please help advice following a death ....

cloverfan

Hi my dad passed away in october and had a argos and homebase card i think there was a total amount of about £1500 owing on them. He has left no money etc...my mum is financially struggling and they are saying my mum is liable to pay these?? she never signed anything and dad had no ppi or anything.....someone has also said she might get a charge to the house??? this is really worrying her please can someone help me to put her mind at rest???

Thanks

dzug1

Your Mum is not personally liable for these debts.

She - or the executor of your Dad's estate, which she is by default - is responsible for paying them out of whatever money your father left. If he left none, then they can't be paid. She (or the executor) is responsible for informing the companies of this -she can't just ignore the problem and hope it will go away.

jwil

I'm very sorry for your loss.

I'm not an expert, and hopefully someone with more knowledge than me will come along, but I thought that if the cards were in your Dad's name only, and not your Mum's, then the balance comes out of his estate. If he has no estate to pay these bills, then they get written off. If the cards were in joint names, then your Mum would be liable.

Do you have a solicitor who can advise you?

Best wishes, I know how difficult it can be.

jwil

Cross posted - thanks dzug!

lisyloo

Hi cloverfan - sorry to hear about your loss.
Do you know whose name the house was in?

If it was held jointly and they were "joint tennants" (legal term) then the house is automatically your mums and does not pass into the estate. There is also another forms of joint ownership called "tennants in common" where is would be half hers and half his, in which case his half would go into the estate.

If it was your Dads house then there is something in his estate (the house) and the bills need to be paid.

Your mum needs to find out how the house was held if she doesn't know.

The card companies might try bullying behaviour becasue that's what they do.
She needs to find out the situation for definite.

cloverfan

dzug1 wrote: »

Your Mum is not personally liable for these debts.

She - or the executor of your Dad's estate, which she is by default - is responsible for paying them out of whatever money your father left. If he left none, then they can't be paid. She (or the executor) is responsible for informing the companies of this -she can't just ignore the problem and hope it will go away.

Hi thanks for your replys...she's not ignoring it but she is getting BAD advice, i dont really understand how but she has been seeing some advisors from the cab but they are each giving her different conflicting advice hence why she is getting more and more worried. I tried to get her to come on here but it was too technical for her (bless her). I meant to say the house was joint tennants. Thank you for helping us x

cloverfan

lisyloo wrote: »

Hi cloverfan - sorry to hear about your loss.
Do you know whose name the house was in?

If it was held jointly and they were "joint tennants" (legal term) then the house is automatically your mums and does not pass into the estate. There is also another forms of joint ownership called "tennants in common" where is would be half hers and half his, in which case his half would go into the estate.

If it was your Dads house then there is something in his estate (the house) and the bills need to be paid.

Your mum needs to find out how the house was held if she doesn't know.

The card companies might try bullying behaviour becasue that's what they do.
She needs to find out the situation for definite.

This is exactly the sort of thing my mum was worrying about and thank you so so much i have just shown my mum your answer and i am going to go to the cab with her.