My Father died, do I have to pay his cards?

spice1000

The only asset of any value within my father’s estate was his place of residence, this is also my place of residence as I lived here with my father and continue to live here now. It is still subject to a considerable mortgage. I therefore have no available funds in the estate to settle the outstanding balance. Can I ask for the balance to be written off? (around 6,000)? What is my best approach? help!

anniecave

I'm sorry to hear of your bereavement.

I would guess it would depend if there was a will? If not are you the only child and are there no other direct beneficiaries from his estate?

If it's only you, then I would imagine if you want to keep the property then you will need to take over the outstanding mortgage value (plus the value of the credit card, less any other assets that are also in his estate, as this would reduce his overall debt).

If you can't afford this then the property could be sold and you (and other beneficiaries if appropriate) would receive the difference between the sale price and the outstanding mortgage value, less any fees. You could then put this value against another property if you wanted to buy somewhere else, or spend it how you see fit!

You could ask for the balance to be written off, but if there is equity in the house (value of property if it was sold today is more than value of outstanding mortgage) then legally I think it should be paid off.

I would speak to the credit card company and explain the situation if you haven't already, as I would think they should freeze interest on the value while the estate is settled?

All the best with getting it all sorted.

lisyloo

Sorry to hear of your loss.

Firstly I would ask the company to freeze the account (to stop adding interest) whilst our fathers affairs are sorted (they will expect this to take some time).

We need some more information to be able to help.

Who officially owned the house (on the title deeds)?
Whose name is the mortgage in?
Did he have a will?
Are there any other beneficiaries? (whether will or no will).
It may also be useful if you say how much the mortgage is and how much the house is worth.

Basically you are NOT liable for his credit card debts.
However his estate will have to pay the bill before any money is passed on to beneficiaries and this includes you.

You need to give us more information because it's not clear whether you own any of the house and whether there is an money in his estate.
When you say he has no other assets, are you sure there are no pension funds, no cars, jewellry (wedding ring?).

Gorgeous_George

So sorry for your loss.

I think that the cards will need to be repaid from your father's estate. If there are insufficient monies in the estate for this then the debts should be written off. Were the cards insured at all?

Whatever, do not worry about it. It will all be sorted in time.

GG

spice1000

Thanks for you replies guys, very helpful. Here are some answers to the questions. Is there any chance that because I am an occupier of this house I could be left alone as I would have to sell to pay?
Who officially owned the house (on the title deeds)? My Dad only
Whose name is the mortgage in? My Dad but mine now
Did he have a will? NO
Are there any other beneficiaries? (whether will or no will). Yes, Half to my brother
It may also be useful if you say how much the mortgage is and how much the house is worth. mortgage 125,000 house 195,000, total outstanding on cards £23,000

Dylanwing

I think that you will need professional advice. Technically, the Estate is £70K property equity, less the £23K debt, so £47K split two ways - Look at it from the Banks view, you want the £70K assets, but not the £23K debts - With it being your home, I do realise that it is not that simple. What is the position regarding your Brother? Can you confirm how the mortgage is in your name, but the property was in your Dads name. Was the property left to you in a will, does your brother want his share in cash, or is he waiving his interest?

Sorry if this sounds insensitive, but technically, there are funds in the Estate to pay the debts, and one other thing the Bank may want to ask is whether your father gave away assets before his death to avoid payment (I don't want to sound offensive, but I'm sure the question will be asked). It won't be easy, but I am sure that it can be sorted. Much will depend on the attitude of the Banks.

I hope it all gets sorted, and once again, apologies if I have sounded insensitive.

HugoSP

Sorry to hear of your loss.

I can echo what has been said above. My situation with my mother some years ago was very similar to yours. However the only difference is that her house was not my place of residence.

The CC company would normally freeze the account straight away. They may require a copy of the death certificate for their records.

My advice to you would be to get several (8) office copies of the death cert at £3 each now, rather than have to pay more for them later. This way you can send off several in different directions at the same time to various banks, Cc companies, insurance companies etc. They will always send the copies back but it saves you waiting to receive it back from Bank A whilst CC Company B is kept waiting to see it ect.

1882

A trying time I know.

When my Father died the credit card company wrote off his 5 fugure debt to them. His only asset was his house which was in joint names with my Mother who lives there also.

dzug

1882 wrote: »

A trying time I know.

When my Father died the credit card company wrote off his 5 fugure debt to them. His only asset was his house which was in joint names with my Mother who lives there also.

If the house was a joint tenancy then it wouldn't form part of the estate - so a different situation to this query.