Can I half my Mortgage Payments? Joint mortgage, 1 person now died.

katsu

Perhaps go to Citizens Advice or contact Christians Against Poverty for help with this?

Definitely reinstate buildings insurance - better to pay less to your CC than risk all the problems of an uninsured home.

Geebs

Thanks for the advice everyone. I aint cancelled them, just cancelled the DD's as they were coming out of my mams account, which I only have access for online, she wont have any money going in now obviously. The building insurance is with the same lender LloydsTSB, so no doubt they will contact me, and I will explain things and pay it if I need to for next few months until I get time to sort the mortgage out. I'm trying to move bills my mam pays into my account, and seeing what I can or cant afford. Its hard as right now my head is battered.

As for selling car, and not needing car insurance/fuel etc that is an option, but car is only worth £500 ish. Saving money on insurance/fuel would certainly help, but as I get DLA and have difficulty walking, a car to me is a lifeline for getting about, same is having broadband and doing shopping/banking online.

silvercar

I aint cancelled them, just cancelled the DD's as they were coming out of my mams account, which I only have access for online, she wont have any money going in now obviously.

Do you have legal access to her accounts or are you logging in using her ID? You really need to get the account closed officially.

Remember debts in her name form part of her estate, debts in joint names pass to you. Don't get persuaded to take on her debts.

Geebs

She has no debts, she just paid gas, electric, water, homeserve, buildings insurance and life insurance thru DD. I've moved gas, electric to my bank account, trying to find water rates paperwork to do the same with that.

I have had her permission to sort her accounts out, possibly not officially I guess, but things will sort it out. I dont beleive I'm doing anything wrong, just trying to sort payments out the best I can atm. I will get her account closed when I speak to the bank, I assume I'll need death certificates first tho.

holly_hobby

If no Will, you need to get administrator status through the local Probate Registry (office), which is achieved by their Grant of a Letter of Administration (GLA), and it is only upon this basis only that you should be accessing her accounts accounts and withdrawing monies (if there was no written authority from Mum with the bank in existance), to which the bank certainly won't/can not cancel any accounts, unless they have sight of the GLA, certifying you are legally empowered to administer her estate (even with death cert in hand !).

So if no Will, you need to urgently go to you local probate office to get this in place, they will require you give a declaration that there is no will in existance, living spouse, or other surviving issue (children) (other than yourself) - that you know of, who have a claim on your Mum's estate. This is because she has died in intestate (if no will), and the laws of intestacy will apply to her estate.

As her only child ?, you will inherit all under intestacy laws, but there are legal hoops to go through (probate) first.

Contact your local CAB, council one stop shop, or look in the yellow pages, for your local probate registry (if you aren't already in the process or have been advised to do this). Of course, you can employ a solicitor to assist, but in a simple estate, I don't believe it necessary, as it is relatively simple (if not time consuming !) to take care yourself.

Hope this helps

Holly

getmore4less

holly_hobby wrote: »

If no Will, you need to get administrator status through the local Probate Registry (office), which is achieved by their Grant of a Letter of Administration (GLA), and it is only upon this basis only that you should be accessing her accounts accounts and withdrawing monies (if there was no written authority from Mum with the bank in existance), to which the bank certainly won't/can not cancel any accounts, unless they have sight of the GLA, certifying you are legally empowered to administer her estate (even with death cert in hand !).

So if no Will, you need to urgently go to you local probate office to get this in place, they will require you give a declaration that there is no will in existance, living spouse, or other surviving issue (children) (other than yourself) - that you know of, who have a claim on your Mum's estate. This is because she has died in intestate (if no will), and the laws of intestacy will apply to her estate.

As her only child ?, you will inherit all under intestacy laws, but there are legal hoops to go through (probate) first.

Contact your local CAB, council one stop shop, or look in the yellow pages, for your local probate registry (if you aren't already in the process or have been advised to do this). Of course, you can employ a solicitor to assist, but in a simple estate, I don't believe it necessary, as it is relatively simple (if not time consuming !) to take care yourself.

Hope this helps

Holly

A bank should freeze an account on sight of a death certificate.
THis should be done promptly and the account should not be used.

No need for the grant/letters of admin to deal with institutions.

In fact you have to deal with them before grant to get the information to apply for the grant.

Joint accounts should just have the name taken off, BUT sometimes they do freeze joint accounts.


I think you need to review your finances, CC are a much lower priority than, mortgage, council tax and utilitities.

sammyjammy

The OP will not be entitled to SMI due to the fact there was no mortgage on the house and they remortgaged for personal purposes.

holly_hobby

getmore4less wrote: »

A bank should freeze an account on sight of a death certificate.
THis should be done promptly and the account should not be used.

No need for the grant/letters of admin to deal with institutions.

In fact you have to deal with them before grant to get the information to apply for the grant.

Joint accounts should just have the name taken off, BUT sometimes they do freeze joint accounts.


I think you need to review your finances, CC are a much lower priority than, mortgage, council tax and utilitities.

Lets clear a few things up that will be confusing readers ...

The account may be frozen (all activity suspended) in all circs with a DC, without a LOA, but that;s it, they will not cancel or close it, which would be the releasement of all monies held.

The OP should not be withdrawing any monies without advising of the death, and also in the absence of permissions/authority to administer the acc.

No LOA re admin - may only be appropriate if the total of the decd's estate was considered small, a ballpark fig is £5k or below, inc all monies held with finanical/banking institutions. Anything above this fig (esp for a large estate) and in the absence of a valid Will - will ordinarilly require a LOA to be obtained by the administering individual - and would be non-negotiable for adminstration of the estate.

Furthermore, permittance of admin without a LOA, would be wholly dependant upon the banks own criteria for administration of a decd's account (and each provider will have differing requirements), inc what level of proof of administration (of the individual), the bank requires, to satisfy their own compliance requriements, furthermore the amount of capital that can be withdrawn in such a circumstance (i.e - without a valid Will or LOA) will be dictated by the bank's own policy - so nothing is a forgone here OR can be assumed or guessed here.

To which end, if the estate is below circa 5k or below (which is probable), and therefore in a grey area re OP's permissions (if no Will or LOA), the OP needs firstly to contact the FP(s) to determine what THEY require to allow the OP to administer the account(s), and to determine the amount of capital which THEY will allow the OP to withdraw, without presentation of a LOA (if no valid Will). If no LOA is requested, the bank will ordinarilly request the individual to sign an indemnity/declaration - in order to legally protect themselves in the event that any payment was made to a non-entitled individual.

It may well be in this case due to a negligible estate, that the bank may not require a LOA to be obtained (in the absence of a valid Will) - but then again they may insist upon it. But a wide sweeping presumption/statement that a LOA (or valid Will giving admin status), is simply never reqd for administration of a decd's banking accounts regardless - is inaccurate.

Hope this helps

Holly

silvercar

Very detailed post HH, I would add that the size of the estate could depend on how the property was held.

If half of the house forms part of the estate then we can assume the value of the estate will be greater than 5k. If the property was held as joint tenants then the death of one party means the property automatically goes to the remaining party without forming part of the estate. If the property was held as tenants in common then the half of the property owned by the Mum falls into the Mum's estate. Intestacy rules may mean it goes to the other party, but it would still be part of the estate.

holly_hobby

Yes SC - the estate of the decd means all thats included for disposal as part of their estate, which would naturally include the value of property (either held severally, jnt tenants or under a tenants in common arrangement) - which is why explanation re non requirement of LOA was important to clairfy to laypersons.

Which means that any property at death, which are either held in trust or jointly owned (property as you rightly say being held on a joint tenant basis), will not form physically part of the decd's estate for probate purposes, but the value of that not under trust will.

If the decd died intestate (without provisions noted above), all the decd's property, chattels, etc, including proceeds from any own life term assurance or investment policies or assets not held jointly or in trust, will physically form part of the estate, to be distributed under Intestacy Laws (prev discussed in an earlier post).

Hope this helps

Holly