What to do when a partner/spouse dies.

AnW'sMum

This is issued by DWP which should give you some pointers, CAB should also be able to give you practical face to face advice.

As far as I can remember, if there are any arguments within the family then your MIL's estate should be subject to probate. HTH

tly175

Lindos90-Am not an expert but am ploughing through pages to teach myself stuff.
I think your spouse &/or her family need to arrange an appointment at the Probate Office. As the in-law you will not have any say at this stage. Letters of Administration will be needed unless the estate is very small. Up to 4 family members aged over 18, can be named on the document as Administrators. If like a lot of families, siblings have fallen out, a meeting of all to discuss the situation may help. You should all be aware that if the estate has some value and the family cannot reach solutions amongst themselves, solicitors costs may quickly erode what is left to distribute. When this is thought to have been done unfairly, other solicitors will be hovering to offer to sue the Administrators a few years hence!
To quite a few solicitors we are all fairgame to be fleeced. A few years ago your problems would have been smoothed over by a helpful civil servant at the Probate Office who was obliged to be impartial. Their help took work off the solicitors but because Westminster is well represented by Members from the legal profession, the law has been changed to ensure more work goes to them!
Hope this helps. How your experience evolves will be interesting to the rest of us. Good Luck.
If others reading this know something crucial is wrong in my comment please correct me.

lindos90

Thank you for your responses, I will pass the advice on to my sister in law.

It would be good for the brothers and sisters to discuss it and make an agreement, as then it looks like a solicitor would not have to get involved, sadly I do not think this will be the case, the CAB is a good idea in the first instance, it will help to get some good advice for the family who cared for her.

As I said before, she has a VERY small stake in the house she lived in, the rest of it being owned by the children that live/d with her.

It would be just horrible if the children who stayed at home and care for her, have to pay out to the other siblings, to stay living in their own home. (my husband being one who would be recieving money, and he has said he does not want to take the money, just leave it with the house, sadly not all of the siblings feel the same)

I doubt there will be anything left for anyone, apart from a bill and lots of bad feeling.

Can I check if this is in the right place? Should I have started a new thread, as I see this is a sticky for GIVING advice, rather than ASKING and DISCUSSING?

John_Pierpoint

It would probably be best to start your own thread BUT put a link to it on here.
By the time it is all sorted out you might have quite a fan club.

You say MIL had a share in the house where she lived:
How did she come by this share?
Is she holding it as tenant in common or as joint tenant?

I ask these questions as she could have just a life interest and now its gone.
If she is a joint tenant the other joint tenants get the house regardless.*
(It will cost you 3 quid on line to get a print out of the Land Registry title to find out who the Land Registry thinks owns the house BUT it is possible that their records have not been kept up to date or that the last transaction pre dates compulsory registration).

http://www.youngandpearce.co.uk/intestrules.htm

* unless the house is in hock and the mortgagee/legal charge people are after it.

lindos90

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

You say MIL had a share in the house where she lived:
How did she come by this share?
Is she holding it as tenant in common or as joint tenant?
.

Its an old council house, that was bought from the council by a couple of her children who still live at home, dont know the details, but I assume the rent book was in her name, so she had to be named as one of the owners. Its still mortgaged as far as i know, although the mortgage will be in the childrens names, as she would have been too old to get a mortgage.

As far as my husband and me are concerned, his siblings in the house should own the house themselves, they stayed at home and cared for their mother, they have maintained the house, decorated it, why on earth should they have to pay the other siblings who have homes of their own, for the privilage of keeping a roof over their heads, that they pay a mortgage for?

I guess its because there is no will, so its left open for everyone who wants to try and get a 'bite' of a penny.

Not sure how it would work making a new thread and linking it to this, I'll try and have a go.

John_Pierpoint

Look it up on the Land Registry.

Do it now, you will probably get a nice surprise.

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/wps/portal/Property_Search

Read the examples first so that you know what you are getting for your 3 or 6 quid.

Then put this into Google and you will have stuff to read for the rest of the week:

“Land Registry” site:forums.moneysavingexpert.com

Seriously, you will get 500+ hits to check out.

Alternatively get one of the owners to go with you to the nearest office of the Land Registry and a nice civil servant will print out a copy and explain it to you. [Don't be fobbed off with "you need a solicitor", the owner has a right to see their own registration]

Why on earth should they have to pay [buy out] the other siblings who have homes of their own, for the privilege of keeping a roof over their heads, that they pay a mortgage for?

Well that is the law of the land if MIL was able to to leave her share to them, if only by default. Obviously they would get their share less the cost of the outstanding mortgage. As they would be in a certain difficulty offering to sell their share with vacant possession, the residents could play hard ball and negotiate a discount from the open market value. Perhaps those that have flown the nest won't see paying their share of the mortgage as a long term investment.;)

manhattan

Hi everyone,

I just have a few questions if any fellow friendly moneysavers here can help.

My dad passed away a few days ago and i just need some advice. My dad left money and a car when he passed. He told me before he passed that he wanted me to sell his car to pay for funeral costs and divide the rest between me and my sister.

Now me and my sister have decided that all money and proceeds from the car sale should go to his partner of over 25 years. She is a pensioner and does not have alot of money and has health problems. He left quite a bit of money in premium bonds and the car is registered in his name. Does anyone know if we need to notify anyone before the bonds are cancelled or the car is sold?

Do we need to get probate involved? Or anyone else? We are happy with what we all have decided on so no arguments here, also he did not leave a will.

kind regards.

John_Pierpoint

I've just put "do I need probate" into Google on your behalf and got 215 UK hits.
Here is a typical one:

Why do I need probate?
There is an official requirement where a deceased person leaves assets of £5,000 or more in value to obtain a grant of probate. This is so the Inland Revenue knows what assets are being passed on. It is also to prove that the deceased was the owner of the assets being passed on.

It is important to understand that assets (unless in trust) cannot be inherited until the grant of probate is obtained.

I am making the assumption that the deceased lived in England/Wales.
Not everything you read on the web is up to date, but I would think you would have a problem selling someone's car without a grant of probate (Letters of Administration in your case)..

I do know of someone's grandmother who never bothered, she simply soldiered on, as most things were in joint names and suppliers don't care whose name is on the bills as long as they get paid. Some widows prefer to have a man's name on their phone book entry.

Getting probate, when there is no Inheritance Tax (IHT) to pay, is just a matter of plodding through the procedure and shelling out a few quid for the certificates etc.
Who registered the death? Did he/she not get a leaflet on what to do next? How many copies of the death certificate did he/she buy?

Veeuk

the WAY Foundation is a support group for people under 50 who's spouse or partner has died.
There are local groups, online message board similar to this and organised events holidays etc. There are no "experts" just people who have been there and understand.

Winstons Wish provides advice and services to those children who have been bereaved and those caring for them.
They do have "experts" and some really good resources.

Both have websites

Vee

Duncan_H

My mother died when I was very young and without trying to trivialise the whole matter, the best advice I can give is that time is tha greatest healer and the is light at the other end of the tunnel