Unpaid Nursing Home fees after death - who is liable?

ratty67

Reading from the Will, my DH is the sole executor.

Daughter knew who held the will, she took her mother there in July 2005 in an attempt to have the will changed. She has a serious long term dislike of DH, she is his ex sister-in-law. He reckons her life would have to be hanging by a thread before she would communicate with him! When she found out he was executor she wanted to know if she could object!

Does that answer questions?

ratty67

[FONT=&quot]Thank you localhero for explaining so clearly about 'unjust enrichment'. That is exactly the information DH needs. Brilliant! Is daughter worth suing? Quite possibly... I have looked on the STEP website and found several members nearby.

DH does not have 100% confidence in this solicitor, he hasn't signed anything or instructed her to do anything. He's found out today that not only has the solicitor written to the bank (she was asked not to, I wrote about this yesterday) but also to the other firm of solicitors which again she was asked not to as DH is dealing with it (going there tomorrow).

This solicitor literally did nothing (as should be) until she received word there is this 'unknown' amount of money being held. Now she's trying to pursuade DH not to be executor and doing work DH has already done/is in the process of doing. DH is of the opinion that the amount of money to come could be substantial, he can't see this gentleman leaving his widow short, but he could be wrong. He's also trying to trace another policy that may have lapsed that was supposed to cover the funeral.
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Errata

With the best will in the world, I can't figure out why the solicitor is acting they way they are. She can hardly tell the bank, or anyone else, either in writing or verbally that she is acting for xxxxx. Bizarre.

RAS

Bizarre is it not?

I think one letter advising her that she must hand over the will and reminding her that she has not been instructed to act by your OH would be a good idea.

But, it took 9 months and substantial legal fees to get the will out of the company that held my mother's. At one point they advised our solicitor that the second executor was not of sound mind and could not renounce his executorship. This proved to be false.

ratty67

Better news today, about time hey?

We have the will. The genuine and certified will. We also have an unhappy solicitor but I'm guessing she'll get over it!

We have two small insurance policies, one to be paid out, the other being held the other solicitor I already mentioned. Both are for around £2,000. We don't know why the money was being held yet or what the bill relates to, someone is supposed to be calling us on Monday.

Better than that news - we found a Building Soc account with a balance of £8,500. The address they had on file? The daughter's :rolleyes:

Even better than that news - we visited the deceased ladies former neighbour and met the lady that now lives in the old ladies former home. She handed us an envelope containing a share dividend cheque (only a small amount), she says these things have been arriving for the last 3 and a half years and she keeps sending them back. She has also been receiving statements (and sending them back) from yet another bank account but she couldn't remember which bank offhand. She'll let us know if it comes to her (or when another statement arrives).

We also now have all the paperwork from the solicitor. I know I've already asked if payment for a wake is a legitimate cost against the estate, but can flowers and obit notices from the local paper be claimed for also?

Daughter is claiming for FOUR wreathes and TWO obit notices and the best bit is they are the notices placed by two of her children, she didn't place one herself! Please someone, tell me she can take a hike!!

There's more, but I'm still trying to digest it all. The estate has gone from teetering on the brink of insolvency to being very solvent in the space of a few hours. Who knows what else will turn up?

Errata

Excellent news. Shame the solicitor's weekend has been spoilt !
Re. the funeral. This is info on what a funeral grant would cover, nb the 'additional expenses' bit.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/sb16/funeral.asp#fpcover

ukmaggie45

Don't talk to me about solicitors! :eek:

Just wanted to let you know that I feel for your husband's trials and tribulations!

Our problems following my parents' deaths were completely different, but we had incompetence and uselessness from the solicitor named as co-executor with my husband. At least be thankful your husband is sole executor - he can choose to get help if he needs to, and where to go for it.

Wishing your husband the best of luck with all this. It's a thankless job being an Executor so far as I can make out... Unless you're a solicitor of course, when you will claim a percentage of the gross estate value and then charge per hour for the "work" you do.

I should say that we have found a decent solicitor now (STEP practitioner) who is sorting out the mess left by the co-executor solicitor, but it's costing.

monkeyspanner

That is good news. Sounds like there may be lost bank accounts etc. you can look for them here.
http://www.mylostaccount.org.uk/

localhero

That's good news ratty. In my humble opinion, legitimate costs to be paid from the estate is what the undertaker charges for, and possibly the wake.

I think personal things like flowers and rememberances in newspapers are a private thing and should be paid for separately by the individuals concerned.

In any case, this lady has got plenty of blood on her hands and certainly isn't in a position morally or legally to extricate money from you.

As an executor, I personally would be requesting money into the estate FROM her, certainly not giving her any money.

ratty67

Thank you all. Everyone here deserves a huge pat on the back for your collective help. We are so very grateful to each and every one of you

monkeyspanner - thank you for the link, very useful and DH is onto it.

localhero - thank you for clarification regarding the flowers and notices. I forgot to add daughter is also claiming £15 for 'gifts for the care home'; sweets and chocolates I believe she wrote down. No receipt. I think I would be correct in adding that to the 'shove it' pile

Those bank statements had better turn up tomorrow. The suspense is almost too much now!