What to do when a partner/spouse dies.

montycat_2

In my experience ,the companies involved asked for certified copies .Saying that though ,I didn't have a death certificate for 4 months (due to the Inquest ) so had to make do with The Statement of Fact of Death issued by the coroner .

Those that wanted the bona fide Death Certificate wouldn't even except that ,therefore delaying Insurance payments .That is not nice when you have a mortgage that needs paying and 3 young children .

sammyhammy

montycat wrote:

In my experience ,the companies involved asked for certified copies .Saying that though ,I didn't have a death certificate for 4 months (due to the Inquest ) so had to make do with The Statement of Fact of Death issued by the coroner .

Those that wanted the bona fide Death Certificate wouldn't even except that ,therefore delaying Insurance payments .That is not nice when you have a mortgage that needs paying and 3 young children .

The coroner's statement can be copied and certified, it's only the registrar's copy that can't. These are accepted by most organisations, but a life compnay will want a death certificate to ensure that it is actually due to pay out. They will try to avoid payment if they can claim an undisclosed pre-existing condition suffered at the time or cover - I've had one try to refuse to pay when someone died of bowel cancer and had been to the doctor with a 'runny tummy' before cover started.

Solicitors' certified copeis are not to be confused with the fact that what the Registry gives you are actually headed 'certified copy' of the entry. This can be what companies refer to as a certified copy (ie not a photocopy certified as a true copy by a solicitor/other professional).

bridjohns

:A My father died in August and my mum did not know what to do.. Although she paid all the bills she did not know what help was available.. This may sound morbid but let the undertaker know that there may be a delay in payment due to payments given for spouses. They will know what you mean and will not send a bill out .. Secondly let the local one stop have a look at all you recieve. They will help. Although my dad was 62 he was never in a position for pension. So when claiming always say you do not recieve this as you probably havn,t yet .. If it is cancer , phone the mcmillian line ,, they are excellent and can fill some forms in , claiming up to £3,000 for flowers , coffin and even the local papers. Although this does not make up for our loss it did ease my mum a bit knowing that a bill for £4,000 was about to drop through the door. Also check the old documents as my dad had loads and I saved them from the old shed.. Although my mum said they were only old penny investments they did actually ammount to over £10,000. If in doubt send them off.. I really hope this helps at least one person, as I know it is hard to look at money at this time. There is help from most people but it is hard, I would sugest getting in a son or daughter to help as you may not be in the right frame of mind at this sad time .

My Dad would have been proud of me for getting everythig paid for , as he was a union man all his life and paid all taxes etc,, why not fight for what they have paid for all thier working life, ALTHOUGH IT SHOULD BE EASIER!!!!
Hope this helps and good luck and god bless.. Diane

bridjohns

Always Get At Least 3 Death Certificates To Stop Them Asking For One As You Will Need More Than One In Most Cases..

grannybroon

Sorry, haven't had time to read all your posts and I hope I am not repeating what has gone before.

Years ago we were advised that I should have my own car insurance because if anything happened to DH car insurance becomes void. I have had my own for over 12 years. Also not so long ago my 81 year old mother asked if it would be OK to set up Power of Attorney for my sister and I to sort things out if required. Very astute thinking on her part - she had read something in the Saga mag. We can't decide just the two of us - we have to consult solicitor too which makes sense.

Bogof_Babe

My OH rang his late father's motor insurers today (Saga) and was told that named drivers of a deceased policy holder are still covered until probate is completed.

I hope they are right.

sammyhammy

grannybroon wrote:

Sorry, haven't had time to read all your posts and I hope I am not repeating what has gone before.

Years ago we were advised that I should have my own car insurance because if anything happened to DH car insurance becomes void. I have had my own for over 12 years. Also not so long ago my 81 year old mother asked if it would be OK to set up Power of Attorney for my sister and I to sort things out if required. Very astute thinking on her part - she had read something in the Saga mag. We can't decide just the two of us - we have to consult solicitor too which makes sense.

See my earlier post (no 84) for why you should do an Enduring Power of Attorney before October.

Katsuffolk

Sadly my husband died suddenly over 2 years ago, and because there was no will I am still trying to sort out the estate. Everyone MUST have a will, even if it only says I leave everything to my partner, that is enough. I cannot believe the nightmares I am going through because we didn't do it.

The other thing I would say is that you should have a list of all financial account details, bank accounts, credit/debit cards, insurance policies, savings accounts, stocks/shares etc. You don't have to share the information while you're alive if you don't want to, but you need to know where the paperwork is if needed. Trust me the last thing you want to be doing when a loved one dies is trawling through filing cabinets/boxes/briefcases to try and get the necessary info for the solicitors.


One other thing I would say is if you have a property, check how it is registered with the land registry office. When we married we transferred the house into joint names, but there are 2 ways of doing it. "Joint tenancy" which means that if one of you dies the property automatically transfers to your partner, or "tenants in common" which means that if there is no will half of the value of the property gets added to the overall estate. This has huge implications for tax purposes and if there are children involved. We thought we had a simple joint tenancy, but it turns out we had the other registration which has made things even more complicated. Check it out, just in case.

If I think of anything else I'll re-post - or if anyone has any questions happy to try and help.

KM

Haughley_Harridan

I think I can help here - my stepfather died in 2005 and here are some handy hints I picked up whilst helping my mother.

Frozen bank accounts and asset worries: most solicitors have special arrangements and will pay outstanding utility bills, council tax etc. from their bank account until probate has been granted and you pay them back. I suspect most banks offer this service as well - we were not charged interest or fees of any kind for this particular service so it is well worth checking. They were also willing to lend my mother some living money if she had wanted.

Get at least 3 copies of the death certificate - one for you, one for the DHSS (or whatever they call themselves now) and one for other people such as pension companies, life insurance, etc. Most people will not accept a copy and can take a while to send the original back, so if you are dealing with various different organisations for "claims", it is worth the money getting extra copies of the death certificate in order that what is owing to you comes through more swiftly.

The utility companies were very good about providing bills up to the date of death and then changing the names on the bills soon after - as my mother and stepfather had completely seperate financial lives, the paying of bills up to the date of his death impacted on the inheritance tax etc.

The social services were also very good - we contacted them by telephone and they sent the forms to amend my mother's pension etc. very quickly and offered help in filling them in. If they are too complicated or too depressing to fill in and you need help, the Citizens Advice Bureau are brilliant.

You will not remember to tell everybody so beware of things turning up months after their death and, in our case, sales calls on the telephone. Such things as Christmas cards, subscription renewals, newsletters etc can catch you unawares - horrible, intrusive sales stuff, we just send back with "Deceased" written on it. A quick postcard has taken care of the rest of it.

Funeral expenses should all come out of the deceased estate (see para above about solicitors/banks giving you money against the estate). Don't suddenly have a moment about having to pay for the funeral, wake etc. Talk to the solicitors about it and find out whether the deceased had any funeral insurance.

Life insurance/pensions stuff tends to come through the letterbox at least once a year so if you can't find relevant documents or they have a policy you don't know about, you can catch up this way. It is essential that if you move house, you should have your post forwarded for at least a year afterwards to keep a check on this sort of thing.

If I think of any more, I will let you know.

Nordevonshire

Arranging for your future will help set the pattern for all the family and friends, just do it, then others will follow, thus relieving everybody of a problem. Much of this is very simple.
Make a will with a Solicitor (yes it costs, but it’s cost effective at the end of the day) keep a copy in a familiar place with the family (with all the driving licences etc.) no one else can do anything with it anyway. This can also be done free for you by many charities of the day; of course they want some £’s. Your choice! Not left for others to do.
Take out a prepayment funeral plan, which means you pay (those who remain pay nothing) and you will have paid today’s price; you will have noticed prices rise over time! And you get what you want.
Between these 2 documents just about all the arrangements are made in readiness for that day many years in the future.
Take care to research the many Funeral Plans available that it is the one that fits your needs and pocket, discuss it with the Funeral Director of your choice, he should help with every detail.