No will left by my aunt

dawyldthing

Hi all,

Wondered if anyone could help. It a bit complicated so bear with me.

My aunty (nans daughter) has recently died. Apparently my grandad has dementia alongside my nan who lives with us. It sounds like she didn't leave a will and the bank won't release the money to pay for the funeral until someone becomes appointed. I'm abroad until mid march so can't really help. It doesn't help said family member lives the other end of the country. Also a woolworths pension and a mobile home is involved. I've said to my mum I dont know what we should do to be honest.

Has anyone any advice from past experience?

Tia

Yorkshireman99

dawyldthing wrote: »

Hi all,

Wondered if anyone could help. It a bit complicated so bear with me.

My aunty (nans daughter) has recently died. Apparently my grandad has dementia alongside my nan who lives with us. It sounds like she didn't leave a will and the bank won't release the money to pay for the funeral until someone becomes appointed. I'm abroad until mid march so can't really help. It doesn't help said family member lives the other end of the country. Also a woolworths pension and a mobile home is involved. I've said to my mum I dont know what we should do to be honest.

Has anyone any advice from past experience?

Tia

If nobody can pay then the local authority, or the hospital where she died, have to foot the bill. This is known as a public health funeral. It will be a simple no frills cremation. In fact banks will usually pay the undertaker direct if asked.

TBagpuss

Did your aunt have any children?
Has the bank ben asked to pay the money to a relation, or directly to the funeral director? Normally, they should be prepared to pay the funeral director directly, even without probate / LofA, but not all bank staff are familiar with the rules - it may be worth asking whether they have a bereavement team.

If they won't budge, and if there are other assets, then someone will need to apply for Letters of Administration. Assuming your aunt has no children or grandchildren and no spouse, then her parents will be the beneficiaries of her estate and they would normally be entitled to apply for LofA - your nan should be able to apply on her own (I think she will need to explain why she is applying alone, not jointly with your granddad) It may be possible for your mum to apply if her parents don't wish to do so.

Start here - https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/if-the-person-didnt-leave-a-will

PasturesNew

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

If nobody can pay then the local authority, or the hospital where she died, have to foot the bill. This is known as a public health funeral. It will be a simple no frills cremation. In fact banks will usually pay the undertaker direct if asked.

But there is money to pay for it - the mobile home. This will be worth £20k to £250k, less 10% sales commission to the site owner, less estate agency/legal fees. There's likely to be £10-200k there.

Cheeky_Monkey

Plus the Woolworths pension

Yorkshireman99

PasturesNew wrote: »

But there is money to pay for it - the mobile home. This will be worth £20k to £250k, less 10% sales commission to the site owner, less estate agency/legal fees. There's likely to be £10-200k there.

The problem is raising the money in a few days. If this cannot be done then the LA will have to do it.

konark

No bank would refuse to pay a funeral director's bill if provided with a copy of the death certificate.

Pensions usually end at the date of death, so Woolworths (didn't they go bust?) will need to be told to avoid overpayment.

The mobile home is worth somewhere between £20,000 and £250,000 is it; those estate agents sure hedge their bets don't they.

Keep_pedalling

The fact that someone lives at the other end of the country, should not prevent someone sorting out the bank because that can be done in any branch. As has already been said although the bank may not release funds to a relatives yet they should pay the FD directly without making you jump through too many hoops.

Robin9

Is their enough money in the account to pay the FD ? Who instructed the FD ?

dawyldthing

TBagpuss wrote: »

Did your aunt have any children?
Has the bank ben asked to pay the money to a relation, or directly to the funeral director? Normally, they should be prepared to pay the funeral director directly, even without probate / LofA, but not all bank staff are familiar with the rules - it may be worth asking whether they have a bereavement team.

If they won't budge, and if there are other assets, then someone will need to apply for Letters of Administration. Assuming your aunt has no children or grandchildren and no spouse, then her parents will be the beneficiaries of her estate and they would normally be entitled to apply for LofA - your nan should be able to apply on her own (I think she will need to explain why she is applying alone, not jointly with your granddad) It may be possible for your mum to apply if her parents don't wish to do so.

Start here - https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/if-the-person-didnt-leave-a-will

I think the bank are now releasing the money to the funeral directors. The mobile home is worth £40k with the sounds of it but we don't know much about them. It sounds like my grandads partner is trying to sell it and then just take the money tbh

dawyldthing

Malcnascar wrote: »

Firstly, sorry for your loss.

Am I reading this correctly.

You are abroad, with your Nan.
Your granddad has dementia, is he also living with you.
Where is your mum living?
Your grandparents have at least 2 daughters, your mum and your late aunt.
Said family member lives "the other end of the country", who is this person and what is their relationship to your aunt.

Has the funeral taken place?

If so, then there is a bill which needs to be paid.

Your post indicates that there is a Bank account with sufficient funds to pay the funeral bill. Whoever arranged the funeral should go to the Bank, and ask to see someone who has experience to deal with a bereavement case. They should take the death certificate, the undertakers bill and their identification and address details. They just need to explain that the Bill needs to be paid. The Bank will, normally, issue a cheque payable to the undertakers so that bill can be paid.

Once this has been done, your Aunts estate needs to be wound up. https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death/overview

Im travelling on holiday, nans at our family home with my mum. Grandad lives with his new partner, not married. Yep mum and aunt are my nan and grandads kids. Grandad lives in same city aunty died. Funerals in a few days I believe. I think someone's trying to get the money out the account, I think there also trying to sell the house and get the money on the sly. But nans got papers from the bank so it could stop it hopefully