Probate please help stuck.......

flowersmile

First of all not sure I am in the right section. My topic is about my dad who was found dead recently and what to do with his estate. So if I’m in the wrong section please show me the right one.
My dad died without leaving a will, he had no property but, to my surprise had £25000 in a bank account. I understand most of what to do......I am the eldest of his three children and he was divorced. So no arguments, my siblings agree that I should apply for grant of administration and sort this money out between the 3 of us.
I think he was on full state pension, housing and council tax benefit but inherited some money some time after his claim but never declared it. He was very confused about money lol. It was over £6000 so I think he may have dropped a clanger lol.
Will the state (or whoever) go back into his bank accounts and find out about his (maybe) fraudulent claim? Just not sure what to expect and what to expect. Can anyone help?

anmarj

If you are talking state pensioin on its own then there is no effect. If he had Pension Credit there is the possilbity he may of had an Assessed Income period which meant if his capital changed during that period there would of been no obligation for the Pension Credit to be changed. As for Housing and council tax, unless he had Guaranteed Credit then he would of had to tell the council about the increase in capital. What tends to happen is that when somebody dies and it is over a certain amount it goes to the recovery of estate department who have to look at the increase to see when it happened and weather it should of had an effect on any benefits. You could prempt and call the relevent departments yourself and see what they say

Sorry about your dad

xxxxxx

muskoka

A very serious word of warning. I had a relative who died in 2008, I went through Probate which was granted (no problem). About 3 months AFTER probate had been granted the DWP (Dept Works & Pensions) decided to investigate this relatives bank accounts. I had to provide data as they DWP said they may have to take some of the Pension Credits back this relative had during their lifetime. In the end it was fine - they checked & all was well and I didn't have to pay any money back to them. But be warned - I thought once Probate was granted that the money can be distributed and spent! Wrong - make sure before you distribute that DWP are happy before anybody spends their inheritance. And sorry to hear about your dad.

dzug1

flowersmile wrote: »

. So no arguments, my siblings agree that I should apply for grant of administration and sort this money out between the 3 of us.

You may find the Probate Office will want more than one of you to apply - to ensure fair play really. It won't be a problem - but bear this in mind. One of you in reality can still do all the work - but one or both of the others might have confirm that the application is correct.

monkeyspanner

If you are the administrator it will be your responsibility to ensure that all debts and liabilities are paid prior to distributing the balance of the estate. It is probably best to contact the DWP and council to check what he was receiving and inform them of what you have found so far. It may also be worth checking if he was claiming all he was entitled to e.g. reduction in council tax if living on his own, winter fuel allowance. DWP are usually pretty helpful in this circumstance.

If you were unaware of this bank account it may also be worth checking for any "orphan assets" i.e. bank, building society, national savings accounts and insurance policies and pensions that may have been forgotten. A good place to start is here.

http://www.mylostaccount.org.uk/
http://www.abi.org.uk/

Sometimes people also recommend advertising locally for any outstanding debts but this will largely depend on how certain you are that you have dealt with all outstanding issues and how comprehensive your dad's records are.

Also if you are in any doubt the probate offices enquiry service is very helpful.

Primrose

And another precaution worth taking, even if any money, after probate is going to your siblings. Send them a written letter before you send the cheque for their share, asking for the signed acceptance of one third share of liability if any further debts are discovered. Once money has been distributed and possibly spent it could prove impossible for you to recoup it if further debts are discovered and then you will personally be fully liable.

dzug1

Primrose wrote: »

And another precaution worth taking, even if any money, after probate is going to your siblings. Send them a written letter before you send the cheque for their share, asking for the signed acceptance of one third share of liability if any further debts are discovered. Once money has been distributed and possibly spent it could prove impossible for you to recoup it if further debts are discovered and then you will personally be fully liable.

However if you have advertised in the set manner, then you are no longer personally liable for such debts.