Will issues.

me_again_2

The place was not a tip. But the furniture was not in a great condition and a fair few years old. He got rid of most of the stuff when my MIL passed away a few years back.

No fire labels on the sofa, Old fashioned TV, No flame failure on the cooker.

Due to the nature of his illness, Nobody wanted anything that couldn't be soaked in bleach.

Even if someone did want it all i doubt it would have covered the extra rent for a week.

You can think of me as the executor who is my partner. We both take full responsibility for the outcome.

Initially I just thought about the will and sharing the small amount of money in his account. Which is still there by the way.
Originally i wanted to know about the will issue but seems thats now no longer the issue.

OK the flowers and food can come from my pocket. Thats not a problem. £250 ish.

I had a read of the link above and it mentioned fees and stuff. We have not added any fees or charges for anything.
His bank account remains untouched.

What we didnt know what the fact the council are years behind billing for the gas and water etc. (sheltered housing).

His gas bills were always very high as he had arthritis and the cold affected it badly.

So no dispute on the figures, He would have gone mental if he knew he owed them money.

I read that secured debts etc are to be paid 1st. None of those anyway..

So what is my next step?

Thanks.

G6JNS

me_again wrote: »

The place was not a tip. But the furniture was not in a great condition and a fair few years old. He got rid of most of the stuff when my MIL passed away a few years back.

No fire labels on the sofa, Old fashioned TV, No flame failure on the cooker.

Due to the nature of his illness, Nobody wanted anything that couldn't be soaked in bleach.

Even if someone did want it all i doubt it would have covered the extra rent for a week.

You can think of me as the executor who is my partner. We both take full responsibility for the outcome.

Initially I just thought about the will and sharing the small amount of money in his account. Which is still there by the way.
Originally i wanted to know about the will issue but seems thats now no longer the issue.

OK the flowers and food can come from my pocket. Thats not a problem. £250 ish.

I had a read of the link above and it mentioned fees and stuff. We have not added any fees or charges for anything.
His bank account remains untouched.

What we didnt know what the fact the council are years behind billing for the gas and water etc. (sheltered housing).

His gas bills were always very high as he had arthritis and the cold affected it badly.

So no dispute on the figures, He would have gone mental if he knew he owed them money.

I read that secured debts etc are to be paid 1st. None of those anyway..

So what is my next step?

Thanks.

Go to the CAB and get some advice. They have the knowledge and the contacts. Don't do anything else with the estate property or debts until you have done so.

me_again_2

I cannot goto the CAB at present, I have health issues and you need to make an appointment and go and queue before they open and get an appointment then go back later.

The bills are not going anywhere, so they will have to wait.

Need to speak to Npower tomorrow. The figures they gave me dont add up.
Not counted the last direct debits towards the bill and the meter reading is above out final reading.

I have worked it out they owe us a couple of pounds.

Thanks

g6jns_2

me_again wrote: »

I cannot goto the CAB at present, I have health issues and you need to make an appointment and go and queue before they open and get an appointment then go back later.

The bills are not going anywhere, so they will have to wait.

Need to speak to Npower tomorrow. The figures they gave me dont add up.
Not counted the last direct debits towards the bill and the meter reading is above out final reading.

I have worked it out they owe us a couple of pounds.

Thanks

From what you have said the estate is insolvent. If you can't go to the CAB then the best thing would be just to tell all the creditors there is no money. Repeat if they persist. Further inter meddling in the estate is just likely to make matters worse. Is there nobody that could take you to the CAB.

getmore4less

Establishing the value of assets and size of debts through enquiries is not considered intermeddling.

Collecting/dealing(other than to safeguard) or selling assets or paying debts is likely to be

g6jns_2

Which is exactly why the OP should do nothing further without getting proper advice. Whilst the OP may have been, and still maybe, acting from the best of motives he or she needs do nothing further as far as the debts are concerned.

BobQ

G6JNS wrote: »

The glib remark that the house contents are "traditionally worthless" is simply wrong. It may not be worth a lot but it often does have a value albeit this may only be a few hundred pounds. Taking such a cavalier attitude to the contents is not appropriate unless the place is a tip. In fact the whole problem seems to have come about because nobody seems to have taken much care about how anything was done. Also remember that people other than the OP read this board and are looking for information they may use in future. Helping them avoid similar mistakes in future is helpful as well as to the current person wanting help.

I think the OP has given sufficient reason for disposing of the property. Having found nothing of obvious value, the issue is whether the sale of the contents (as opposed to giving to charity or ditching) would generate more than the costs of storing the property and/or retaining a rented property with these additional costs. As getmoreforless states presented correctly this is protecting the creditors interests.

I agree that with hindsight the OP should have advised her partner differently, but these situations are never that straightforward and they have done nothing wrong but help resolve a situation with respect for the deceased. They may have lost a few pounds by paying for a wake, but they have the Will which gives them the authority, so this is not intermeddling providing they see it though.

I suspect the OP realises that were this situation to arise again they should do things differently.

g6jns_2

BobQ wrote: »

I think the OP has given sufficient reason for disposing of the property. Having found nothing of obvious value, the issue is whether the sale of the contents (as opposed to giving to charity or ditching) would generate more than the costs of storing the property and/or retaining a rented property with these additional costs. As getmoreforless states presented correctly this is protecting the creditors interests.

I agree that with hindsight the OP should have advised her partner differently, but these situations are never that straightforward and they have done nothing wrong but help resolve a situation with respect for the deceased. They may have lost a few pounds by paying for a wake, but they have the Will which gives them the authority, so this is not intermeddling providing they see it though.

I suspect the OP realises that were this situation to arise again they should do things differently.

Having the will only gives authority to act within the law. It does not give authority to do things wrongly. Sadly the OP did not seek advice right from the start. What I wanted the OP to do was not to dig a bigger hole for themself. Also it might help others from making similar mistakes in future. It may be difficult for the OP to consult the CAB but it might help sort matters out with a minimum of effort. Ignoring the problems will not help resolve them.

nom_de_plume

Whilst there's a lot of scaremongering going on here, a cursory read through the thread suggests the executors have probably acted in the best interests of the estate overall. From the brief description of the contents a zero value does not seem unreasonable and perhaps a negative value (disposal costs, etc.) could realistically be applied?

Care should be taken in settling the debts in that there is a strict order of priority as to who gets what when there's not enough to go round. A quick search yields results such as this.

Certainly the OP would be best advised to seek legal advice from hereon in but should not lose sleep over this.

getmore4less

g6jns wrote: »

Having the will only gives authority to act within the law.

Nothing said so far would indicate they have done anything wrong.

Edit : just reminded myself of the detail

except paying for wake and flowers but that is easly fixed if needed.