Mother died with debt and no estate. Help needed

heatherw_01

Mojisola wrote: »

This is completely wrong. You should ask for these advisors either to have some training or stop giving advice about it.

yeah I know. That was CAB. Useless advice throughout the call.

NAR

The insurance plans will be part of the estate, as they have not run their term and been paid to a beneficiary. It is the death that has triggered a payment, which goes to the estate to pay for the funeral etc.

heatherw_01

NAR wrote: »

The insurance plans will be part of the estate, as they have not run their term and been paid to a beneficiary. It is the death that has triggered a payment, which goes to the estate to pay for the funeral etc.

It doesn't have a term though, it is only paid at death.

rpc

heatherw_01 wrote: »

I doubt the money would get moved into a trust. The over 50 plans just pay out the guaranteed lump sum at death

It isn't the money that is placed in trust, it is the insurance policy. When the policy pays out, the trust then pays the proceeds to the beneficiary.

In AXA's terms on their website it says;
8) What about tax?
The amount paid on your death will normally
form part of your estate, so may be subject
to inheritance tax, unless you write your Plan
subject to an appropriate trust.

Important bit highlighted. You need to ascertain if this was done.

RAS

heatherw_01 wrote: »

It doesn't have a term though, it is only paid at death.

Ring the insurance company again and ask if the insurance policy was written "in trust".

If yes, ask who is to recieve the money.

If no, it is part of the estate and needs paying into your mum's bank account to cover the fureral costs and headstone.

heatherw_01

RAS wrote: »

Ring the insurance company again and ask if the insurance policy was written "in trust".

If yes, ask who is to recieve the money.

If no, it is part of the estate and needs paying into your mum's bank account to cover the fureral costs and headstone.

Will do, thanks for the advice

hardpressed

duchy wrote: »

No give them the address of your Mum's flat and then go to the nearest sorting office and set up a mail redirect for all mail to the flat address in your Mum's name to be forwarded to your home address. You don't need to give them YOUR address .(You'll need to show the PO the death certificate to do this)

You don't need to go to a sorting office, you can do it at any Post Office.

hardpressed

itsgazza wrote: »

The same thing happened to me three years ago when my father in law died.

I'm not sure how far down the funeral/estate management you are but this is what I did

1 Contact a funeral director to find out how much the funeral will cost.

2 Contact her bank to inform them of the situation so that they freeze the account so no more Direct Debits or Standing orders are paid.

3 register the death and get copies of the Death Certificate certified at a local solicitors. (there will be a charge for this)

4 contact the life assurance companies as these policies pay out upon death and ensure there is enough money to cover the funeral

5 arrange the funeral with the available funds

6 Upon receipt of the certified copy of the death certificate the bank will release the funds to the funeral director upon receipt of invoice

7 .... Now , if I was you I would walk away .. if any creditors come calling I would give them the bank account details and a copy of the death certificate ..get them to deal with the bank directly.. this is what I did although my father in law had very little debt and very little cash .. You are not the executor nor are you liable for any debts resulting from any shortfall in your mums estate. Keep copies of everything though just in case. If you get hassled by creditors then go back to the CAB.

Point 3. When you go to register the death, the registrar will ask how many copies you need, you have to pay for them but it will almost certainly be cheaper that getting a solicitor to verify copies.

heatherw_01

The policies are not in trust as I suspected therefore part of the estate.

One company can pay a cheque in her name saying "the late" on it, the other said it must be paid into a bank account. Her bank account won't accept deposits as it has been frozen, but it accepts cheques if it says "the late" on it.

Only thing I can think of doing is to pay that one into my account, use that towards the funeral, then pay the other into her bank account and get them to pay the remaining balance?

Mojisola

heatherw_01 wrote: »

The policies are not in trust as I suspected therefore part of the estate.

One company can pay a cheque in her name saying "the late" on it, the other said it must be paid into a bank account. Her bank account won't accept deposits as it has been frozen, but it accepts cheques if it says "the late" on it.

Only thing I can think of doing is to pay that one into my account, use that towards the funeral, then pay the other into her bank account and get them to pay the remaining balance?

Or send that cheque back and ask them to issue another one with "the late" on it as per the bank's requirement.

That would keep everything in her account and keep your personal accounts separate.