Tying loose ends

A client recently telephoned me to advise that her mother was moving into care. Not an unusual occurrence, but she asked me if I could talk her through a 'project plan'. What she wanted help with was making sure everything to do with her mother's property was dealt with. This included everything from utility bill payments, to re-homing her dog, to what should (or could) be done with her mother's personal possessions.

My client is an attorney for her mother under a registered EPA and has been dealing with her bank accounts for a little while now, but feels that her mother's move is going to trigger a lot of things that need to be sorted out - all at a time when she is handling the emotional turmoil of getting her mother settled into a new environment.

There isn't going to be a 'one size fits all' checklist for these situations,
but the following are all practical points that need to be considered when someone is leaving their own home to move into care, and property is then left standing empty.

Security & Insurance

• Who has had access to the house recently and who might have a key or know the code to any key safe? If you aren't sure that you have possession of all the keys, then the locks will need changing.

• Have the insurers been notified and have they applied any conditions to the policy? There is often a requirement to visit the property on a regular basis.

• Are there any valuable contents, such as items of jewellery, which should be moved somewhere safer?

• Have any newspaper or milk deliveries been cancelled? This may not be top of the agenda, but piled up papers and milk bottles are a clear sign that a house is empty.

• Do you need to set up a mail re-direction? This won't be necessary if you are going to be visiting the property regularly.

• Is it going to be sensible to maintain any gardening or lawn mowing service? Overgrown gardens aren't just a giveaway about an empty house, they can also cause complaints from neighbours.

• Should the heating be left on, or the system drained down? The insurers may be able to offer direction when they are advised that the house is unoccupied.

Services

• Take meter readings for gas and electricity supplies and if the water is on a meter, take a reading for that as well.

• Telephone and internet services should be cancelled, along with any television subscriptions.

• Notify the local authority that the property is now unoccupied, as this will impact on the council tax position.

Personal possessions

• It may seem easiest to start sharing out items that aren't needed by the person going into care among the family, but be careful. Are the items valuable? Should they be sold?
  Are they mentioned as specific
  gifts within the will of the person who has gone into care? Can the attorney rely on the de minimis exception, set out in Re GM [2013] COPLR 290 when passing on chattels?

• As a general rule, it is sensible for the contents of a property to be professionally valued before making any decision about what should happen to the items in question. Having been in the middle of some unpleasant arguments about who should get what, I do not recommend letting all the family in so that they can 'choose' things.

• If there is a car, that comes with its own issues. If it is going to be used then the insurance needs to be checked out. If it is going to stay off road for a while before a decision is made, then a SORN will be necessary. Do you know where the V5C is? Are the keys in your possession?

Any one of these things may prove difficult for an attorney client to deal with and taken altogether, at an emotionally trying time, they can seem overwhelming.

Developing a check list may in fact help break everything down in to smaller, achievable tasks, but never underestimate the positive feeling that comes when a job is ticked off the list. 

Sofia Tayton is a partner and head of care and capacity at Lodders Solicitors

She writes the regular in-practice article on care and capacity for Private Client Adviser