My friends partner has suddenly died, what is her predicament?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Nudge her to chase up the benefit claim - she doesn't want to be in the situation where the money runs out and then has to exist for another 3 months with no income.

Once she is in receipt of council tax benefit for which she will have to submit a claim to the local council - claiming the single person reduction is essential in any case, so she may as well claim for the full entitlement now and not later - she may qualify for free/reduced cost veterinary treatment for the pets with the RSPCA, Blue Cross or PDSA, whichever is in her area. She wouldn't want the dog put down because she has no money, after all.

Oh, and don't put claiming off assuming that she will get it all back in the end - backdated payments are rather difficult to get. And when you're absolutely skint, the last thing you need is the claim held up for another month because they have got all the details, but have sent back a letter asking why you have left it so long before claiming or referred the claim for investigation because they don't believe anyone could live without any income for so long without there being an undeclared income.

If the OH was the member of a union, there may be legal advice available, and there may be the same provided by the household insurance.

Hope that helps, because although she isn't interested in finance, if she ends up homeless and has to give up the dogs/have them put to sleep, she'll be wishing she had been a bit more interested then.

cepheus

She is expecting an income from the deceased pension, however I have no idea if this is enough to invalidate her income support. He was around 50 odd yrs no idea how long he had been working there. She claims disability as well.

she may qualify for free/reduced cost veterinary treatment for the pets with the RSPCA, Blue Cross or PDSA, whichever is in her area. She wouldn't want the dog put down because she has no money, after all.

That might get her moving, nothing else will!

RAS

Your friend needs to speak to CAB or another benefit advice centre urgently.

The funeral costs should have been paid out of the estate by the executor, so she needs to know who that person is, pronto.

cepheus

How do you find out the name of an executor, from the funeral directors? Presumably one must have been appointed even with no will? She could contribute the £1000 donation for that purpose but the funeral was nearer £3000

PS Bluecross or PDSA don't seem to operate in the area where she lives!

I've had a search

The death certificate filed at the county office building should also note where burial took place.

Contact probate courts based on where the deceased person last resided, where they were buried, or where surviving relatives lived. Provide the court clerk with the name of the deceased, and also some names of surviving relatives noted in the obituary to see if they have a match. In some counties, probate court information may be online.

View the will papers filed in county court. This may be something you have to do in person. If the executor is an organization, you may have to take additional measures to find contact numbers for that entity and its representatives.

Check with the county clerk's office to see if there are any filings for that organization, such as a business certificate that might include a phone number or a person's name.

Read more: How to Find the Executor of a Will | eHow.co.uk http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5859130_executor.html#ixzz1HFzczvRh

scarlet55

i would just like to add that i had to arrange my mothers funeral a couple of months ago and as i am on income support i filled a form out for a funeral payment..first of all as soon as you arrange the funeral you have to pay several hundred pounds up front to the funeral director...i went with the co-op and i had to pay 697-00 before they would arrange it.(i think other funeral homes might be slightly cheaper ) secondly you have to wait many weeks before you get anything from income support, but they will be willing to wait...thirdly the dss do not pay for all of the funeral, they only pay 700-00 funeral directors fee, cremation or burial fee, and the doctors fee...they dont pay for the coffin or collecting the body from the hospital, or for conveying it to the cemetary/crematoriam...when my mum died we followed the hearse in our own cars as the limo's are an extra 150-00...all in all my mothers funeral (crmation ) cost 2,700 and there was a shortfall of nearly 1,500, i appealed 3 times to income support but they wont budge and they say that that is what the govenment allows...i have been able to make an arrangment with the co-op, who have been really good about it, but it will take me 2 years to pay it off...thank goodness i got myself insured with 1 of those axa's...at least my daughter wont have that worry....just 1 more thing, if your friend isnt actually on income support at the moment then i doubt she will get anything, and iff her partner had any assets, no matter how small, everything will have to be taken into account...right down to the last penny....my mother had no money and was not insured and on the day she died there was only a few pound in her account, but this was even taken off the money that the dss allowed

scarlet55

one more thing...you say your friends partner has a neice who is a solicitor...why hasnt she gone to her for help...surely she would know most things and if not she can at least point her in the right direction.

cepheus

scarlet55 wrote: »

one more thing...you say your friends partner has a neice who is a solicitor...why hasnt she gone to her for help...surely she would know most things and if not she can at least point her in the right direction.

I did suggest that to her. It seems likely that this solicitor will either be the executor or know who it is, if there has been one appointed at all. Perhaps simply nothing has happened, it wouldn't surprise me.

However, my friend thinks the family of the deceased are keeping quiet so she will end up paying for debts, funeral etc. Presumably they must contact her eventually about the other half of the house.

To be honest it's very difficult to help people who don't want to be bothered, and feel as if I am prying too much already. I might see her at the weekend - if her dog isn't too ill (long story).

tanith

If they were indeed Joint Tenants then the house now becomes her entirely.. If she was his partner for over 10yrs surely she should be responsible for the funeral and costs? Its the right thing to do...

cepheus

Well she wouldn't have the money to do so at the moment, but I'm sure she would if she could.

The problem seems to be that she doesn't know what her income is from the pension yet, this makes it impossible to fill in the income support form even if they had sent her one. I suggested she puts zero then adjusts it later, but she is frightened of doing this and her experiences with the benefits office make her reluctant to persue that route vigourously.

The house (and subsequently the mortgage) situation is similarily confused since the Halifax seem to be taking ages sorting that out. All they have done so far is lose the death certificate and send her letters for her deceased partners debt (from his individual account), she has closed the joint account. This is the reason why no-one wishes to take up the role of executor, since there is nothing in the estate except a debt and the subsequent solicitors bill.

As for her dogs only the vet she knows will do, although the charities don't seem to support her area anyway!

nad1611

cepheus wrote: »

I have just spoken to her and she is reasonably confident that she has 'joint tenant' status not 'tenants in common'. They certainly thought about this prior to arranging the joint mortgage.

It also seems likely she is named as the sole benefactor on the pension. Perhaps it will pay out a lump sum to help with the funeral?

Hopefully if this is the case, the only part of the 'estate' which she doesn't get is his (possibly overdrawn) bank account and old car, and perhaps some of the joint account.

Her main problem at the moment is getting on income support fast enough, since that pays for funerals (disability allowance doesn't) is it backdated?

I wonder if it worth stopping all the direct debits to his potentially overdrawn account?

If it happens that your friend unable to receive income from the Estate which seems likely, if there's no Will, the expense of the Funeral would not need to be paid by your friend but would come out of the Estate, presuming there's enough funds to do so. Someone will need to apply to be Administarator to his Estate and be sworn in for the Probate Application to be Granted. This would normally be a relative,in the event of intestacy, but not necessarily.
I think a call to CAB would be good to see what help and advice they can give your friend.