Debt after Death confusion.

Mojisola

Artshot wrote: »

To add to the confusion, I own the house we shared, I pay the mortgage, I pay the insurance on the property.

However my mothers name is on the deeds and land registry information as the house was initially purchased using the right to buy scheme, that is the only reason her name is on them, all responsibilities for the house have been mine from day 1.

It doesn't matter that you have paid the mortgage - your mother was a part owner of the property so she did leave an estate able to pay her debts.

WillowCat

Marktheshark wrote: »

If you are administering the estate you can really make and debt collectors jump hoops.
You can require them to cough up proof of the debt, signed credit agreements is the start, lists of payments. dates, accounts payments made from.
You have a legal duty not to pay those who can not prove they are owed.

The OP doesn't say he disputes that the debts are owed.

Mojisola

Artshot wrote: »

The problem is that the amount left after the funeral expenses is not enough to settle the balance, there's also 3 other debts to take into consideration.

I worked out the percentage of the debts to each creditor, MBNA is 47 percent of the outstanding debts, I then worked out 47 percent of the remaining money after the funeral costs.

WillowCat wrote: »

The OP doesn't say he disputes that the debts are owed.

But he only wants to pay a percentage of them using what cash is left while the mother's estate also includes a share of the house.

Marktheshark

WillowCat wrote: »

The OP doesn't say he disputes that the debts are owed.

No but it is a good idea to do so.
A very good one.

BobQ

OP, was there any other documentation associated with the right to buy purchase. The land registry shows who is the legal owner unless a mistake was made by the solicitor who registered it. If you had any other paperwork that suggested that council etc were selling the house to you and your mother jointly (ie as joint tenants), you might be able to argue that house passed to you on her death. For example, did she apply to buy or did she apply jointly with you?

But in the absence of evidence that there is a mistake in the title deed, the creditors will (and probably have) consulted the title and concluded that your mother owns the house.

The easiest solution is to repay the full debt. Failing that you may have to sell the house and settle the debt (the creditors could force this) as legally you have no right to reside in the house. Your personal debt complicate things although would be one way of settling those debts too.

Could anyone loan you the 53% of your mother's debts?

Artshot

Thank you all for the advice, I am not trying to avoid paying any money, I am just trying to make sure that my home is not at risk or anymore money would need to be raised against it.

I followed one of the links above, which made me dig out my Land Registry paperwork.

Section B: Proprietorship Register
Title Absolute
1. The date of purchase, followed by mine and my mothers names, and address.
2. The price of the purchase.

From what I read, if the following is not included, then the property is Joint Tenants, and therefore is my sole property and not part of my mothers estate ?.

"No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court."

Sorry if I am coming across as thick, but I have never had to deal with this sort of thing before and I am rapidly feeling out of my depth.

Thank You
Art

G6JNS

Artshot wrote: »

Thank you all for the advice, I am not trying to avoid paying any money, I am just trying to make sure that my home is not at risk or anymore money would need to be raised against it.

I followed one of the links above, which made me dig out my Land Registry paperwork.

Section B: Proprietorship Register
Title Absolute
1. The date of purchase, followed by mine and my mothers names, and address.
2. The price of the purchase.

From what I read, if the following is not included, then the property is Joint Tenants, and therefore is my sole property and not part of my mothers estate ?.

"No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court."

Sorry if I am coming across as thick, but I have never had to deal with this sort of thing before and I am rapidly feeling out of my depth.

Thank You
Art

It is not definitive. You need to see a solicitor and get paid for advice.

Crabapple

Artshot wrote: »

From what I read, if the following is not included, then the property is Joint Tenants, and therefore is my sole property and not part of my mothers estate ?.

"No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court."

Sorry if I am coming across as thick, but I have never had to deal with this sort of thing before and I am rapidly feeling out of my depth.

Thank You
Art

It isn't straightforward so quite understandable that people get confused.

The house is now your sole property. It passes to you by survivorship and no Grant of Probate is required.

A share of it still forms part of your mother's estate for the purposes of Inheritance Tax (not a consideration here) and for debt repayment.

It may still be worth you making an offer to the creditors but the reality is that as posters above have mentioned, they could pursue the debts being secured against the property if you cannot repay them otherwise.

Marktheshark

How old is the Debt arrow Global are synonymous with Old statute barred debts
It might be statute barred if she never paid it.

Artshot

The debt is only for £6900 with MBNA which I would say is no more than 10 years old, it was actually the subject of a Debt Management Plan, which was being paid on time with no problems, then suddenly I find out on Saturday that it has been sold to Arrow Global, contact is to be made through there representative solicitors.

At the moment the only money left out of the insurance is about £4800 which should be split between MBNA and the other three creditors of her DMP, which based on percentages of initial debts, makes 47% of her total debts owed to MBNA.

47% of the remaining insurance money is about £2280, which is about 33p in the pound.

I am hoping it is a fair offer to make and will be accepted.