Help please

ljs_3

My brother in law was recently found dead in his flat. Seemingly he had been dead for two or three weeks. He has always been a heavy drinker and lost a well paid job about 8 years ago because of it. He was a single man with no children. Having gone through all his papers it appears that he was very heavily in debt and had several court cases pending. I suspect some of the firms he owes money to are not the kind of companies I wish to give my address to. I am assuming there is no point in applying for probate since he appears to have no money at all and owes many thousands. Does anyone know if we are obliged to pay for his funeral ? He has 4 siblings but none of them have any money accept for us. They are not receiving benefits of any kind- just generally short of cash. We have some savings but are struggling with 2 daughters at university and their rent to pay. This will be the third time we have had to pay for funerals when relatives have died leaving no money. Who will tell the people owed money that he has died and they will not be recovering the debt? Thanks in advance if anone is able to advise me.

Lalala_3

ljs no practical advice to give, just wanted to say I really feel for you. What an awful situation for you to be in, it must be such a mixture of emotions. Good luck, hope things work out for the best.

hypno06

Hi there, and first of all sorry that you have had to deal with this. I am sure you can do without any extra financial hassle.

I think that on the "moneysaving in relationships" board, Martin has done a post for what happens when someone dies. This might give you all the info you need.

I think a simple letter to the creditors saying that the estate has no money will suffice in the short term, although you may need to back this up with something in due course.

As far as the funeral goes, I am fairly sure that you would qualify for some sort of grant for this - ask your local funeral director, and they will be bound to have had similar situations many times, so don't feel embarressed to ring them and ask in the morning.

Wishing you all the best at what is going to be a difficult time xx

System

I think there may be grants too, I'm sure the Citizens Advice Bureau can help with this sort of thing.

ljs_3

rachelja wrote: »

I think there may be grants too, I'm sure the Citizens Advice Bureau can help with this sort of thing.

It would appear that if the person who has died has no money, then the friend or relative arranging the funeral can only get a grant if they are in receipt of a benefit. This is just so unfair as we are trying to do the right thing for a person who has caused us so much upset over the years. As I said, this is the 3rd funeral we have had to pay for and my husband has 3 more siblings in similar circumstances. Trust me, we are by no means well off and I have to work 60 hours a week to make ends meet.

Madnessa

This is going to sound very very harsh and I am really sorry but I don't see why you should pay all. You say the others have no extra mony. But neither do you. You have your children to look after. If you have to pay then only pay your share. If there are 3 other siblings then pay 25% of the cost but no more.

If it was me I wouldn't pay any. Harsh but none of us are rolling in cash and you have to think about your girls. They come first. It would be different if it was a close sibling or your parents but sounds like this guy gave you nothing but trouble.

Again I am very sorry for sounding heartless!

rayday2

If the other siblings are on benefits why don't they apply for teh grant?

Anniek1969

First of all sorry to hear about your loss. I think that it's the person that is legally his next of kin whether it be his parents or a sibling that is responsible for his funeral. Surely if there are other brothers and sisters they would be able to put a few pounds toward it?

I always thought that if the person that died was on benefits and has left no means of paying for a funeral then the next of kin would get help. What if his next of kin refused to take anything to do with him then surely social services would have to arrange the funeral.

olive84

So sorry for this horrible thing to have happened. My grandfather's wife died recently, and her children would take no responsibility for anything. Social services tried to get my grandfather (disabled) and then my father to pay for the funeral, but my dad told them where to go (this woman was not a good person to my grandad and it was his 3rd wife) so as far as I know then social services have to arrange the funeral. I would try to speak to somebody for some advice, but if you truly want nothing to do with it, I don't think they can make you pay for it.

myrnahaz

I thought the government was obliged to pay for the funeral of someone classed as a 'pauper' (sorry to be so 18th century). Otherwise, the funeral director will give you advice on paying for the funeral. When my Mum died the FD said that as one of my 2 sisters was on benefits, that me and sister No 2 could effectively say that we 'disown' our mother so that sister No 1 could carry the cost (which DSS would pay for). We were in too much of a state to even contemplate disowning our mother so we ended up paying, but the option was there. Also, if the deceased was on benefits, couldn't the costs be carried by the Dss anyway? (I don't think that the FD actually said 'disown' but it was 11 years ago so I can't remember his exact words)

Anniek1969

Just had a look at the DWP website. Have a look at this link http://www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/d49s/pay_funeral.asp you might be able to get some help if one of his brothers or sisters takes responsibility for him.