Catelogue debts after death

LouiseSA

My mum died recently, rented property, no savings, no will but a couple of policies that almost cover her funeral costs, I will chip in the rest, however she did have a couple of catalogues on the go with outstanding balances.

From reading through the threads I understand it is better to write to them and inform of the death, and there is no money and also I don't want them to chase me for the debts either, what I am struggling with is the wording, can anyone help?

SeniorSam

Sorry for your loss. Just a simple letter advising them of the death and perhaps putting a copy of the death certificate with it. Advise that yoiu noticed their details, but there are no assets at all to deal with any outstanding account.

Thats really all you need do.

LouiseSA

Thanks Sam, I was thinking along those lines, I guess I am trying to avoid them chasing me for the debt, although once they have my name and address I am sure they will give it a go.

nwc389

Write the letter enclosing a copy of the death certificate , no need to give any contact details for yourself .

G6JNS

LouiseSA wrote: »

My mum died recently, rented property, no savings, no will but a couple of policies that almost cover her funeral costs, I will chip in the rest, however she did have a couple of catalogues on the go with outstanding balances.

From reading through the threads I understand it is better to write to them and inform of the death, and there is no money and also I don't want them to chase me for the debts either, what I am struggling with is the wording, can anyone help?

Sorry for your loss. Never an easy time. You have no liability at all for the debts. Just write a polite letter with a copy of the death certificate and tell them the estate is insolvent. They will almost certainly write the debts off.

LouiseSA

Thanks guys.

PasturesNew

I think, to clarify, that the OP is asking if they'd chase her for the money if she spent the mother's money on the funeral.

e.g. Policies £2000, Catalogue debt £500, Funeral costs £3000.

So, with £2k coming in, should the catalogue debt be paid first and £1500 put towards the £3k.... or can the funeral be paid for, the OP top it up, then the catalogue say "Oh, but you shouldn't have done that, we're still due our £500 as there was enough to pay our (older) debt before paying for the funeral".

Because, as it stands, there is money in the estate....

nwc389

Funeral expenses come first , then if there is anything left over ( in this case unlikely) the debt is next .

Tuesday_Tenor

PasturesNew wrote: »

I think, to clarify, that the OP is asking if they'd chase her for the money if she spent the mother's money on the funeral.

e.g. Policies £2000, Catalogue debt £500, Funeral costs £3000.

So, with £2k coming in, should the catalogue debt be paid first and £1500 put towards the £3k.... or can the funeral be paid for, the OP top it up, then the catalogue say "Oh, but you shouldn't have done that, we're still due our £500 as there was enough to pay our (older) debt before paying for the funeral".

Because, as it stands, there is money in the estate....

No, reasonable funeral expenses take precedence over any other debts.

Even if the policy money could be put in the general pot (and I suspect it can't as it's some form of funeral policy, therefore outside the estate) it doesn't cover the funeral costs anyway so the estate is insolvent.

OP simply needs to state that the estate is insolvent and there is no administrator as there is no estate to administer.

I would include a copy of the death certificate but no personal contact details. You could also mention the date on which the rental property has been/is being returned to the landlord, and state that that is no longer a contact address.

getmore4less

Tuesday_Tenor wrote: »

No, reasonable funeral expenses take precedence over any other debts..

not relevent in this case.

Debts secured against assets, like a mortgage on a house, have priority on the assets value, if not sufficient then the remaining debt drop into the unsecured pool below the Funeral.

dzug1

Tuesday_Tenor wrote: »

I would include a copy of the death certificate but no personal contact details.

Depending on who registered the death they may be on the certificate anyway