Recently widowed; husband had debts I did not know about

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Hello Annie, sorry you're having a tough day today. I guess you are feeling a bit capsized and unmoored - most people do when a loved one dies. You might find your emotions are all over the place and feel quite overwhelmed at times, your world has been turned upside down and the whole situation is something you've never experienced before, but your feelings will get back to normal in their own good time.
It will take a while for all the practicalities to be sorted out, so if you have the occasional day when you just can't do anything to move things forward I don't think in the long run that will matter too much. Perhaps it would help if you could let your daughter know when things are a bit too much for you to cope with. Sometimes daughters believe mums can manage things perfectly well with just a little help, and sometimes mums can have days when they need to say they need a large amount of help with something. I hope this helps a little.

lixi

Annie,

I just wanted to offer my sympathy for your loss. Some of the practical advice that has been given to you is sound and you certainly should go and see a solicitor as soon as possible. So far as the CAB go, they will be able to help in relation to your debts but you absolutely MUST see a probate specialist as soon as possible.

Despite what has been said on some of the posts here, I would clarify that it is not as simple as whether or not you have a joint tenancy or tenancy in common in respect of a property as to whether debts are recoverable against a deceased person's home. Yes, in respect of a joint tenancy, when one owner dies their interest passes to the survivor and does not form part of the estate for the purposes of inheritance tax. However, there are ways and means in which creditors can recover money agains the surviving joint tenant(s). Even though that doesn't apply in your case, I wanted to make the point so people are not mislead. For more detail, there is guidance available to the general public on https://www.insolvency.gov.uk on the application of the 2001 Act.

Your case is obviously different as you had a tenancy in common which as has been pointed out means that you and your partner held separate interests in the property. His interest will therefore form part of his estate for tax and other purposes. The estate will certainly have to go through probate and in short an executor is responsible for ensuring that the debts of the estate are paid out to the creditors of the estate from the assets.

I don't want to worry you but please see advice from a specialist lawyer as to what this means in practise and do not rely on the reassurances on this board, which are, after all, made by and large by kind hearted people who are not legally qualified in these areas of law and are lurking to offer assistance to people on managing debts and cutting costs (bless them).

Lixi

twink

i admire you very much for how you are coping with all this you will get many bad days and you just have to go with them all the time you try so hard not to let people know how bad you are feeling it is hard to believe now but over time the grief does ease and you will feel proud of how you have coped please think carefully about any decisions you make now i know looking back i would do things different but it is difficult to have a clear mind take your time and think things over tell people you need time to think clearly

Mrs-Clements-to-be

I am also sorry for your loss.

I would agree with Lixie's advice. I would add something else: to find a solicitor who specialises in the right area of law you would be well advised to contact the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) for a list of suitably qualified solicitors in your area. They have a website at https://www.step.org or you can call them on 020 7838 4885.

Good luck.

mountainofdebt

Like others, my sympathies go out to you.

Just a quick thought for your appointment, why not write your situation down with full facts etc and have it to hand. That way if it all becomes too much for you during the appointment you can just hand them the letter and they will still know the situation to help you.

jumping_j11

If your husband was mentally affected by his terminal illness it may be the case that his mismanagement of his finances was because he lacked mental capacity and was therefore not responsible for his actions.The fact that he used to be sensible with money reinforces this. I don't think you can validly enter into a contract if you do not have mental capacity.Would it be worth ,when dealing with his creditors, to point this out? Regardless of the legal position, how good would it be for their PR if they insisted on recovering debt from the widow, rendering her homeless, of a man who was too ill to be responsible for his actions anyway?
All good wishes.

Chicken_Licken

thanks for this info Jen.

desperate_annie

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me over the past week or so. I've tried to take as much advice on board as I can, which is difficult as I have been given a lot! It is also very hard trying to keep a clear head when I feel so tired, having problems sleeping still.

The CAB were extremely helpful and I would recommend anyone who has got any debt problem at all to go and see them. Non-judgemental and sympathetic and knew what they were talking about too.

One of the things I have been losing sleep over is the fact that my husband and I only severed our joint tenancy 2 months before he died, and although we arranged to do this through a solicitor, we were not given any advice as to how it might affect us if one of us accrued debts.
Therefore, we (my daughter and I) have decided to go back to the same solicitors and ask them a) why they advised us to sever the joint tenancy and b) probably to handle the estate, as we feel that we probably have cause for complaint if we lose money because of their advice, so we feel that they will be acting in my best interest.

There are other avenues we could go down - e.g. to try and reverse the severance because of my husband's mental capacity, or to not apply for probate as was suggested earlier but that means that I am not able to sell the house if I decide to do so in the future. (Who knows what that may hold?), or to negotiate with the credit card companies re my husband's mental capacity, but with someone else acting on my behalf, it would be such a weight off my shoulders.
Anyway, the appointment with them is tomorrow, so another sleepless night is probably in prospect. But hopefully I will be another step closer tomorrow.

Sincere thank-you to everyone who has offered advice
Annie x