Financial advice please are we liable

mrs_lds

We have a close relative who is very ill and dying and discovered he owes over £12000 in cc bills .And are next of kin. Are we liable to pay this off once he passes away if there is no estate as such. Tia xx

Aimless

I would say not. In a similar situation I know of, they explained to the card companies that there was no money. There was a small life insurance, enough to offer them about 10% each, most accepted this, one never even bothered taking that.

Pollycat

Debts are usually paid from any money in the estate but if your relative has C/C debts and there is no money in the estate, you will not be liable to pay the debts.

Google 'Debts on death' - it will bring up lots of websites that tell you this.

Mojisola

mrs_lds wrote: »

We have a close relative who is very ill and dying and discovered he owes over £12000 in cc bills .And are next of kin. Are we liable to pay this off once he passes away if there is no estate as such. Tia xx

Even though you are next of kin, you don't have to take on the management of his "estate". If you know that there is little left except debts, it's best not to do it.

If you will be the person who registers the death, you can send out the death certificate (buy several copies from the registrar) to everyone who needs to know but include a letter saying that you will not be the executor/administrator of the estate and for them not to contact you over any debts.

Has he made arrangements to pay for his funeral?

mrs_lds

Mojisola wrote: »

Even though you are next of kin, you don't have to take on the management of his "estate". If you know that there is little left except debts, it's best not to do it.

If you will be the person who registers the death, you can send out the death certificate (buy several copies from the registrar) to everyone who needs to know but include a letter saying that you will not be the executor/administrator of the estate and for them not to contact you over any debts.

Has he made arrangements to pay for his funeral?

No arrangements made for funeral costs tia xx

Mojisola

mrs_lds wrote: »

No arrangements made for funeral costs tia xx

Are you able/willing to pay for a funeral?

Check if you are eligible for a grant - https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments/eligibility

If neither of the above apply, you may have to refuse to make funeral arrangements and leave it to the council to handle.