Hi Guys.

 

Father in law passed away this morning, pneumonia, etc . he was ill for a while, was in Addenbrokes Hospital for a week and gently slipped away. not unexpected. (he's been on 100% oxygen for 3 days)

 

Here is my question. He had a pension which stops, and also had a few credit cards with outstanding money owing. Now i've read up on the fact the debt doesn't die with him, but also it doesn't transfer to his wife, or us...After the funeral expenses are paid for, what ever is left in his estate is dished out. Problem is he owns (not sure if joint) his house where his wife, my mother in law lives to. He left a will giving all his assets etc to his wife.

 

So, as the house is part/whole of the estate, does it have to be sold to clear his debts, putting my Mum in law homeless. Fact is she wants to stay. She does not have any money to pay the debts herself.

 

Some advice would be nice.

 

Thx

 

Rich

That's a difficult one, firstly I'm sorry to hear of your loss. We lost my mother in laws husband the same way last December, except his was unexpected and the hospital could have probably stopped it, that aside, I do believe since the debts were not secured on the property, the property is untouchable. Essentially because unless you sign away your rights to your property, no one else can claim them. If there was no money in the will, then I don't really know what will happen to the debt, it may transfer to your mother in law, it may simply die with him, since he was the one named on the debt, left no money in his will or estate and your mother in law has no way to pay. I would seek advice from a proper solicitor though, as otherwise they can say what they want to you and her and she may end up worse off.

Some people when they die appoint an executor to sort out the will, if this is so that person will be named in the will. Assuming he led a 'normal' life and left a simple will it should be easy enough to sort out.

Assuming you are volunteering to do it you first have to register his death and then apply for probate. You will need several copies of the death certificate (usually more than they give you) and also copies of the grant of probate.

You need to inform his pension providor of his death and request his pension to date. You need to tell his credit card providors and ask for an up to date statement of what he owes. They will need to see copies of the grant of probate and the death certificate, you agree to sort out his will and pay them from his estate. They should not charge interest after his death. Tell the bank but bear in mind they will freeze his account and you can neither withdraw or deposit anything. You may have to set up an executors account which they should do for you and make no charge for its use. (I don't know what to do if it's a joint account with his wife).

His estate is responsible for his debts ie if he has HP Credit cards etc any outstanding amount must be paid before the estate is disposed of. If he has left everything to his wife and children then they get whatever is left after his debts are paid. It's a bit more complicated if house, bank account are in joint names but you will find a lot of useful info on government websites and you should be given relevent leaflets by hospital, undertaker etc.

It seems complicated at first but it's not too hard to sort out.

 

I would try to avoid solicitors if possible, they know how to charge and bleed you dry.

 

Keep receipts for EVERYTHING even car park tickets etc. Expenses can mount up considerably in some cases. It's not nice to say but when a family member dies the vultures come out of the woodwork.

 

HTH

just to add: Do everything in writing and keep copies of all letters. If sending off death certificates, grants of probate etc ask for them back. All these people need is proof of death and that you are the responsible person to contact. They can make their own copies, remember all yours are originals.

Thanks guys, and thanks for your kind words. Interesting points made Arkwright, extensive to..thanks, Luckily i'm not the executor, the son is..and at the moment , as is always the case at weddings and funerals, tempers run high and he has decided to go it alone, So having the correct facts does help when i can ram it down his gob!!

 

My only concern was that the creditors would insist (do they have the right??) on the house being sold to pay off the small credit card debt.

 

Thanks anyway.

 

rich

Sorry to hear about your loss. When my step dad died, we wrote to the credit card companies and the banks and they wrote the debt off. The house was in joint names with my mum, the mortgage was paid off via the policy attached to the mortgage and was then placed in her name only after the paperwork.

This was over 10 years ago, so whether the law has changed or not regarding death duty, it will also depend how much his estate is worth. If its a huge amount ie over £400K then its likely that debts would need to be paid, again depending on the amount of debt. If he owes less than £10k total i wouldnt worry too much about the house being sold from under her feet.

 

As always i would seek legal advice, although solicitors can bleed you dry, they may be able to save you thousands in the long run, knowledge is everything as in most cases.

 

Good luck with the quagmire and hope you manage to get it sorted.

 

Graham

Sorry to hear of your loss.

 

To reiterate what others have said, in this country debts do not pass to the next of kin; if the person dies leaving nothing but debt.

 

However debts must be repaid from the sale of any assets or from money held by the deceased, before the next of kin can take their inheritance. Basically the beneficiaries get what's left. Although I do not know for sure what happens to a house held jointly by the deceased and his wife - I guess that depends on the ownership. Whether soley by the deceased; jointly with their spouse or as tenants in common.

 

Before instructing solicitors I'd seek advice from the CAB as it's free.

 

Richard

Have a read of this - very helpful info:

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/DebtsAndArrears/DG_10013093