I'm confused regarding health proxy and power of attorney for finances and what is a living will and when is it used?

So, under UK law, you would need to show documentation that Aunty nominated you as "Next of Kin". Without that piece of paper, it would be a misrepresentation to refer to yourself as a Next of Kin. Your barrister can clarify further if needed.

Next of kin: a person's closest living relative or relatives. The term has no legal definition in the United Kingdom. An individual can nominate any other individual as their next-of-kin. In the US, if you are taken to the hospital, next of kin is accepted as a blood relative who can sign you in for admittance. It would be quite difficult to do that from overseas.

The leading sentence refers to large amounts of money, so that would appear to be the primary concern. All the rest is hearsay, since the plaintiff is overseas and cannot have firsthand knowledge of the events.
Neither a Health Care Proxy, nor POA nor DPOA is filed in the courts, unless the Judge demands to see them pursuant to legal action. Since the "victim" is a US citizen, there is very little recourse for overseas contacts to intervene without showing up in a US court, with proof of cause for intervention.

molly14molly: It seems that there needs to be some important clarification and a relatively important distinction made in this your situation with your aunt, so that we as members of this community are sufficiently comfortable with the particular details of the relationship between you and your aunt if we have any chance to accurately respond to your question or offer advice that might be in line with your needs. Please do clarify whether or not these "3rd cousins" from the U.S. of which you speak, are in point of fact the "strangers," as you've termed them, and further please do confirm for the sake of clarity whether these "strangers" were the same people who apparently spent three undetected weeks in your aunt's residence combing through her documents and personal letters and "clearing it out." Since these 3rd cousins have told you "they will show... the relevant documents giving them the rights to manage...auntie's affairs" it does seem these were one and the same. You have said that "finances and large amounts of money" are at stake here, in addition of course to the health and well-being of your aunt. I understand you feel shoved out of the way and that undoubtedly you feel your 3rd cousins have taken over a situation that you might have felt you had well in hand. However the fact that these documents (health proxy and power of attorney) of such import might not have been initiated on her behalf is testimony to the fact that there have been "holes" left in her care and planning for her future needs and are reasons that other family members may have decided to get involved as to your aunt's care and a plan for her welfare as she ages. You as next of kin have not mentioned in your question the state of your aunt's health and/or whether there are questions as to her mental acuity. That she was still living alone (in her own rental housing) might have been the impetus for your cousins taking action. That these third cousins were in contact with your aunt perhaps three or four times a year, as you say, does not by itself make your cousins look bad or uncaring. The fact that they live several thousand miles away makes limited contact understandable. (Besides which a lot can be accomplished in three or four contacts given the desire). That they were able to visit with her in her home for three weeks undetected by however does make me ask where you live in relation to your aunt and how much you saw of her. It does seem to an outsider like me that no doubt they were closer to your aunt than you were aware if only because they were able to bring about the things you have "accused" them of i.e., three weeks in her home and moving her belongings and her out of a rental house. Since you are all looking out for her well being it seems it would behoove you to approach your cousins from that perspective. Do not look for ulterior motives (they are after the large amounts of money) where in fact there might be none. Please contact them, make peace and move forward from there, with your aunt's best interests at the heart of all that you cousins do. Good luck and God bless.

POAs are supposed to be public documents you can get a hold of. It sounds like your Auntie became incapacitated and if these 3rd cousins were POA they may have actually done things correctly; if not, someone would have had to go through her home to try to find papers that would help manage her affairs. As to the strangers - are you referring to an estate sale? Or did the landlord have to go in because she could no longer take care of herself or the apartment, or pay the rent?

In any event, I'm sorry for you and your Auntie. It possibly does her no harm to hope she can go back to her apartment even if that is not at all likely. Maybe you can visit and help see she is getting good care, or find out if anything has been done inappropriately. Chances are that the people closest to her know more of what was really going on though, and again, hopefully have done the right things.

Molly, a Durable Power of Attorney covers financial, legal and other matters which are identified specifically and generally in the document.

A Living Will a/k/a Advanced Directive is a health care proxy authorizing the named parties to make health care decisions, as described in the document, based on written opinions of two medical professionals that the individual granting the proxy cannot make them on his or her own behalf.

I've never heard of either having to be filed with any court but I'm only familiar with practices in my state. It may in fact be required in some states.

As to whether or not "proof" has to be shown, it would depend on who is questioning the authority. If you and your family in England are heirs, I believe that you would have a legal right to see the documents as well as be informed as to disposition made of the assets. If you're not heirs, I'm not aware that you're entitled to see the documents.

Next of kin isn't necessarily a term used in estate planning - are you actually named as an heir or beneficiary? Devisee and legatee are also terms which are used.

As to the strangers who cleared out your aunt's home - who were they? How did they get access to the home? And how did you learn about the cleaning out of your aunt's home?