the final stage of their lives.

Diane, thank you!

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