Advice after father passed away

jellybean08

Good morning,

My dad passed away on Thursday and I was just hoping for some advice on behalf of my mum.

My dad received a state pension and my mum got carers allowance for him.

Our questions are,
Mum only ever claimed benefit for carers allowance and before that she was a home maker and we wondered as to what she may be able to claim for, her health is not the best with arthritis, asthma, and a thyroid condition, she would not realistically be able to work and is 3 years from state pension age as well.

Would she be able to claim anything what dad was getting? Or what would she be likely to get?

Also we have discovered dad and her have run up almost £6000 of unsecured credit card debt, and there is a small life insurance policy which won't cover all the funeral costs, so there is a worry there as to how the debt will be repaid, especially if mum doesn't get a lot in benefits, there is no option for the family to assist financially in that respect as well.

Any ideas?

NYM

Can't advise but just wanted to say I'm so sorry for your loss xx

missbiggles1

jellybean08 wrote: »

Good morning,

My dad passed away on Thursday and I was just hoping for some advice on behalf of my mum.

My dad received a state pension and my mum got carers allowance for him.

Our questions are,
Mum only ever claimed benefit for carers allowance and before that she was a home maker and we wondered as to what she may be able to claim for, her health is not the best with arthritis, asthma, and a thyroid condition, she would not realistically be able to work and is 3 years from state pension age as well.

Would she be able to claim anything what dad was getting? Or what would she be likely to get?

Also we have discovered dad and her have run up almost £6000 of unsecured credit card debt, and there is a small life insurance policy which won't cover all the funeral costs, so there is a worry there as to how the debt will be repaid, especially if mum doesn't get a lot in benefits, there is no option for the family to assist financially in that respect as well.

Any ideas?

She should be eligible to claim Bereavement Allowance for one year and may also be eligible for the Bereavement Payment.

https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-payment

https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-allowance/overview

At the end of the year she can make a claim for ESA if she meets the conditions for it, otherwise she'll need to look for work and claim JSA. She should also be eligible to carry on claiming HB/LHA/SMI as before your father died, although she'll need to notify them of the change.

As the debt is in joint names she's now responsible for it, I'm afraid.

NYM

Have a read of this link...

State Pension Death Benefits...


Your spouse or civil partner may be entitled to some basic state pension based on your National Insurance (NI) contributions but only if they have not already built up a full basic state pension from their own NI contributions record. When you die, your spouse or civil partner can apply for your National Insurance record to be used instead of their own, so this will only help them if your record is more complete than theirs. If you die while they are under state pension age, they will lose this right if they remarry or enter into a new civil partnership before they reach state pension age. Your spouse or civil partner may be entitled to any extra state pension you are entitled to if you put off claiming it when you reached state pension age.

pmlindyloo

Sorry for your loss.

Carer's Allowance will continue to be paid for 8 weeks. A useful link for you.

https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/practical-support/when-caring-ends/bereavement

Bereavement Allowance is an overlapping benefit with Carer's Allowance so once that is payment the Carer's Allowance will stop.

When you register the death the registrar will help with informing the necessary departments about your dad.

As regards your mum I suggest you go to CAB for some help with setting up her benefits.

It is very important that all departments are kept up to date and CAB will be able to telephone on your mum's behalf and take off some of the pressure.

It is possible that HB and CT reduction will end when your dad's death is reported so it is very important that you tell the council about your mum wishing to continue to claim in her own name.

You mum may also be entitled to help with the funeral. She (or you) will need to explain to the funeral director that you cannot afford an expensive funeral and are applying for a funeral grant. The amount of money, if awarded, is not usually enough to cover an average funeral so you must be careful with the costs if there is no alternative.

If the debts are in joint names then your mum needs to get in touch with Step Change who will be able to advise her what to do. There is no hurry about this. You could write to the creditors and let them know of your dad's death and ask for the debt to be put 'on hold' whilst you are sorting things out.

jellybean08

Thank you for replies so far

unforeseen

missbiggles1 wrote: »

As the debt is in joint names she's now responsible for it, I'm afraid.

Not necessarily. It is very rare to have a credit card in joint names. There is normally a primary card holder. If that is the father then the debt falls on the estate.

xylophone

Regarding the CC debt, check on whether your mother was merely an additional card holder on your father's card.

unforeseen

xylophone wrote: »

Regarding the CC debt, check on whether your mother was merely an additional card holder on your father's card.

It would appear from a second thread that the OP has started in Credit Cards that the cards are in the Mum's name

missbiggles1

xylophone wrote: »

Regarding the CC debt, check on whether your mother was merely an additional card holder on your father's card.

Or whether she herself is the card holder.