A new regime takes effect this October that should help to protect the elderly, particularly against pressure to change a will to relatives’ dismay. But will it?

The current enduring power of attorney will be replaced with two types of lasting power of attorney or LPA: one for property and finances and the other for personal welfare. This is a key change: that the attorney will be able to make decisions about the person’s welfare, health and housing – even if life-sustaining treatment is to be refused.

But lawyers still have concerns: Rooks Rider, the law firm, cautions that the new regime (which does not affect existing enduring powers of attorney) will be more onerous, cause more delays and/or expense.

There must also be a certificate to state that the donor knows what he or she is doing. Frances Mayne, head of probate at Wilsons, says that this could leave a vulnerable person open to pressure “to create an LPA in favour of an unscrupulous individual who can find two other unscrupulous people willing to complete the certificate”. That would do away with the need to notify anyone of the application to register the LPA – “a worrying development for families”.

Finally when a will is disputed, Alison Meek, head of contentious trusts and estates at Speechly Bircham, advises: “Children have a sense of entitlement but there’s no legal obligation to leave money to them by will.” Children can neglect ageing parents and recognition of a carer or friend in a will is unsurprising, she adds. Any challenge is then hard, mainly because the principal witness is usually dead.

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