Death of Partner

Dr_No

Hi all, my partner has recently died and I have a few questions please..


I had power of attorney, I am sole beneficiary in will, I will probably have to stay in our home (social housing) for about a month until all things are sorted (funeral isnt for another 2 weeks)


So far I have registered the death, informed motability, and arranged the funeral. I have the "tell us once" reference which the registrar said I have 28 days to do.
We have roughly £5k in an isa for funeral expenses, not in my name, although as I have power of attorney I sign cheques etc and have done all finances for years.


So, questions... will I get in trouble for not informing housing/dwp/bank until after the funeral?


Can I transfer the cash isa to current account to pay for funeral?


thanks in advance.. I'm sure I'll have more questions later

Keep_pedalling

Really sorry to hear about your loss.

The POA has now ended, so you really should not touch your partner's account, and the bank needs to be informed ASAP. This means the account will be frozen, but the bank will pay the funeral director directly if nessasary so do not worry about that.

With small estates like this you do not need to go through probate, and most banks will release any funds to the executor with the production of a death certificate, the original will and proof of identity.

Best thing to do is make an appointment at your nearest branch and take the required paperwork in with you. They should get everything sorted for you.

Also let the DWP know ASAP otherwise they will be looking to claw back overpayments.

As for the housing, why do you think you need to vacate so quickly or indeed at all under these circumstances?

Torry_Quine

Dr_No wrote: »

Hi all, my partner has recently died and I have a few questions please..


I had power of attorney, I am sole beneficiary in will, I will probably have to stay in our home (social housing) for about a month until all things are sorted (funeral isnt for another 2 weeks)


So far I have registered the death, informed motability, and arranged the funeral. I have the "tell us once" reference which the registrar said I have 28 days to do.
We have roughly £5k in an isa for funeral expenses, not in my name, although as I have power of attorney I sign cheques etc and have done all finances for years.


So, questions... will I get in trouble for not informing housing/dwp/bank until after the funeral?


Can I transfer the cash isa to current account to pay for funeral?


thanks in advance.. I'm sure I'll have more questions later

Power of attorney ended on the death of your partner so you shouldn't be transferring funds held in their name.

The bank needs to be informed as soon as possible and accounts will be frozen, however they will release funds for the funeral. To avoid avoidable overpayments you should also let DWP know promptly as well.

Are you the executor for the will?

Is there a reason you can't stay in your home?

Finally I am sorry for your loss, make sure you take care of yourself.

Dr_No

thanks for the kind words and speedy replies...


I was also my partner's carer and won't be able to stay in the property as I wasn't on the tenancy.


I would rather wait until all bills/pensions are paid in January and repay anything owed rather than risk utilities/broadband etc being cancelled ... I have had a few dealings with DWP HMRC in the past and to be honest they are a shambles...


If I was staying and taking over all the bills etc that would be another matter but as I'll be heading home hundreds of miles away I would rather them chase me than me chase them... if that makes sense?

I just thought with being told I have 28 days then I wouldn't be doing anything illegal?

marcelli

I too would like to express my deepest sympathies for your bereavement. Having to face all this paperwork and dealing with officialdom at such a time must be so difficult. I don't know about the 28 day thing, but did just want to say that when i had to deal with my Mum's death and contacting all the bodies involved, every single one was amazingly helpful and kind. They all have a specific Probate department and most went out of their way to be helpful, from HMRC to council, utilities, even DWP! If you can steel yourself and face a couple of phone calls then at least you will know what you are up against.
Sorry i can't be of any more help.Wishing you well.

Keep_pedalling

You would only be doing anything illegal, if you touch the bank accounts. No one is going to cut off services the moment one direct debit is not paid, so I would not worry about that. Presuming you are the executor of the estate, it is your duty to approach the service providers etc. not the other way round. If you leave things too long things tend to get complicated and messy.

The housing association will give you some time to clear the property, so they are not going to be demanding the keys back immediately.

leespot

Dr_No wrote: »

thanks for the kind words and speedy replies...


I was also my partner's carer and won't be able to stay in the property as I wasn't on the tenancy.


I would rather wait until all bills/pensions are paid in January and repay anything owed rather than risk utilities/broadband etc being cancelled ... I have had a few dealings with DWP HMRC in the past and to be honest they are a shambles...


If I was staying and taking over all the bills etc that would be another matter but as I'll be heading home hundreds of miles away I would rather them chase me than me chase them... if that makes sense?

I just thought with being told I have 28 days then I wouldn't be doing anything illegal?

Sorry for your loss. It would be better for you in terms of any future stress that you deal with as much as you possibly can in the early stages. You have some time before the funeral which could be time well spent making sure you get important things sorted out. If you chose not to deal with them now, you will be dealing with this for much longer than you actually need to.

Savvy_Sue

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

The housing association will give you some time to clear the property, so they are not going to be demanding the keys back immediately.

No but they might not want to give as long as a month if the OP is not entitled to stay in the property.

However it's worth asking if the OP would LIKE to stay in the property. You may not have an automatic right to do so, but there are some circumstances in which you can keep a tenancy after the death of the tenant. I don't know if they would apply to you or not.

If you definitely do not want to remain, then even so it is advisable to tell the Housing Association. It is possible that they will find out even if you don't tell them, and taking the initiative avoids any difficulty caused by NOT having told them. If you can definitely pay the rent for a month then that is a good point in negotiating an orderly handover. If there's any question about being able to afford the rent then they will push for as early a termination of the tenancy as they can!

zailrand

Hi there, so sorry for your loss.

The tell us once service is brilliant - i think it informs dwp too? However, after my mum's death I informed dwp straight away myself and they were great - very compassionate and efficient. Money was sorted quickly and all extra forms were nice and simple. British gas were also very good, BT were the worst company to deal with by far.

My advice would be too get all done asap as that is less to worry about.

Re money in bank -'if you go to bank with death cert and will they will usually transfer all accounts £5k or less to you as executor and beneficiary so that, would be worth doing ,'only thing to watch out for is if they offer to do probate for you (which you may not need) as that is a chargeable service. If you do nadd probate a.d the estate is simple consider doing it yourself to save money - plenty of guides online and the helpline is very good too.

One last thing - don't forget to take care of yourself at this sad time. Best wishes.