Moms husband died before mortgage transfered

Purdy_1

My moms husband unfortunately died this week of cancer. They were in the process of transfering all utilities, including the mortgage, into her name. Unfortunately he died this week before the mortgage was transfered into her name. He has cashed in all his bonds, policies so there will be enough to pay off the mortgage but we don't know what will happen now about that now. How do we get the mortgage into her name now? They were together for 18 yrs, married for 9.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Bossyboots

Was the mortgage in his sole name?
Whose name/s is the house in?
Had he made a will?

It looks from what you have said so far that there are sufficient proceeds to discharge the mortgage and if the mortgage and property were in his sole name then this is what will the mortgagee will expect. It all falls into his estate now so will have to be dealt with through probate or letters of administration.

Purdy_1

The mortgage was in his sole name. He has left a will leaving all his estate to my mom. There are sufficient funds to clear the mortgage. What should she do?

Bossyboots

Purdy_1 wrote:

The mortgage was in his sole name. He has left a will leaving all his estate to my mom. There are sufficient funds to clear the mortgage. What should she do?

You mum is unlikely to have a choice to be honest. As things stand legally the mortgage must now be repaid as the mortgagor has died. Any other debts he has must also be paid from the estate which comprises the available cash and the property. If your mum wants to keep her home, then she seems to have little choice other than to pay the mortgage back from the money available.

jamesd

Is she working with sufficient income that she could take out a new mortgage, for all or part of the property value, if she wanted to?

Does she have other needs for the money?

Does she have any preference for having the money to invest or save or using it to pay off the mortgage?

One thing that can be done immediately is to tell the mortgage company about the death and that they do not need to be concerned about payment because it appears that there will be sufficient funds to cover the mortgage if necessary.

Debt_Free_Chick

Purdy_1 wrote:

The mortgage was in his sole name. He has left a will leaving all his estate to my mom. There are sufficient funds to clear the mortgage. What should she do?

I'm just wondering why you now want the mortgage transferred to her name. If you did, she would owe the outstanding amount - but after the will is dealt with, she would own the house as well.

If the mortgage is not transferred (and I think that maybe it's too late to do so), then she would still have the house, but it would have no mortgage as this would be paid from his estate.

If she needed to raise capital, she could simply apply for a new mortgage in her name.

Is that the problem - does she need a lump sum for some reason?

Purdy_1

I have spoke with my mom and she has told me that the plan was for her husband to cash in all his polices, bonds, pensions etc to raise the cash to pay the remainder of the mortgage which was about £11,000. Then the property was left to her in his will. He was still waiting for the money to be deposited in his bank account when he died.

What will happen now?

silvercar

Notify the policy companies that he has died. They will pay out either the death benefit if there was one or the policy value if there wasn't. The money will go to the estate and then can be used to clear the mortgage, which is a debt on the estate. Your Mum can then inherit the house as planned.

Coud be interesting (sorry if thats the wrong word in the circumstances) if there would have been a greater death benefit than would have been paid out by cashing the policies in. In this case it may be crucial how quickly the companies acted on his instructions.

jamesd

Purdy_1, pretty much the same thing will happen, it'll just take a bit longer for the financial details to be sorted out, since the estate needs to be sorted out as part of the process. Regular communication with the mortgage lender is helpful, just so they know that they don't need to worry about how they wil lbe paid.

Purdy_1

Does she need a solicitor?

Bossyboots

Purdy_1 wrote:

Does she need a solicitor?

If she can avoid using a solicitor then she should do so because the costs will be very high.

Who has been made executor in the Will? It is that person (or if more than one named, either or all) that will have to apply for probate to prove the will and sort out the paperwork. It may be that as everything was already being cashed in, that probate is not needed.

The executor should write to the companies involved and notify them of the death, sending a copy of the death certificate. Each company should be asked if they require probate to be obtained before dealing with release of the money. Some may pay out anyway, some may be awkward. If just one or two want probate, point out that no-one else has asked for it and they may back down. If probate is required then the executor will have to sort that out. If the executor is your mum or another family member, then all the instructions are on the court service website. I can find you a link if you need it.