Planning for death - forum discussion

g6jns_2 · 8 February 2015 at 11:09PM

DAN_HURRELL wrote: »

My parents have specified a large sum of money to be left to me on the first death. However all their savings is in joint accounts. Does this mean the money will automatically pass to the survivor so my expected inheritance will not materialize.

If there are no funds in the estate then you will get nothing.

g6jns_2 · 8 February 2015 at 11:43PM

DAN_HURRELL wrote: »

My parents have specified a large sum of money to be left to me on the first death. However all their savings is in joint accounts. Does this mean the money will automatically pass to the survivor so my expected inheritance will not materialize.

If there are no funds in the estate then you will get nothing.

Mojisola · 8 February 2015 at 11:48PM

http://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/reviews-ns/funeral-plans/

I don't know whether the prices are up-to-date so check with the company if you think you may want to buy a plan.

These are pre-paid funeral plans, not 'pay us some money every month until you die' rip-off scams.

SevenOfNine · 9 February 2015 at 12:00PM

lehapau wrote: »

Our financial advisor has suggested using Countrywide Tax & Trust corporation Ltd to set up a Tenants in Common, combined with trust planning will. It is a way around loosing your home to Nursing home costs and safe guarding your children's inheritance.
It is rather more expensive at approx. £1400 ish but could save a fortune in the long run. Has anyone got any experience of this practice and maybe some more economical companies offering the same service.

We did this several years ago, but not with this company. At the time for inheritance tax purposes, but have kept it for different reasons now that is unlikely to be a problem (or much less of one anyway).

madbadrob wrote: »

Tenants in common dont stop the LA taking money for Nursing home fees in fact they could force a sale of the house to fund these. After all the percentage owned by the person who needs in the future nursing home care can and will be taken in to consideration.

...........It is more practical to keep our Trust (with Tenants in Common) set up in case the surviving spouse 1) remarried, & possibly failed (in the flush of new love) to get a new Will dividing assets fully to include our adult sons, given that WE worked hard to obtain what we had when the first person died. 2) To protect against LA taking practically everything should all the first death monies/property etc be left to the surviving spouse, who then needs LA care themselves. Which may be the situation 'lehapau' meant to describe.

It is unlikely that a Local Authority would force the sale of half a house should one half of a living couple need LA care, BUT they could of course put a 'charge' on it - taking the money as & when circumstances allow. Not much one can do to avoid that!

Mattygroves2 · 9 February 2015 at 2:41PM

Having dealt with two sets of probate recently it helps if the executors are told in advance:

- where the original will is along with any codicils or letters of wishes
- what the assets and liabilities of the individuals are particularly in this age of internet and paperless banking
- details of any assets held outside the estate - life insurance, pensions etc - along with contact details
- where important house details are - who provides the utilities, paper delivery, any permissions granted for extensions etc
- any wishes about funerals etc
- details of any regular gifts or gifts above the annual IHT gift limits. If there are alot a nice summary of income and expenditure for each year is also very useful for completing the relevant probate form
- a good address book with contact numbers for people to notify and also a christmas card list so notes can be sent

Obviously you aren't always going to know when you are going to die but good organisation helps those who are left to pick up the pieces !

Mojisola · 9 February 2015 at 3:47PM

Keeping this up-to-date makes an executor's life much easier -
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/home-and-care/home-safety-and-security/lifebook/

Also useful if someone needs to step in and help you with your finances while you're alive as well.

RAS · 9 February 2015 at 3:58PM

There is a folder at the front of the filing cabinet called "when I die." Must get it updated, though.

getmore4less · 9 February 2015 at 4:15PM

Those funeral estimates are well excessive.

The standard basic is more likely to be closer to £2500

coffin £1000 really

Those funeral directors that put prices on line will do a basic for around £1k-£1500 inc coffin + the costs of burial/cremation etc which should not come to much more than £1k.

Watch out for out of parish charges if you want to be buried "back home" having moved away

grannyjo · 21 February 2015 at 4:14PM

If a person has no money, social services provide a simple respectful funeral for them for about £600 which the council pays. When I asked funeral providers for their cheapest funeral it was about double that. Funeral directors rely on our grief and fear of respectability when they impose their outrageous charges. My mother wanted a cheap simple funeral. I asked for about 10 companies for their prices and breakdown. It seemed to me that we were charged around £600 to collect my mother from a hospital morgue, store her for about 3 days then take her to the crematorium. Their lowest coffin price was over £500 - why!!!- a cardboard one for a cremation could be less than £10. We had a wonderful service at the crematoria which we took ourselves, each of 3 children (adults) talking about her life. I really think it is time the government regulated these charges, with every company having to offer a basic funeral at the basic social services cost. Since my mothers funeral, I have heard 3 elderly widows worried sick about the funeral cost and left with much of their savings evaporated by these sharks.

malc_b · 4 March 2015 at 12:10PM

PennyForThem wrote: »

Santander have a ceiling of 25k where if below no probate. If above yes, want a probate.

Nationwide seems to want a probate whatever the amount (£400 in my case).

My experience of Santander is that they SAY they don't want probate below 25k however if you are applying for probate anyway (e.g. you need for another bank or for a house) then Santander will then require probate even under 25k.

My tip would be to check out your local funeral services and then buy a pre-paid plan. The reason behind this is that we don't all die to schedule. My mother recently passed away and as we had some notice we had time to sort a funeral director we liked. That way we knew who to call. If someone dies suddenly who are you going to call out to take the deceased away? Just pick someone out of yellow pages with a pin? It makes sense to try to make some arrangement before hand. BTW the funeral cost would have been cheaper if we could have bought a plan now, so even without any prediction of future costs a plan saves money.

Planning for death - forum discussion

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free