remortgaging after retirement with no life insurace/assurance

evillil

hi there

I have a question (or really, a bunch of them) which is bugging me and hoping someone here may be able to shed light on a rather vague situation!

a bit of background:

I am a 33yr old woman and have been estranged from my father since the age of 17. I have a younger half sister with whom I have enjoyed a good relationship since tracking her down around 5 years ago. She maintained her relationship with our father.

During a visit last year, I learned, to my great surprise, that although my sister was designated executor of his will, I was included in it in some way.

At the end of March, my father died suddenly. Being as I was so thoroughly removed from his life, it fell to my sister to make arrangements and go through his paperwork etc. In the course of her search, she was unable to find any evidence of a will. Phoning goodness knows how many local solicitors, including the one who had dealt with his divorce from her mother, turned up nothing. What she did find, however, was that he had recently (within the last 2 years) remortgaged his flat to a very high LTV rate (something like a £146,000 loan, with the original value of the mortgage being £149,000 or similar). She also discovered something like £60,000 worth of credit card debt built up over the last 2 years, this despite the fact that he retired 2 years ago. She is currently applying for probate and as far as I am aware, has found no evidence of any life insurance/assurance.

Clearly, I am at an informational disadvantage as it were, as I didn't even know where he lived, let alone any of the details of his life; i also don't want to question my sister endlessly, not least because it seems like a terribly crass thing to do: to suddenly take an interest in my deceased father's financial affairs... I won't lie, it would be nice if something good came from someone who never provided for me either emotionally OR materially, but I don't expect my sister to feel the same way as I do. He was, after all, her dad and she loved him in a way that I couldn't. I have not gone beyond asking her how it's going/offering to help and have received polite but vague responses. She hasn't volunteered any information without me asking for it and as I said, I don't want to push her.

My question (the one which is bugging me) is that, based on the information I've been given, 'how did my father obtain such a large mortgage at his age, given that he was retired and possibly already had substantial credit card debt, without a life insurance/assurance policy in place?' I realise that I have very little to go on and am party to none of the details, but any way I look at it, it does not compute! It seems to me that, financially speaking, he was a bad bet. Under what circumstances could he remortgage, given his situation? Am I missing something?

I appreciate any light being shed on the situation

thanx

DVardysShadow

I suggest you repost your question here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=24 - and that you edit your post to say that you have reposted.

The forum I have suggested has lots of experience and insight into probate etc.

edit: OP has reposted as https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3944747

opinions4u

Life assurance isn't a requirement of a mortgage.

The older you are the more expensive it is. Taking a view that nobody is worse off when you die and letting a mortgage be repaid by the property sale isn't uncommon.

Indeed, selling life cover to somebody with no dependents needs some very strong justification.

Unfortunately you're both going to have to accept things for what they are.

evillil

Thanx both for your responses

DVardysShadow, i have done as you suggested, cheers

opinions4u - thankyou. i am aware that life assurance isn't a prerequisite for a mortgage and that premiums go up with age, I'm simply surprised that he would be able to remortgage at all, given that his only income were some (by all accounts very small) pension payments - and that he very possibly had a pre-existing poor credit history - and trying to figure out blindly how this might have been achieved!

holly_hobby

It must be very distressing for your sibling(s) who are attending his affairs, probate without a will is a long and drawn out process - and I am sorry to all for your loss.

If there is no will located, he will be deemed to have died intestate and the laws of intestacy will preside - which means (forgetting about any spouse for ease of question) all issue (children) receive an equal share of the residual estate.

It sounds however that there will be little to nothing left - as all debts of the deceased will be paid from their estate, with beneficiaries then being allocated their share in accordance with the will or laws of intestate.

The mortgage/lender will take priority payment - then when the pot is empty thats it, even if there are remaining unpaid debts, in such an event the remaining os debts will be effectively rendered unenforceable by his death, and from the providers point of view, written off their books as bad debt.

How Dad got himself in the finanical situ he was in is really anyones guess, from over generous lending practices, to the possability of inaccurate income/status data being submitted (and unverified) on the credit application.

As said, it is was it is ... it may be disappointing that there appears to be little to nothing cash left to be bequeathed on his passing, but there is little to be gained in trying to fathom out how he obtained access to the levels of credit he had, as their existance can't be changed - they are present and they need addressing from the estate I'm afraid.

It will be a very distressing time for all, and focusing your energies and support for your Sister(s) who were close to Dad, will no doubt be of great comfort at this time.

I wish you well ...

Holly xx

CLAPTON

if there is no will, then legally you are just as entitled to seek letters of administration as your sister and are entitled to half the value of the estate (if any)
however, whether or not you pursue the matter is a situation between yourself and your sister



the probabate ducumentation will become public information in due course.