At George Green, we not only represent clients with inheritance disputes and will disputes, but we are often instructed by families in respect of disputes regarding lasting powers of attorney documents (“LPA’s”) and enduring powers of attorney (“EPA’S”). 

A lasting power of attorney or enduring power of attorney is legal document used to protect the maker (“the donor”) whereby they entrust a third party to act on their behalf in the event that they lose mental capacity. Cases where there has been abuse of a power of attorney sometimes don’t come to light until the donor passes away and will sometimes be considered in the context of a contentious probate dispute. In some cases, abuse of a power of attorney will also result in criminal prosecution.

In a recent case reported in the press, it was found that a daughter had stolen over £80,000 from her mother who suffered with dementia over a period of 10 years. The daughter had a lasting power of attorney over her mother which meant she was in charge of her mother’s financial and property matters. She attempted to argue that it was not a case of coercion and that her mother had allowed her to take the money.

The court disagreed and sentenced her to 2 years in prison for her dishonesty. Judge Bate concluded that the daughter had “perpetuated over a number of years a sustained, dishonest breach of trust and treated her mother’s bank account as [her] own to spend on [herself]”. 

Whilst this is an extreme case, it is a stark warning to those in positions of responsibility over elderly relatives, not to take advantage of such positions. 

If you suspect someone is abusing their position as an attorney under an LPA, you can contact the Office of the Public Guardian who may advise you to apply to the Court of Protection provided that the donor is still alive. The Court of Protection has powers such as ordering that the LPA is revoked and ordering that the attorney repays all that they misappropriated in the dishonest use of the LPA. 

If you have concerns about the actions of an attorney under an LPA or if you would like information about disputing a will, probate disputes or inheritance disputes, please call 01902 424927 and ask to speak to one of our specialist contentious probate lawyers.  Alternatively, please e-mail us at contentiousprobate@georgegreen.co.uk providing a brief summary of the issues you wish to discuss with us, along with your contact details.

We have a dedicated practice team of contentious probate solicitors, covering all areas of the UK (with offices near Birmingham and in Wolverhampton) who are experienced in dealing with all types of contentious probate matters, including challenging a will and estate disputes. We also have a team of probate lawyers who can assist if you wish to review you current will or to make a will for the first time.

We offer a free initial free telephone consultation for contentious probate disputes and we can sometimes act for clients who want to contest a will or commence an inheritance dispute/probate dispute on a no win no fee basis.