Brother died leaving debt

Garrod46

My brother recently died. He was unmarried and had no children. He had a house value aprox £150000, outstanding mortgage £115000. He has depts of £25000 on credit cards and bank accounts.
We have written to them all before we apply for probate. Most have said that they will not negociate or write off the debt. What bargaining power do we have?

CLAPTON

Garrod46 wrote: »

My brother recently died. He was unmarried and had no children. He had a house value aprox £150000, outstanding mortgage £115000. He has depts of £25000 on credit cards and bank accounts.
We have written to them all before we apply for probate. Most have said that they will not negociate or write off the debt. What bargaining power do we have?

none other than good will

the debts need to be paid from the estate before any inheritance unless there is any insurance that will pay out.

andyfromotley

None i would imagine, he died, his assets cover his debts. Whoever does probate is obliged to settle them, thats the way it works. Why would they write off his debts?

I'd be surprised if anyone in similar circumstances had had any success.

lisyloo

Sorry to hear of your loss.
Was your brother working? Did his company have any "death in service" benefit? (This doesn't mean you have to die at your desk but just whilst employed by them).
Did he also have any pensions? There may be some benefit to come out of his pensions and it might be in trust.
If he was paying a pension at his comapny then that should show on his payslips. If he was paying one personally it will be on his bank statements.
Might be worth getting in touch with his employers HR department.

Otherwise as others have said the debts need to paid out of the estate presumably after funeral costs and estate agents/solicitors fees.
If there is nothing left then they have no choice but to write-off or partially write-off the debts. They can't get the money if it isn't there, however it obviously the estate needs to be administered properly and payments processed in the correct order.
I'm not an expert but I would imagine estate agents, funeral fees and costs with selling the house get settled before unsecured debts. There will be an official order for things to get settled.

garrods

Thankyou,
When we went through the mountain of mail there were letters offering settlements. Would these still be available now. He was not working but had been previously. I have conte patched the pensions and sent certificates off.
It is a real mess !

agrinnall

I'd imagine that as there is enough in the estate to cover the outstanding debt the card issuers will be very reluctant to collect any less than 100% of what they are owed. It's doubtful if any previous settlement offer would still hold after death.

lisyloo

He was not working

Normally any life assurance benefits from an employer only exist whilst you work at the company i.e. "in service".
Check the Direct debits to see if he was paying anything privately to a life insurance company.

If he has a private pension that was his own pot of money then there should be a payout available on death before retirement.
If it's a company scheme it will depend on the rules of the scheme as to what happens.

The credit card company are entitled to their money though, if it exists in the estate.

bris

The debts have to be settled or the executer can become personally liable for them.


The funeral expenses can be taken from the estate.


There are debtors that have first priority such as the taxman then after that the debts are settled on a pro rata basis.


If in doubt get professional help, being executor is not easy and if you get it wrong it can come back to bite you.


As for the settlements then no they are no longer valid as they weren't accepted so the CC can now choose to ignore them.

Marktheshark

As executor you can act as a separate third party, refer to your title as "executor of the estate of the deceased me XXX"
Write to anyone claiming money demanding they forward full proof of claim, CCA documents and full history of all payments.
Just because someone asks for money does not mean they are owed it, at this time many see it as an opportunity to take advantage of the situation and fleece the estate.
You duty is to make each and every claimant produce full and exhaustive proof of any claim they are making.

HOWEVER>>>>

Looks to me as there is not going to be anything left, I would organise a nice funeral and if it looks like the estate is going to be left insolvent, let the creditors administer it and have all the hassle.
Your role is voluntary and looking at the figures it looks like 12 months hard slogg and graft and worry and threats for nothing for you.

konark

Ignoring any pension or insurance payout it seems that the estate will be solvent.
£150k-£140k=£10k which should be more than enough for a funeral and house -selling fees. A lot will depend on the exact sale figure for the house though.

WannaBLoaded

My dad sold his moms house and any unsecured debt went unpaid.