Debt if parent dies

sandralovescats

immoral_angeluk wrote:

Sorry I should have added that my mum had 4 life insurance policies.. one for each of her children and one for funeral expenses. It was written in her will what each policy was for and the funeral expenses were released straight away but the children's policies had to be dealt with by a solicitor so any creditors could make a claim to them before the funds were released to us.

It won't make a jot of difference what her Will says.
The creditors take priority on any monies before the wishes of the deceased.

heatherw_01

sandralovescats wrote:

NO!! Most definitely NO!

The OR will take ALL INSURANCE POLICIES irrespective of their value!! The OR usually allows you to buy them back at one year's premium.

The debts would be written off, yes!

Hmm, not sure what she should do now then.

Seems that the plan she has, has been a waste of time.

sandralovescats

It might be a good idea for you, or Mum, to talk to Myvesta. Their advice is completely free of charge and impartial.

oscar52

sandralovescats wrote:

It won't make a jot of difference what her Will says.
The creditors take priority on any monies before the wishes of the deceased.

Have to sandra you are wrong here. As said in her post Immorral had this in 05, and I had it with my grandmother in 03 - if a policy is SPECIFICALLY for funeral costs it CANNOt be used for anything else or claimed by her creditors.

sandralovescats

Heather - has your Mum actually done anything about the debts that she has?

sandralovescats

oscar52 wrote:

Have to sandra you are wrong here. As said in her post Immorral had this in 05, and I had it with my grandmother in 03 - if a policy is SPECIFICALLY for funeral costs it CANNOt be used for anything else or claimed by her creditors.

But the policy IS NOT specifically for funeral costs!!

Do read the other posts before you jump in with incorrect information!!

If a policy is for funeral costs only then it is safe from creditors - but not from the OR

heatherw_01

sandralovescats wrote:

It might be a good idea for you, or Mum, to talk to Myvesta. Their advice is completely free of charge and impartial.

She is not very good at talking to companies, but I think she needs to call them. She is 64 now and I am not sure if she would understand them to be honest.

I do not know all about her debts as she will not talk to me about them (I only recently found out about these massive debts) I would still prefer her to call them.

oscar52

Im not getting involved in a slanging match. I obviously do read posts - the information I have given out is correct. If the OP wants any more information, from someone who has done this relatively recently they can PM me.

hypno06

I always understood that unpaid taxes and "reasonable" funeral expenses were allowed before other creditors. So that the cost of the funeral, buriel or cremation, undertakers costs etc are allowed, but the cost of food at the wake afterwards isn't.

If the life insurance policy is payable on receipt of the death certificate, pay the funeral bill without delay and then let the creditors fight over what is left, if anything.

Don't even need to tell the creditors that she has died until after the funeral - they should accept that as being a reasonable timescale - no one would expect you to be calling them within 24 hours.

sandralovescats

heatherw_01 wrote:

She is not very good at talking to companies, but I think she needs to call them. She is 64 now and I am not sure if she would understand them to be honest.

I do not know all about her debts as she will not talk to me about them (I only recently found out about these massive debts) I would still prefer her to call them.

I think, maybe, you need to have a long chat with her re her debts.

You really do need professional guidance here. To do that you need to be in full possession of the facts. She really does need to speak to someone. If you volunteered to help her out, would she let you do that? Get the list of her debts together. Maybe you could explain to her that there is help out there, if she would only let someone help?

A parent and child situation can be very difficult, I know. It was only when my 73 year old Mum broke her leg that I found out every detail of her income and expenditure. Although she wasn't/isn't in debt, money is a very private thing.

What about if she went to the CAB? She would still need her financial details, though.