Deceased parents loan

Steve63_2

Hi,
I'm looking for a bit of advice on the following matter.
My mum recently died and left behind a loan which did not have any insurance on it. My father has approached the bank and informed them and sent a copy of the death certificte back.
A letter has now come through from the 'estate settlement unit' of LLoyds TSB which outlines what was owing at date of death.
It also leads us to think that my father will not be liable to pay the outstanding amount, however the following paragraph has made us a little cautious before writing back.

'We are sorry to trouble you at this sad and difficult time, but we would be grateful if you could please confirm if there are sufficient assets in the estate to repay the amount £9694.70. You're not obliged to settle the debt personallyand you may wish to seek independant legal advice.

My mums only asset is the house that she and my father own, obviously my dad still lives there but is worried they may want to get the repayment out of the house. Can they do that??

Sorry this post is so long

rsykes2000

If your dad has house insurance, this may have free legal cover attached to it. It's definitely worth speaking to a solicitor to clarify his status.

jonesMUFCforever

A lot may depend on how your mum and dad bought the house.
If they are tennants in common then your mum's will will state what happens to her share of the house. This is an asset which might be of interest to them as a potential way of them getting their money back.

Most people buy houses as joint tennants - whereby on death the other share automatically goes to the survivour.
As previous poster has said get legal advice before replying to the bank letter.

CFC

As Ejones posted - we do not have suffiicient information to give you any advice. The bank may be able to get their money, or they may not. Seek professional advice or go to the CAB, taking a copy of the loan agreement, information on the way the house is owned, and your mother's will.

Steve63_2

Thanks for the input.
My mother didn't leave a will.
I think we will try and get an appointment with CAB and see what they have to say.

jonesMUFCforever

Steve63 wrote: »

Thanks for the input.
My mother didn't leave a will.
I think we will try and get an appointment with CAB and see what they have to say.

Do you know whether they bought the house as joint tennants or tennents in common?

Steve63_2

Joint tennants, just for note the loan was not secured on the house.

oscar52

The fact there was no will, or that the loan was not secured against the house has no bearing. If your patents OWNED the home, then the loan people can claim a share of this - they wont make your dad sell up for it though. But if there wa any estate such as insurance policies, endowmnets etc that your mum had, they may be be able to claim their money from these.

Steve63_2

No apart from her personal belonging clothes and accumulated stuff there wasn't anything, she had been ill for over a year and niether of them were great savers prefering to spend thier money and travel.
My dad didn't know anything about this loan until after her death and he started to look at bank statements, my mum had always taken care of that type of thing.

Alfie_E

ejones999 wrote: »

Most people buy houses as joint tennants - whereby on death the other share automatically goes to the survivour.
As previous poster has said get legal advice before replying to the bank letter.

Because, it is possible for a company that is owed money to try to recover it from anything that was jointly owned, when the debt can’t be paid out of the estate.

Please don’t be alarmed by that. The amount owed is relatively small and there would be no benefit for LLoyds TSB in pursuing it aggressively. I think the very worst that could happen would be if LLoyds TSB successfully got a charge placed on the house.