When families think about mortgages and protection, the focus is usually on securing the home, protecting income, and ensuring bills can still be paid if the unexpected happens. These are crucial conversations. But for families with dependants – whether young children, elderly relatives, or even parents who rely on them – there’s another layer that is just as important: Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs).
Having a mortgage and protection adviser who understands Wills and LPAs doesn’t mean they replace a solicitor. It means they can see the whole picture of your family’s life and help you avoid dangerous gaps in planning.
Families Are More Complex Than Ever
Many households today are part of the “sandwich generation”:
- Parents with young children who rely on them financially and emotionally
- Older dependants who may need care or financial support
- Parents who are becoming reliant due to health or capacity issues
Your financial commitments don’t exist in isolation. Your mortgage, life cover, critical illness cover, and income protection all interact with what would legally and practically happen if you died or lost capacity.
Why Wills Matter in Mortgage & Protection Planning
A mortgage adviser will rightly ask:
- Who would receive the property if you died?
- How would the mortgage be repaid?
- Would your family be able to stay in their home?
Without a Will, those answers may not align with your wishes.
For example:
- Life insurance may pay out, but who controls that money?
- Minor children may inherit under intestacy rules, but who manages the funds and decisions?
- The home may need to be sold to satisfy legal rules, even if that’s not what you intended.
An adviser who understands Wills will flag these risks early and encourage you to put the right legal foundations in place so your protection actually protects.
LPAs: The Missing Piece Many Families Overlook
LPAs are often forgotten until it’s too late.
If you lose mental capacity due to illness or an accident:
- Your bank accounts can be frozen
- Mortgage decisions may be delayed
- No one can legally act on your behalf
This can be devastating when:
- A partner needs to manage household finances
- A dependant parent needs urgent decisions
- The mortgage lender needs instructions
A mortgage and protection adviser who understands LPAs will recognise this risk and explain why income protection and critical illness cover alone are not enough without legal authority in place.
Protecting Young and Older Dependants
For families with young children:
- Who becomes guardian?
- Who controls the money left for them?
- How do you ensure funds are used for care, education, and stability?
For families with older dependants or parents:
- Who can manage their finances if capacity is lost?
- Who can make health and welfare decisions?
- How do your responsibilities affect your own financial resilience?
These questions sit at the intersection of financial advice and legal planning. A trusted adviser who understands both can help you think through scenarios you may never have considered.
A Real-Life Example: When Joined-Up Advice Really Matters
One family I worked with came to me initially for mortgage and protection advice. They had children still at school, but they were also supporting elderly parents who were already in long-term care.
As we talked through their situation, it became clear that their biggest risk wasn’t just the mortgage or household bills – it was capacity and control.
Their parents had no Lasting Powers of Attorney in place. This meant that if decisions needed to be made about finances or care, the family could face delays, stress, and even court involvement at an already emotional time.
We addressed this first by helping them put LPAs in place for their parents, ensuring:
- The right people could make financial decisions
- Care fees and ongoing costs could be managed smoothly
- Health and welfare decisions were legally supported
Only once this foundation was in place did we look properly at the family’s own protection planning.
Because the parents were in long-term care, this directly influenced how we structured the life insurance:
- We considered future care costs
- We ensured the right level of cover so the surviving partner wouldn’t be forced into impossible financial choices
- We aligned the protection with their wider family responsibilities, not just the mortgage balance
The result wasn’t just policies on paper – it was a plan that reflected real life. The family knew that if the worst happened, their children would be secure, their home protected, and their parents’ needs would still be considered.
Trust Comes From Joined-Up Advice
Families don’t want to tell their story multiple times to different professionals who don’t speak to each other.
When your mortgage and protection adviser understands Wills and LPAs:
- Conversations are joined up
- Advice is more personal and relevant
- Risks are identified earlier
- You feel supported, not sold to
It builds trust because you know your adviser isn’t just focused on a transaction, but on your family’s long-term security.
One Go-To Person, Fewer Gaps
The real value is having a go-to person – someone who:
- Understands your mortgage, protection, and family structure
- Knows when to bring in Will and LPA expertise
- Helps you prioritise what needs doing now vs later
- Keeps your plans aligned as life changes
Homes change. Families grow. Parents age. Health can change overnight. Your planning should evolve too.
Final Thought
A mortgage and protection adviser who understands Wills and LPAs doesn’t complicate things – they simplify them.
They help ensure that:
- Your home is protected
- Your dependants are cared for
- Your wishes are followed
- Your family isn’t left dealing with legal and financial chaos at the worst possible time
That’s not just advice. That’s peace of mind.
If you’d like to review whether your mortgage, protection, Wills, and LPAs truly work together for your family’s situation, a joined-up conversation is often the best place to start.
