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00:02Do you have both a power of attorney and a will? Together they protect you and the people you love
00:07from cost and stress, yet many ignore them as the conversation feels, well, uncomfortable.
00:14Power of attorney is the most important. Without it, if you lose mental capacity,
00:19your family could be locked out of your finances, even in struggling to pay for your care
00:25or your mortgage. A nightmare at the worst possible time. And it's free wills month,
00:31so we'll cover that too and have a panel of specialists here to help take your questions.
00:38Plus, conflict in the Middle East has sent global energy prices soaring. In an urgent news-you-can-use
00:44briefing at the end of the show, I'll explain what it means for you, whether you're on a fixed
00:48deal or the price cap, and how to protect yourself. Let's do it.
00:59Wave your wills, everybody. Wow!
01:01Great! Huge audience!
01:03Oh, amazing. Right, fantastic.
01:05Well, tonight, as always, we'd like to hear from you to please do get in touch with your
01:09questions. All the usual ways are on the screen right now.
01:12Yeah, I just want to start by asking a very simple question. So it's a hands up, hands up
01:16right in the air. Which of you has a will in place that's up to date? Who's got wills in
01:20place?
01:23It's not up to date, then. You've got one, but not up to date. So that's about 60% of
01:26you. In a poll I've just put on social media, it was about 54% of people. And how many
01:29of
01:29you have a power of attorney?
01:33Ooh, about 20% of you. Again, 24% on social media. Power of attorney is the more important
01:39of the two, but it's always the one fewer of you have. That's what we're doing tonight.
01:43We're going to go through both and then energy later on.
01:46Fabulous. Well, to start us off, we've got Matt and Sophie in the audience for you tonight.
01:49Hiya.
01:50Me and my girlfriend have a house together, but neither of us have a will. What should
01:54happen if either of us pass and what should we do to secure it?
01:57Well, the honest answer, depending whether you're joint tenants or tenants in common,
02:01it gets complicated, is your side of the property would not go to the other one. In law, your
02:08relationship means nowt, right? You would need a civil partnership or to be married. So you need
02:13to think about a will, as do many people in here, which is exactly what my big briefing now is
02:17going
02:17to show you. Okay, so let's go through this. Free solicitor-drafted wills, they normally cost
02:24hundreds of pounds. Solicitor-drafted is the gold standard. So let's just start on the basic
02:27point. If you've got assets, you do a will, so you get to decide where they go. If you
02:34die without a will, what's called the intestacy laws dictate where your assets go. So in England,
02:42for example, so this is Melinda's stuff, the first £322,000 would go to your spouse, and
02:46then after that, the rest would be split between your spouse and your children, and there's
02:51a whole lot of the complexities. In Scotland, it mainly goes to your spouse, and a third goes
02:55to the grown-up children, doesn't it, Austin?
02:56A third shared among the grown-up children, yeah.
02:58Right, so you're not deciding. Now, the problem with that is, first of all, the wrong people
03:02may inherit. And, you know, in your case, if one of you had had children, you look very
03:07young, but from a previous relationship, then all of your money would go to your children
03:12and not to your partner, because you're not married together. All of these matter. The
03:15wrong people may inherit. It can up your inheritance tax. I'll talk a little bit more about that,
03:20why that can do later. And it really slows probate down as well, doesn't it, which is the
03:24process you go through of people getting your assets once you've died. So, right now, there's
03:29good ways to do it. The Free Wills Month scheme is on in March for those aged 55-plus. Solicitor
03:35Drafted Wills, that's the gold standard. Or Mirror Wills, that's where there's two of you,
03:39and basically, they're the same thing, but in reverse, a mirror will. So, it's quite simple,
03:42as long as not complex. You do it via freewillsmonth.org.uk. You've got to book this month. Don't leave
03:48it till the 31st. Do it now, because appointments get booked up. But your appointments could be
03:53after March. Now, it only happens in certain locations, just some of them there. London,
03:58Cardiff, Glasgow, Briscoll, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester. Go check yours. If your location
04:02isn't being done at the moment, it will be done in October's Free Will Month. So, they do two free
04:07wills months a year. And why do they do it? Well, they hope you leave a bequest to charity. So,
04:12that means leave something in your will to charity. Typically, £300 to £1,000 or a percentage.
04:18There's a whole host of charities there, Age UK, Altsheimer's Research and many others. It's not
04:22compulsory, but it is for charity. So, if you can, hey, once you're gone, you're gone. You may as well
04:26leave them something. Now... Claire's got a question on this, just before we get to that point,
04:30actually. Claire's asking, can you please advise us to whether there is a free will service for the
04:34under 55s? My husband is over 60 and I'm under 50 and we want to do mirror wills, but we
04:40can't find one
04:40to accommodate me. So, I'm going to come on to those now, but just as a note, if it's a
04:45mirror
04:45will, only one of you has to be over 55. So, if the other one, if one's 91 and the
04:50other's 21 and
04:51you're married together, you can still do a mirror will. We won't get into any more details on that
04:55one. I don't know why I said that. Right. My wife's only seven years younger than me.
05:03Now, March is free wills month for Octopus Legacy as well, which is for anyone in England and Wales
05:08aged over 18 plus. This isn't solicitor drafted, though. Their team does it. It's solicitor checked.
05:13Still a pretty good halfway house and it's for simple wills. Again, they hope you'll leave a
05:19bequest to charity too. Over 100 charities taking part. There are other schemes out there. WillAid is
05:24the biggest one, but that's on in November there. It's a suggested donation to charity of £120.
05:31And then individual charities often have free will scheme. Cancer Research has one.
05:34If you're a member of a union, you might be able to get a will through your union.
05:37Your employer might offer you a will scheme. Basically, there's no excuse for not getting
05:42a will, you two. And it really is worth thinking about. And other people in the studio, when
05:47we're discussing before in rehearsal, who don't have wills, there's no excuse for you as well.
05:51OK. Martin, with a Y, has been in touch. And Martin's saying,
05:54my partner and I are getting married in April. Once married, should we update our wills?
05:59Absolutely. Right.
06:00Really important. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, your will is invalid once you've got
06:08married. So you need to do it again. In Scotland, it's not invalid, but Austin...
06:13You should use that as a point where you review everything and almost certainly update your will.
06:19I mean, you might go on to have children, all sorts of things. You might start a business together.
06:23There's so many variables. You should really review your will at that point.
06:26OK. So let's go on to my tips for getting a will. Six must-knows here. So that's the first
06:31one.
06:31We've already done it. And similar issues can apply on divorce, that you'll want to do a new will.
06:37And also in Scotland, a lot of people get separated, don't they? And you'd probably...
06:40If you're separated, you really want to do a new will or it's going...
06:42Absolutely. Yeah, it's going to your sort of partner who's your ex-partner,
06:45but not your ex-partner. If you've got a will, check it's up-to-date. An out-of-date will
06:49is as
06:49bad as no will. Was that you, sir? Are you the... OK, sorry. It's not just me, sir, as well.
06:55Thank you
06:55very much. So you've got a will, but it's a long, old one that... Yeah. Well, you need to update
06:59it
07:00because having a will that's out-of-date means the assets are going to the wrong people, which you
07:03don't want to happen. Unmarried couples. So it's you two over there. A will is even more important.
07:09As I said before, your relationship means virtually nothing in law.
07:14Slightly more in Scotland, the relationship? Yes, there are protections. They're difficult
07:20to get. You almost certainly need to go to court for them. And it's a very confusing thing
07:25for people who are living together but not formally joined. Yeah, so just get a will if that's
07:30what you're worried about. It's not much better. It's sort of the same general rule. Because
07:34if one of you dies, the other might not get anything, even the family home. Just as a side
07:38note, I mentioned this earlier, even if you are married, if you don't have a will, it
07:44can cause unnecessary inheritance tax problems as well as probate problems. Here's why. Your
07:48best allowances if you're married is you leave everything to your spouse and then they get
07:52your unused inheritance tax allowance. But the intestacy laws don't do that. They leave the
07:57first, in England, 322,000 to your spouse and then it's shared between children, which means
08:02you could end up paying a necessary inheritance tax because you've not specified where the
08:05money's going. Does that make sense? OK, so you see why this is so important. Store your
08:10will safely and ensure your executors know where it is. Many solicitors will store it
08:14for free. Keep it in a safe and accessible place. You've got something on that, haven't
08:18you? Yeah, Sam actually just tweeted in for you and Sam's saying, when my mother died, we
08:22found a will in her house but had no idea if it was up to date. Her solicitor didn't know
08:26if it was current or if she used a different solicitor for an updated will. So it's not just
08:31having the will. Terrible phrase came to my head. A will is a live document, ironically,
08:37not a dead document. You know, it needs to be up to date and active and you need to know
08:41where it is, as do your executors. If I scroll up here, this one's really important and a bit
08:47counterintuitive. Don't accidentally leave your pension to your ex and a will will not fix this.
08:56Most private or company pensions, they sit outside of your will. It is the pension provider
09:00or the trustees of the pension who decide where your assets go, where your pension goes
09:05if you die. Now, you can tell them what you would like to happen. The form is called an
09:09expression of wishes form or a nomination form. They're the same thing. You often do it
09:14when you first sign up to the pension, but you might not remember you did it. But you need
09:17to ensure that it's up to date, ensure that you've done it. You would be staggered by the
09:23amount of times I hear of people shocked that their ex or someone's ex-partner got it.
09:29I think we have an example, David, Jeanette. Yes, we do. Just listen to this and you'll
09:32get why this is so important. Okay, Sandra tweeted in. Sandra, I was left with an annuity
09:36in a will, but not nominated with the company. So it's gone to my deceased partner's ex-wife.
09:42He would be spinning in his grave if he knew.
09:45So one of your pieces of homework today after watching everyone, go onto your pension provider's
09:50website, have a look for the nomination form of the expresses and wishes form and just check
09:54that the right person for you is nominated because you don't want that to be happening
09:59to you and leaving the person that you love in the lurch and it going to someone who you might
10:02not love anymore. And finally, a quick one. Digital legacy these days is important too.
10:07Online photos, blogs, docs, social media assets. List and include those in your will. Say who you'd
10:13like them to go to. If you have a social media executor, say who that's going to. Back up your
10:18most
10:18important things, preferably on an external hard drive. And on Apple, Facebook and Google,
10:23you can add legacy contacts. So you can actually tell them who you want to be able to access your
10:26account if you die. That's just a good bit of housekeeping if we're doing this. Okay, fab.
10:30Now, I know you've got questions for our panel. And our first one tonight comes from Jackie.
10:34She's on our virtual wall. Good evening, Jackie. Hi, Jackie. Good evening to you both.
10:38What's your question? Right. My question is, I've made a will naming the executors and beneficiaries
10:48what would happen if they pre-deceased me? And at that time, I'd lost mental capacity.
10:56So if your executors were dead, but you have lost mental capacity, Melinda, in England,
11:01what happens in Wales? Well, ideally, when you make a will, it's best to try and think about
11:06providing for those eventualities. So a substitution executor and beneficiaries. However, if you haven't
11:13done and then you sadly lose mental capacity, unfortunately, somebody has to apply to the
11:18Court of Protection for a statutory will to be made. And that's a lot harder than just making
11:22a will, isn't it? Oh, it's much harder. It's a whole court process. But also, you have to
11:26evidence that it is the right thing to change the will in the form that you want it to be
11:31changed to. Jackie, do you have anybody set up as a backup in the wills that you've got?
11:35Sorry, say again, Martin. Do you have any backup executors in the wills that you've got?
11:41I need to make a new will and make allowance for if A, B, C, D, deceased, I will do.
11:51And I think, Jackie, what I'd say, and Austin, you've been doing this a lot longer than I
11:54have, having someone down a generation in that list is important, isn't it?
11:59Exactly. I was going to say, have more than one executor. So you're either joint executors,
12:04so if one's not available, there's another one, have backup executors, substitute executors,
12:09who, generally speaking, should be younger, maybe the next generation, younger relatives,
12:13younger friends, or if you don't have family, then a younger solicitor or other professional.
12:20Bob got in touch and said, I have both my will and power of attorney drawn up by a solicitor
12:24in
12:24Scotland, but have now moved to England. Are they valid or do I need to have them redone?
12:29So why don't you do will, Austin? Is the will valid in England?
12:32The will may be valid in England. If it is competent for the Scottish courts, then generally
12:36speaking, the English courts will accept it, although you may need to get an expert opinion
12:40to confirm that. But, you know, if you're moving, then you're moving your own domicile,
12:46which is what we call where you live, and you should really review everything and make a new will.
12:50Melinda, power of attorney, does that work the same way?
12:52No, it doesn't. So the Office of the Public Guardian in England and Wales is one body. The
12:59similar equivalent is in Scotland, and it's a different law. So very often, a power of attorney,
13:05a lasting power of attorney made in Scotland will not be accepted by financial institutions
13:09in England and Wales.
13:11And Kieran, if they were moving from Scotland or England to Northern Ireland, so England and
13:14Wales, it is always England and Wales, they're the same, to Northern Ireland, what would be the
13:17situation there?
13:19In respect of the will, the situation would be similar to what Austen outlined, in that
13:23it may well be OK, but I certainly would review it. In respect of the power of attorney, then
13:28the system here is somewhat different in that we only have an enduring power of attorney system
13:33dealing with financial affairs only. So I certainly would create a new power of attorney in Northern
13:39Ireland if I was to move here.
13:41So what I'm hearing in summary...
13:41It depends where the assets are as well.
13:43Thank you. What I'm hearing in summary from all of you, will you might be all right,
13:46power of attorney, you've got to do a new one.
13:47I think that's right. Jeanette.
13:49Awesome. Thank you, everybody. Well, coming up, why having power of attorney is even more
13:52important than a will, plus more of your questions and the big energy briefing still to come too.
13:57We'll see you then.
14:08Hello, welcome back. Well, we've been talking about wills and I do need to tell you the free
14:12wills website is down. Give it some time. You do have a bit of time to book in there.
14:16It should be available for the next few days. We're going to be talking power of attorney
14:20this part and then later what you do about the huge spike that's happening to energy bills.
14:25Well, not energy bills, I should say energy wholesale prices. Jeanette, what's going on?
14:28Like you said, very busy online and Lisa has been in touch and she wants to know this.
14:32My elderly married parents don't have a will or lasting power of attorney. Which is more
14:38important should one of them pass away? It's fascinating how often I get questions like
14:43that, which I think is built and forgive me, Lisa, on total confusion. Let's go to my next graphic.
14:47I need to be really, really strong on this. A will dictates what happens once you're dead.
14:54A lasting power of attorney is for when you're alive. Lasting power of attorneys have no impact
14:59when you're dead. Wills have no impact when you're alive. So the question, Lisa, my married
15:05parents don't have a will or lasting power of attorney. What's more important? Well, for the
15:09one who is alive, the power of attorney and for the one who's passed away, the will that
15:13they don't cross over. It's fascinating how many people. Let's go through. We've already
15:17done wills though. Let's do power of attorney now. So look, the point of this is if you lose
15:21mental capacity, don't assume relatives can access your bank, your insurance and a whole
15:25host of other things. And that can literally mean the money you need to pay for your care
15:30is locked away and inaccessible. The money that is needed to pay for your mortgage is locked
15:36away and inaccessible. Someone else is going to have to find the cash in the meantime. That
15:41is why I say this is more important than a will, because that is a proper practical problem.
15:46So consider if you were to lose mental capacity, who would look after you? Who would you want
15:52to be able to access your funds to pay for things? Who would you trust? And who would
15:55ensure that the money's working for you, that your savings are in the right place, your investments
15:59are in the right place? And losing faculties doesn't just happen to the elderly. Some people
16:04have severe strokes, they have accidents, they have early dementia. I've had a power of attorney
16:08in place since my 30s, which is a couple of years ago now. Wasn't funny. And I have no
16:17foreseeability of losing mental capacity that I'm aware of. So it is just something, it's
16:21a piece of housekeeping you should do. Now look, the most important thing to understand
16:25is what happens if power of attorney isn't set up and someone loses capacity. Well, I should
16:30say, by the way, lasting power of attorney just means it's an ongoing one. You can get specific
16:33power of attorneys for other things. So we're talking lasting power of attorneys or its predecessor,
16:37enduring power of attorneys. If you don't have one in place, it can cause real difficulties.
16:41You would need to apply to be a deputy. That's in England and Wales. It's similar name, different
16:46names and stuff in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but it's the same concept. Via the court of
16:50protection. I rarely get good feedback on that. It can be costly. It can be stressful, thousands of
16:57pounds, months and months, and it can take time. It's not a good process, is it, guys?
17:01Terrible.
17:01No, terrible, right? That's what we're trying to avoid happening to you, and it can come
17:06on out of nowhere. I think we've got an amazing and terrible story here that I think explains
17:11I want to share this with you. Yeah, it's coming from Alan, actually, and Alan's saying
17:14at 33, my wife was involved in a devastating car accident and lasting power of attorney wasn't
17:20in place. She sustained a severe brain injury and became dependent on two carers. Now, whilst
17:26life was falling apart and looking after our three kids, I had to take deputyship. This involved
17:30a court of protection hearing and cost thousands. Without it, I was powerless to decide on
17:35my wife's care and anything financial. It's never too early to do lasting power of attorney.
17:40So, Alan, first of all, I hope everything's OK and my best to your wife and to your family,
17:47but thank you, most importantly, for caring enough about other people to share your story
17:52though so they can see how important it is, and we very much appreciate it.
17:59So, gosh, I find that quite affecting because I had similar things in my background. So,
18:03um, property and financial affair, lasting power of attorney, makes it easier for someone
18:10to take over your financials if they need to. You nominate a trusted friend or relative to
18:14take over. You do not need to lose control now. You can and should put safeguards in place
18:20so they can only take over if and when you lose mental capacity. Now, you might not want
18:24that. You might have, for other reasons, you want somebody to help you with your finances
18:27and you can do it earlier, but you don't have to do that. The cost, well, the registration
18:31cost is £92 in England and Wales, £96 in Scotland, £180 in Northern Ireland. If you're
18:35on a very low income or on certain means-tested benefits, there can be discounts.
18:40I'm focused on the financial one. There's also a health and welfare type power of attorney,
18:45which is important for deciding what's happening to your care. Slight nuance difference here.
18:50With the financial one, it can be in place when you haven't lost your faculties. If you
18:54choose, say, with the health and welfare one, it's only when you've lost your faculties that
18:58it can be put into place. If you're not sure about this, right, pay for help, especially
19:03if your affairs are complex or you've got substantial assets. It's not cheap. Solicitor,
19:07£400 to £750. Halfway House is which wills? It costs £99. It's basically, you do it
19:13for a form, but a solicitor is checking it, which is a sort of cheaper way to get some
19:16help. I'm going to talk about DIY in a moment, but just to show you the impact of power of
19:21attorney, please watch this.
19:24Janice spent her childhood alongside her beloved aunt, who is now 94.
19:29My aunt's lovely. She would come on holiday with us. She would always join in everything.
19:33She didn't have any children of her own, so she focused her attentions on us. She started
19:40to have quite a few falls. I was watching the Martin Lewis Money Show about power of attorney,
19:45and it was best to get it when someone had full mental capacity. So I got the forms, sat
19:52with her and went through it all so that she could sign it.
19:56Sometime after...
19:57The doctors came out to her and they then gave a formal diagnosis. It was vascular
20:05dementia, and that was what was causing the falls. The power of attorney came in before
20:11she started to become unwell. She can't really speak anymore, and she really doesn't remember
20:19anybody. It's a horrible, horrible illness. It really is. The medical side of it has been
20:25a bit of a godsend because the doctors can just phone me. I wanted to make sure that her
20:31bank were aware so that I could help her with things like the telephone, housing association
20:36were a big one, DWP. Having the power of attorney has allowed me to fulfil my aunt's wishes,
20:44and it makes me feel happy.
20:49Thank you, Janice. Thank you again for sharing your story.
20:52APPLAUSE
20:53That's the reason I do this every year. I always do a show on this, because not enough
20:57of you have power of attorney or wills in place. Yeah. I've got a question that's coming
21:02from David for you, Martin. And he's asking, my mother-in-law is 79 years old and is in
21:06the process of getting a power of attorney and renewing her will. Does she need to pay
21:11for a solicitor, or can she pay the £180 and do it herself using the gov.uk website?
21:16I assume it's £180 because you're doing both the power of attorney, so it'll cost too much,
21:19and it's in England. The answer is, in England and Wales, you can do it yourself. You can't
21:23in Scotland, and it's very difficult to do in Northern Ireland. It is not easy to do,
21:29though. So if in doubt, get some help. But let me just give you now my tips on DIY power
21:34of attorney, England and Wales. Tens of thousands of these are rejected each year. So you need
21:40to be pedantic and diligent, should be the motto for this show, I think, really. There
21:45are free guides available online to help, but let me give you my top tips. First of all,
21:48use the right form. Both the two different power of attorney forms are very similar. Make
21:52sure you're doing the right form. When you're filling this in, you need to be specific about
21:56what a preference is. So I would like them to consult a doctor if I don't have capacity,
22:01and what are instructions? They cannot sell my home unless the doctor says I can't live
22:07independently and signs a form to do so, an instruction. And they can only be in your best
22:13interests, not the attorney's. They can only do what's right for the person themselves.
22:17You can only ask them to do legal things, and they can't alter your will. Legal things,
22:22euthanasia is not legal in the country at the moment. Jersey's slightly different. So you can't
22:26ask someone to put that in your preferences. You've got to provide all the info, including
22:30what feels like unnecessary info. You include middle names. You check every detail. You send
22:35all the pages back, even if the pages are blank. These are the type of things that can make you
22:38fall foul. When you make a mistake, you do not use correction fluid. You must do this in black pen.
22:45You do not delete it. You cross it out, and you initial it. So I'd put an ML by it.
22:49Cross out
22:49and initial. You need an impartial certificate provider, not someone who's related to you or the
22:56attorney, even by marriage. So people talk about GPs or vicars type thing being useful for that.
23:01You're going to need five signatures, and it must be done in the right order. The dates must be right.
23:07Right. Pedantic. Diligent. Yep. Or get some help to do it. Yeah, well, let's get some more questions
23:14from our panel then on power of attorney. Yeah, so let me move over here. Loads of questions coming
23:17in on power of attorney. Linda. My husband and I took out a power of attorney for each other a
23:23few
23:23years ago. Sadly, his health has deteriorated, so I've had to become his attorney acting on his
23:28behalf. I'm concerned that if anything happens to me, I'm still alive but unable to look after myself or
23:33him what would happen. Can I nominate somebody else in this scenario? So she could do a power of attorney
23:38for herself, but can she add somebody as his power of attorney? Can she add an extra power of attorney
23:45for him, Melinda? No, you can't meddle with somebody else's power of attorney. If he's lost capacity,
23:51unfortunately, his power of attorney has been made. So what do they do? Well, currently, of course,
23:56she's able to deal with it, but if she weren't able, it would be an application to the court of
24:01protection. So someone else would have to go to the court of protection. That doesn't sound good,
24:04Austin. No, that's similar in Scotland. Somebody without a direct interest would need to apply
24:10for guardianship. Might even be social services would have to do it if there's nobody else.
24:14So look, the subtle message that is coming out here, folks, is you need to pre-plan all these
24:20eventualities beforehand when you're doing your document in the first place. Not so subtle.
24:23Do it. Okay. Plan it properly. Quite right. Vic, my elderly 95-year-old mum has not wanted to sign
24:31a lasting power of attorney after a series of false hospitalisation and I'm stuck in a difficult
24:36position as to potentially funding her future care. What can we do in these circumstances where
24:41a parent refuses to sign and how can we move forward? Well, not much apart from the court of
24:45protection when it's needed, I would have thought. Exactly. There's nothing much you can do to
24:49persuade somebody, although he could have the conversation with her and say, look, mum, if
24:53you don't want me, you could have somebody independent to be your attorney. And also paint
24:57the picture. What's going to happen if you don't do this, mum? It's going to be awful and expensive.
25:02Show them this, though. And look, if you're the older person who is reluctant to do this,
25:07the power of attorney only comes in when you lose mental capacity. It doesn't have to be your child.
25:10You can find somebody else who needs to do it. But the stress and cost and difficulty you will put
25:16on
25:16your loved ones if you don't do this and something happens to you doesn't bear thinking about. So it's
25:22really worth having to think what you'll do. Just try and do one more quickly now. Martin got in
25:27touch, not me. Austin, you'll do this. If we have all our savings, bank accounts and house and joint
25:31bank accounts, do we still need a power of attorney? Absolutely, because it's not just the joint bank
25:35accounts or even the house. There's social services, there's DWP, there may be a care home thing in the
25:41future. There's all sorts of other organisations. You'd need a comprehensive, what we call in Scotland,
25:46a continuing power of attorney. OK. Thank you, both of you. I hope we'll get a couple more in a
25:50little bit later, Jeanette. Thank you very much. Well, coming up in our final part, an urgent energy
25:55update off the back of the conflict in the Middle East, plus more of your questions. We'll see you in
25:59for.
26:10Welcome back. We're talking wills and power of attorney. But first, we've got a big energy
26:15update, Martin, haven't we? We do. Anthony wants to know this. Is the 1st of April off-gen price
26:22kept set in stone, irrespective of the effects of the Iran war on oil and gas prices? Yes. News you
26:29can use. OK. So we've got the conflict in the Middle East, and this is what's happened to
26:37wholesale gas prices. The reason I'm showing you gas prices, it's the biggest factor that feeds into
26:41electricity prices as well. So this is about energy prices in their totality. This is probably the
26:47biggest percentage rise we've ever seen in two days. Scary, isn't it? But if I scroll this graph
26:54back five years and show it you in the context of Ukraine... Yeah. Now, look, I'm not saying it
27:01won't get worse, and I'm not saying it won't be sustained, but I think there is just a little bit
27:05of putting it in perspective that is needed at the moment. We are not currently in the Ukraine-type
27:11spike situation. So, but it's gone up. What does that mean? Well, it depends which type of tariff
27:18you are on. So let me run through the differences. If you are already on a fixed tariff, well, it
27:24is
27:24fixed. And normally, I'd say once it's fixed, it never moves. But actually, something perverse and
27:29good, and unprecedented, is coming on the 1st of April, which I talked about last week. If you are
27:34on an existing fixed rate on the 1st of April, policy changes, the underlying policy costs of bills
27:40are being moved, some onto general taxation, some are being cut. And that means the unit rate of
27:45electricity and the unit rate of gas, even on fixed tariffs, will be reduced on the 1st of April.
27:50And that is locked in. It means an unprecedented 7% to 9% typical fall on existing fixes on
27:56the 1st
27:57of April. You understand what I'm saying? Not new fixes, existing ones. I know some people got
28:00confused about that last week when we did a full energy show. On the price cap, which is 60%
28:06of homes in
28:07England, Scotland, and Wales, if you're on your standard variable tariff from your provider,
28:11you haven't fixed, you're not on a special deal, you fix ended and you came off it, you're on a
28:15price cap tariff. Well, the impact on the price cap of the spike will only be from July. The April,
28:21this is what his question was about, the April price cap fall is locked in, it won't change.
28:25The July cap is based on an assessment over three months, and the average price is over three months.
28:32So the spike will, of course, push that average up. But what really matters here is how big will
28:37the spike be and how prolonged will the spike be? If it were to end tomorrow, it really wouldn't make
28:42that much difference. But the predictions currently, and these could change rapidly,
28:46we're only at the beginning, is the July price cap will go up by about 4%. But this is all
28:52about the
28:52global macro-political situation, you know, and I don't have a direct line to President Trump,
28:58so I can't tell you what's going to be happening in future when we come on this one,
29:00I'm afraid. I'm not sure I necessarily would want one either, but that's a different matter.
29:05If you are on the price cap, which most of you are, the risk-averse thing to do
29:10is to get a cheaper fix as soon as possible, if possible. If you're on a prepayment meter,
29:14it's not possible, but for many of us, it is. But the cheap new fixes that are available
29:19over the last couple of days have either been pulled or repriced substantially upwards.
29:24So if you're going to do this soon, you need to do this now. Last week, all the cheapest fixes
29:30were between 10% and 40% less than the current cap. Today, there's one at about 9.5%, one
29:36at 6%, and one at 3%, with the exception of some exclusives on comparison sites where there's
29:42still at 14%. But these are being pulled literally by the minute, and the more of you go and do
29:47it, the more that will be pulled. If you're on the price cap, though, the cheapest fixes,
29:51they have to be cheaper, are cheaper now than the price cap, and the rate will be reduced
29:56in April, remember, of the cheapest fixes, and you get peace of mind of no price hikes.
30:01That's why the risk-averse thing is to move to them. Of course, this could all end, and
30:07more cheaper fixes could be available in a couple of weeks than you can fix right now.
30:11But we just don't know that. So this is about your attitude to the risk of prices going up
30:15and down. Some people have said to me, though, well, in this situation, what if I fix with
30:19a firm and it goes bust? Well, your credit is protected. You would then be moved to another
30:24firm on its price cap tariff. So you go back to where you started, but you'd have had
30:27a cheap fix in the meantime. So that in itself is not a reason not to go and get a
30:31fix, because
30:31you wouldn't lose out in the fact of doing it.
30:34Got a couple more questions for our specialists.
30:35Right, we're going to switch back to Wilson, power of attorney now. Let's try and squeeze
30:38what we can in. Chris got in touch.
30:41I'm power of attorney for both parents who have dementia. They have large investments and
30:45own their house. If they end up going to a care home, we'll have to pay for the care
30:48with their money. My brother and I are considering taking a legal gift allowance of £3,000
30:52per parent per tax year. Otherwise, we could end up with nothing if they live a long time.
30:57As power of attorney, am I allowed to do this, or would it be considered theft? Well, it's
31:01not in your interest, so probably not, Austin.
31:04Well, you said it earlier on when you were going through your lists. Whose interest is
31:09it in? Is it in the interest of the adult who's under the power of attorney, or is it in
31:12the interest of the family? It's the interest of the family, so it's not lawful for them
31:16to do.
31:17OK. You can't do that. It needs to have been done before you were in this situation,
31:21while a person still had capacity. Margaret got in touch. Melinda, we've got to do quick.
31:27Last year, we went to a solicitor who drew up a will, but it was full of typos. Having
31:30been the secretary, I typed it out at home, but without the spelling mistakes. Printed
31:32it, my husband signed it, and a friend witnessed his signature. Will this be considered a legal
31:36document?
31:37Aha. Well, A, it's not very good that the solicitor made all his typos.
31:40Terrible.
31:41That never happens. But a will, if the content is valid, as long as it's signed in the presence
31:48of two witnesses...
31:50One in Scotland.
31:50OK.
31:51It will be valid.
31:52OK, so you're fine now. We probably have to leave it there, do we?
31:55We have to leave it there. We're run out of time, but what have we got coming up next
31:58week?
31:58So, look, next week... Take my glasses off. Next week, we have just under a month left
32:03to go until the end of the tax year, which means it's ISA season. If you don't use your
32:07ISA allowance, you lose it. So, should be using on a shares ISA or a cash ISA. What are the
32:11best savings account? How do you get the maximum bank of your book? Buck. If you've got questions
32:16on that, you can email the team at martinlewis at ITV.com. Thank you, Jeanette. Thank you to
32:20our brilliant panel, the three of you. Thank you to our audience. We'll see you next week.
32:24Take care. Bye-bye. Good night.
32:30Another great show. Martin and Jeanette are back next Tuesday at 7.15. And don't forget,
32:36if you missed any of that, you can watch it all again on STV Player. Next up here, it's
32:41Summer Dill.
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