Recently widowed; husband had debts I did not know about

Bargain_Rzl

Hi Annie, I am so sorry that you lost your husband :grouphug:

Are you sure he did not have payment protection on any of his debts which would pay out in the event of death? Just a thought.

Bossyboots

lottie26 wrote:

i'm so sorry for your loss, it must be very difficult to get your head around all this but you have the support of your daughter you will get through this.
For all the debts that are in your husbands name i'm sure they can't persure it the only one would be the overdraft because it's in joint names.
I hope you get everything answered for you at CAB. xxxx

lottie, you are missing the point that the creditors can pursue the husband's estate. They cannot pursue the OP personally, nor can they claim against her half of the house, but they can claim against her husband's share.

montycat_2

Hi ,
I am where you are at the moment with regards to one of my late husbands credit cards .Have you checked whether he paid any protection insurance on them ?My DH did on 2 of his cards but ,not this one .
My soicitor mentioned the tenancy thing as well ,you need to check the wording .
The CAB have helped me alot and I would advise you use them but ,also, see a solicitor .
Best of luck and I hope you get it sorted soon .
If I have to pay my hubbys back ,I am going to ask for installments .

magicmaria

Hi Bossyboots

I don't know all I did was phone the mortgage company (Cheshire B/S) and told them my husband had died, they told me to put this in writing with a copy of the death certificate, my husband didn't leave a will so don't know if this made a difference, but about a week later I got confirmation that the Mortgage was now soley in my name.

Bossyboots

magicmaria wrote:

Hi Bossyboots

I don't know all I did was phone the mortgage company (Cheshire B/S) and told them my husband had died, they told me to put this in writing with a copy of the death certificate, my husband didn't leave a will so don't know if this made a difference, but about a week later I got confirmation that the Mortgage was now soley in my name.

Was the property jointly owned as "joint tenants". I suspect this was the case as the share passes to you on surviorship so effectively there is no free estate to claim other debts against and it would be tasteless to pursue a widow/er for payment in those circumstances. (Although they would be pursuing the deceased's part of the estate, it is clear the person to suffer the consequences would be the surviving partner).

Unfortunately for the OP they had made clear the property was owned in two separate halves so there is an estate to pursue subject to the provisos I posted before.

desperate_annie

Hello again everyone.
Thank you all again for your messages and advice.
I was feeling a little more hopeful today as I had spoken to one of the creditors - HFC Bank which was two of the credit cards (combined total of £17,000) and a loan of £2,000, most of which was paid off, but was covered by insurance anyway.
The Senior Payment Advisor in their litigation department said that if there was no money in the estate, that property does not come into it under English and Welsh Law, so that the account would be closed.
I had been trying not to get my hopes up too much as this was the news I had been wating for.

However, after reading Bossy Boot's post I do not think that this is the case and deep down I knew this anyway.
I am named in my husband's will as the executor of the estate, so I think that means that I have probate (could you please clarify this for me as I do not really understand legal terms). My daughter is the second executor if I am unwilling or unable to act.
I ahve also been warned that if I ignore the debts that I will become personally liable for them as being an executor of a will is a legal responsibility. Again, I do not know for definite if this is true.

Unfortunately, we did sever our joint tenancy - I have a letter from the Land Registry in front of me which states that the they have placed an entry in the register in October 2005:
"RESTRICTION: No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arisies is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court"

I do not know exactly what this means and our solicitors did not advise us of what this meant, but I have a horrible feeling that it may make it easier for my late husband's creditors to ensure they get their share of the estate.
If I (or the solicitor) had known about the debts in my husband's name, then we would not have severed our joint tenancy. But unfortunately, I thought we were doing the best thing in case my husband needed nursing care.

Thank-you, Bossy Boots and the other person on the 1st page (I'm new at this internet thing and cannot work out how to post a reply at the same time as checking what people have written) who advised me to see a solicitor. I think you're both right - it is much more complicated than seeking straightforward debt advice and is more of a probate issue, which is where I get totally lost.
I will organise an appointment with a solicitor tomorrow and keep you informed of what is happening.

Thanks again for your advice.

Bestthingsinlifearefree

Hi DA,

I admire your courage in what must be a difficult time. Take one day at a time, step by step and you will work your way through this.

There are a lot of people rooting for you here and there as much advice / support here as you need.

Keep us informed how you get on.

I wish you well.


Best things in life are free.

Bossyboots

Probate has to be applied for and it is a certificate stating that you have authority to deal with the estate and collect monies and pay monies out and it authorises people with whom you husband had accounts to deal with you directly. Only once you have that document, that you can start to deal with the estate. You need to make an application to the court. I can give you a link to some info on that if you would like. From the advice received yesterday, my understanding is that as long as you do not apply for probate you do not have to act as executor and therefore there is noone to sue. I also understood that you do not have to apply for probate just because you are executor. The difficulty might arise if there are any other beneficiaries who should be given something from the estate. Again, if I understood correctly you only become liable for the debts as executor if you fail to pay them from the estate. For example, you know one CC debt worth say £500 but you pay everyone else and divide the estate between the beneficiaries, leaving that debt unpaid. You would then be personally liable for that debt as you had failed as executor to clear it with available funds.

Seeing a solicitor with all the paperwork is the best option as they can advise specifically on what they are seeing which is the best way to handle this as there may well be something a solicitor spots which you might not think relevant.

If I remember it correctly, the clause from the Land Registry means that neither you nor your husband could register a charge against the property after severing the tenancy without the agreement of the other unless a court had ordered it.

twink

just wanted to give my sympathy to you it must be so hard for you my husband died 5yrs ago with a terminal illness and there is so much to see to at a time when you are feeling tired and so sad please take good care of yourself

Raquela

yes, the clause just means that one of you couldn't sell the house from under the other without a court order. I don't think this has any relevance as far as your problems. I'd strongly recommend you follow bossyboots advice and get some legal advice so you know exactly where you stand.

and.. treat yourself very gently...

xx