Mother died with debt and no estate. Help needed

heatherw_01

Phoned back all the insurance companies.

One said the money is part of the estate

The other said I can claim it as part of the estate or if I claim it in my name it will not be part of the estate and I can do with it what I like?? Not sure if that sounds right so will call again later

The third was closed but I think that is part of the estate too.

Will be going to CAB when it opens too

Mojisola

If they all get paid into your mother's account, you can arrange the funeral, get the undertaker to send the invoice to the bank and the bank will pay it.

You can then walk away if you want to.

If you aren't comfortable doing that, you will have to make sure that the debtors are paid in the right order.

Whatever companies tell you, remember that you are not responsible for her debts! Once the money that's left after the funeral is paid out, that's it.

motherofstudents

Very sorry you are having to go through this. If you decide which funeral director to use, they will help you. They normally don't need paying for a month or so and will send an invoice to the bank. Remember these people are dealing with things like this all the time, let them help you.

Don't worry about the bank account being frozen, the bank can release funds for the funeral. I would just buy a funeral that costs roughly the amount you know is available from bank accounts and insurance and then forget the debts.

You have enough on your plate grieving for your mum without all this stress. There is no need to rush into anything, you have not done anything wrong and you will get through it.

Aimless

We had to deal with a similar situation a couple of years ago, but there was a house, which was inherited by my grandmother and not included in the estate.

What happened was we claimed all the life insurances, paid out the expenses for the funeral, then added up what was left. We found there was enough to pay each company something like 11% of what they were owed. We wrote to them telling them this, and most of them wrote back and accepted the offer. We then paid them out their share. One refused to answer any letters, so got nothing!

heatherw_01

The bank account is frozen though so no money will be able to go in will it? So the insurance companies can't pay into it? Would the bank unfreeze the account?

She has a post office card cash account but I am pretty sure that is just for benefit payments

Could that be right about what one of the insurance companies said?:

heatherw_01 wrote: »

The other said I can claim it as part of the estate or if I claim it in my name it will not be part of the estate and I can do with it what I like?? Not sure if that sounds right so will call again later

Mojisola

Aimless wrote: »

What happened was we claimed all the life insurances, paid out the expenses for the funeral, then added up what was left. We found there was enough to pay each company something like 11% of what they were owed. We wrote to them telling them this, and most of them wrote back and accepted the offer. We then paid them out their share. One refused to answer any letters, so got nothing!

Some debtors have to paid before others. (See post below from getmore4less)

If anything has been overpaid by the DWP, that would have to be paid back. Also, if there is any tax owing, that would have to be paid (although that sounds unlikely in this situation).

The DWP can be very slow asking for money back so don't distribute anything too soon - they can hold you personally liable for what's owing to them if you've given away all the money from the estate.

getmore4less

Mojisola wrote: »

Some debtors have to paid before others. If anything has been overpaid by the DWP, that would have to be paid back. Also, if there is any tax owing, that would have to be paid (although that sounds unlikely in this situation).

The DWP can be very slow asking for money back so don't distribute anything too soon - they can hold you personally liable for what's owing to them if you've given away all the money from the estate.

BE VERY CAREFULL, AIUI this is no longer the case.

DWP, HMRC, and local goverment(council tax) join the rest of the unsecured creditors they are no longer prefered creditors( a very short specific list).

http://www.bereavementadvice.org/probate-and-other-legal-procedures/insolventestates.php
( I will try to find the date when this changed............looks like 2003 for hmrc )

IMO the OP who should be avoiding anything to do with the estate exept the funeral, unless they have to which they don't.

the most likely best course of action to take just leave it for the creditors to sort it out themselves unless someone can come up with compelling reason to do more.

getmore4less

heatherw_01 wrote: »

The bank account is frozen though so no money will be able to go in will it? So the insurance companies can't pay into it? Would the bank unfreeze the account?

She has a post office card cash account but I am pretty sure that is just for benefit payments

Could that be right about what one of the insurance companies said?:

I would check on the accounts, I have seen an account still accept payment after being frozen.

Also double check the insurance company that will pay out to you if they want an indeminity.

Alternative is to see if they will pay direct for funeral expences.

heatherw_01

What is an indeminity

Mojisola

getmore4less wrote: »

BE VERY CAREFULL, AIUI this is no longer the case.

DWP, HMRC, and local goverment(council tax) join the rest of the unsecured creditors they are no longer prefered creditors( a very short specific list).

http://www.bereavementadvice.org/probate-and-other-legal-procedures/insolventestates.php
( I will try to find the date when this changed)

IMO the OP who should be avoiding anything to do with the estate exept the funeral, unless they have to which they don't.

the most likely best course of action to take just leave it for the creditors to sort it out themselves unless someone can come up with compelling reason to do more.

Thanks for correcting that.

I think heather would be best to do the funeral and walk away from the rest but I suspect she would find that difficult.