Young widow husband is terminal lots of questions ....

Kerri7767

He doesn't think he has , if he phones up and asks is it as simple as that ?

getmore4less

There is no real rush it will all seem confused when you get conflicting and wrong information.

You have already got a solicitor that knows your situation so they will be a good staring point for further advice as broadly from what you said they are on the right track.

Probate/letters of administration(grant) may not be required even with a property.
(probate sounds much more scary than they should, no point going into that now)

You will need to establish the ownership of the property.

if joint tenants you will not need a grant, it is a simple change to your name only

if tenants in common it is common practice to need the grant but the land Registry rep has shown in numerous posts you don't need a grant in many cases. slightly more complicated but you can become the sole legal owner and sort out the rest later.

As the property is in negative equity the property does not even form an asset of the estate, this may need some documentary evidence should the creditors get fussy.

other personal asset may come into play if there is anything of value like a car.


things I would consider for now

Consider notifying the mortgage company if there may be any temporary problem with payments.
Talk to a solicitor(the one you have use before might be a good option)
Review the house bills to be ready to transfer to your name only.
Any regular contracts hubby has review, so you can deal with them as and when.

If you plan to keep the property, use the payout to resolve the equity and can afford the mortgage going forward that should resolve itself, consider holding the cash for a while till things settle down as you never know what might crop up.

I think you are very brave opening up to deal with this, it will be a very scary time.

Focus on the really important things with the time you have.

getmore4less

Kerri7767 wrote: »

He doesn't think he has , if he phones up and asks is it as simple as that ?

It should be on the statements if in place.

Tuesday_Tenor

Just to clarify:

There are two ways of owning a property jointly.

If you own it as JOINT TENANTS you each own 100% of the house jointly with the other person. If one person dies, the other person still owns 100% but now owns it solely, 'by survivorship'. No part of the property goes into the deceased's estate. Transferring the deeds into your sole name at the Land Registry will be a simple process. This is PROBABLY the way you own the house. You can set your mind at rest about this by checking with your solicitor.

The other way of owning a house jointly is as TENANTS IN COMMON. In this case each person owns a part of the house, usually 50% each. If one person dies, his/her 50% DOES form part of his/her estate and is inherited by someone else as directed in his/her will or according to the rules of intestacy. So in this case probate/Letters of Administration WOULD need to be applied for.

Most married couples would own as JOINT TENANTS unless you have deliberately decided to do otherwise, and this is probably the case for you. But you might want to check, for the greatest possible reassurance at such a difficult time.

Kerri7767

Thank you how do I check? Do I call land registry or mortgage compNy ??

getmore4less

Tuesday_Tenor wrote: »

Just to clarify:

There are two ways of owning a property jointly.

If you own it as JOINT TENANTS you each own 100% of the house jointly with the other person. If one person dies, the other person still owns 100% but now owns it solely, 'by survivorship'. No part of the property goes into the deceased's estate. Transferring the deeds into your sole name at the Land Registry will be a simple process. This is PROBABLY the way you own the house. You can set your mind at rest about this by checking with your solicitor.

The other way of owning a house jointly is as TENANTS IN COMMON. In this case each person owns a part of the house, usually 50% each. If one person dies, his/her 50% DOES form part of his/her estate and is inherited by someone else as directed in his/her will or according to the rules of intestacy. So in this case probate/Letters of Administration WOULD need to be applied for.

Most married couples would own as JOINT TENANTS unless you have deliberately decided to do otherwise, and this is probably the case for you. But you might want to check, for the greatest possible reassurance at such a difficult time.

You need to read the land registry reps posts relating to tenant in common and the real position on legal ownership.

The beneficial ownership for TIC appears to be a debt for the estate as there is negative equity which could make the OP a creditor if they cover that debt.

mum2one

Cant help re the house, but can say what we did.

We lost my dad in May, (cancer) I took over everything as mum was in such a state,

The house for us had been paid off - his share went to mum automatically, we rang the land registry - one simple form to change the house.

Bank accounts - again bank account was joint - took death cert to bank they took dad off the account.

credit cards - He had 2 (1 was with his bank, other C1), the bank were amazing, basically said we have no money - youve seen his account (overdrawn) they wrote the money off. The other card - that was passed between a few departments - few letters back and forth - they will write off the debt.

One for all service - when you register the death your be offered the one for all, they notify all depts go based (dvla, etc)

COuncil tax - ur need to put in a claim for single person

(even thou the house was mortgage free - the credit card companies weren't going after it - under 200k value)

Death certs - order at the time you register the death, (£4 or £6 cant remember) a copy, I had 4, that was plenty

Utilities - if there just in hubby's name - (with us) they closed the old account sent us a bill, new one opened

House Ins - Is this in both names - if its only in hubby's they close the policy and start a fresh... if you can get your name on the policy,

Just a few thoughts, Please take care, If I can help pm me xx

CRANKY40

You are right. His death in service payment is not part of his estate. Once the worst happens, ring your mortgage company and tell them, and ask them to freeze payments until you sort out the finances. I didn't make any payments between my husband's death and settling the outstanding amount.

You will be entitled to claim a bereavement payment of £2000 as you are under state pension age, and if he has made enough national insurance contributions. It's tax free and should help you sort a few things out.

I was 42 with a 4 year old son when I was widowed 7 years ago. As mum2one said, if you think I can be of any help please feel free to pm me.

Pollycat

My sympathies for the very sad situation you are in.

It might be worth considering now how you will manage for money when you are a widow.

You don't mention any children.
Do you work?
Could you work?

I think you're too young to qualify for Bereavement Allowance.

CAB may be useful for advice on what benefits you would be eligible for.

You mention 'death in service' payment from your husband's workplace.
Is there a widow's pension too?

Kerri7767

Hi everyone your help is priceless to me ...

We have 2 children 13/19

I currentky don't work as I'm caring for my husband who is deteriating .. I will be returning to work when the time is right most likely on a self employed basis .. I was under the impression I will be entitled to widow parent allowance .. plus child tax credit and working tax credit ... sorry for all questions and thank you for all your offer of private message I will be messaging and I'm so sorry that this has happened to some of you also .. it's very scary