Father’s Estate

MR_N_2

Unfortunately my Father passed away recently leaving no will. After collecting all his documents together he had only £200 in a bank account and a life insurance policy that could pay out a lump sum of about £2000. He had debts to the inland revenue of over £5000 and unpaid council housing bills of £600. The funeral costs were paid by ourselves.



Is it possible for me to bypass probate and just send letters with death certificates to HMRC and banks? I may sound selfish at this time but I am trying to avoid any added cost\debt to myself and can’t see any advantage to applying for probate as the asset debt ratio means no party will receive anything.



Any advice appreciated.

getmore4less

There is no requirement to administer an estate.
In the case of insolvent estates it is often prudent not to get involved other than move anything into save keeping to release any property that had been occupied.


It should be possible to recover the funeral expenses from the insurance/bank,


Might have been better to have had that paid direct to the funeral directors.
They may still accept that payment and refund you.

RAS

This estate is plainly insolvent.

You are quite within your rights to pay the funeral costs from the bank account and insurance.

Beyond that, do not get involved in probate.

Send copies of the death cert to known creditors and advise that the estate is insolvent and you are NOT going to probate.

Sorry you have had to deal with this in addtion to your loss.

g6jns_2

RAS wrote: »

This estate is plainly insolvent.

You are quite within your rights to pay the funeral costs from the bank account and insurance.

Beyond that, do not get involved in probate.

Send copies of the death cert to known creditors and advise that the estate is insolvent and you are NOT going to probate.

Sorry you have had to deal with this in addtion to your loss.

This is not a good idea. In legal terms it is known as inter meddling in the estate. An executor who does this cannot then just walk away. I. Any case the bank are not obligated to release the funds. I know this is hard at this time but you need to avoid making it worse.

MR_N_2

Thank you for the advice so far. It is not really my intention to try and claim either money from the bank or the insurance policy. I am more concerned about the right procedure of informing debtors that the estate is insolvent.

RAS

g6jns wrote: »

This is not a good idea. In legal terms it is known as inter meddling in the estate. An executor who does this cannot then just walk away. I. Any case the bank are not obligated to release the funds. I know this is hard at this time but you need to avoid making it worse.

I will let those better qualified than me explain the difference between this and intermeddling.

Sending a letter to known creditors is NOT intermeddling.

thorsoak

As the OP's father left no will, there can be no executor. This may be of some use/information - see http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/relationships_w/relationships_death_and_wills_e/dealing_with_the_financial_affairs_of_someone_who_has_died.htm

getmore4less

Making enquiries, notifying of death, getting funds released for funeral expences and securing property are not intermeddling.

g6jns_2

getmore4less wrote: »

Making enquiries, notifying of death, getting funds released for funeral expences and securing property are not intermeddling.

It really is time you stopped giving out bad advice. Without letters of administration the Mr N has no authority to access the deceased's bank account. Since the state is insolvent he should leave well alone. He should notify HMR&C and let them take the job on.

Crabapple

You don't need letters of administraion to go to the bank with a funeral bill and ask them to make a cheque out to the funeral director.

And as getmore says that isn't intermeddling either. The OP could have got the funds available released to be paid direct towards the funeral bill.

Agreed though that the best thing to do now is notify HMRC as the main creditor and say that no-one is going to apply to administer the estate.

RAS

g6jns wrote: »

It really is time you stopped giving out bad advice. Without letters of administration the Mr N has no authority to access the deceased's bank account. Since the state is insolvent he should leave well alone. He should notify HMR&C and let them take the job on.

Calling the kettle black?

The OP can present a bill from the funeral director and a copy of the death cert and the bank would pay out straight to the funeral director.

That is not intermeddling.