Probate...dont know what to do

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?

RAS

This stickie is for spouses/partners but has a lot of useful information.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=344578

You should expect the authorities to check probate records. If you disperse the estate and they then find out that the CT and HB was overpaid, they will expect the money back from the administrator (you), so i would advise sorting it before you send out any money.

Oldernotwiser

flowersmile wrote: »

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?

There have been a couple of threads on here recently where overpaid benefits have been demanded back in exactly this situation, in one case,several years later.

In general, any capital over 6,000 would affect means tested benefits but your father may have been claiming pension credit, where the rules are different. Do you know whether he was claiming this?