Advice on valuing my wife's estate against her debts.

Trelawneyman

Hi All,
I am new to this so apologies if I appear a bit awkward.
I am looking for help following the death of my wife 2 weeks ago. I have been through her bags etc., and collected all of the cards I could find, plus any post that has arrived for her during recent days. We have a joint bank account and also a joint mortgage on our house, but she also had her own bank account and separate credit cards.
I have been totting up the debts from cards and catalogue accounts and am looking at a debt of approximately £8'000 so far. Naturally I have advised all of these companies of her death and am currently waiting on letters from them with next step instructions. I have been contemplating how I can arrange to pay these debts in stages as I do not have funds to hand at the moment, but read an article that seemed to suggest that her half of the house we own does not form part of her estate and that the creditors would have no claim against it. Is this true?
If so, what is included in her estate for valuation purposes?

Just for additional information, I have 2 children that live with me, hence why I need to keep this house. House is approximately worth £240,000 but the outstanding mortgage is £127,000 if that helps.

Yorkshireman99

Trelawneyman wrote: »

Hi All,
I am new to this so apologies if I appear a bit awkward.
I am looking for help following the death of my wife 2 weeks ago. I have been through her bags etc., and collected all of the cards I could find, plus any post that has arrived for her during recent days. We have a joint bank account and also a joint mortgage on our house, but she also had her own bank account and separate credit cards.
I have been totting up the debts from cards and catalogue accounts and am looking at a debt of approximately £8'000 so far. Naturally I have advised all of these companies of her death and am currently waiting on letters from them with next step instructions. I have been contemplating how I can arrange to pay these debts in stages as I do not have funds to hand at the moment, but read an article that seemed to suggest that her half of the house we own does not form part of her estate and that the creditors would have no claim against it. Is this true?
If so, what is included in her estate for valuation purposes?

Just for additional information, I have 2 children that live with me, hence why I need to keep this house. House is approximately worth £240,000 but the outstanding mortgage is £127,000 if that helps.

You have no liability for your wife's debts. How is the house held, as joint tenants or tenantrs in common? At this stage do nothing until you have established the facts. Had she madea will?

Trelawneyman

Hi there, I believe we are joint tenants, as we were married and took out a joint mortgage on this property when we first bought it. She did not leave a will.

thorsoak

First of all, let me offer condolences on the death of your wife, the mother of your children {{hugs}}.

Was your wife working? Was she in a pension scheme? If so, there may be a death in service benefit. Also, her credit cards may carry the dreaded PPI - which in this case will be beneficial as they will then pay out.

Trelawneyman

Hi Thorsoak, thank you for condolences. She was working and did have a pension provider., although no PPI that I am aware of. I have met with a person dealing with her pension and they said the death in service benefit is at the discretion of the trustees. Consequently they asked loads of questions about dependents etc., my daughter is 20 and at college with a further year at uni due next year. My son is 21 and has ME so needs looking after most of the time as he currently cannot walk more than about 20 yards without needing to recover.

Sorry but a bit slow typing.

da_rule

Are you going to be able to afford the mortgage without your wifes income?

Also, did she have any sort of life insurance policies?

Trelawneyman

The mortgage should be covered if I can extend the term. I need to work on for another 9 years and will then get my full pension plus lump sum on retirement, which will give me a lump sum of £108,000 and half pay. Interest is currently 1% above bank base rate so 1.25 at the moment. I can reduce my current payments to help with affording it.
She didn't have any individual life policies, but we may have a joint endowment policy that I just discovered the other day. I have advised them and they are writing to me, but it seems they didn't have our current address only a previous address that we haven't been in for 25 years. Only found that when checking through some direct debits on our joint account with the bank manager the other day.

Yorkshireman99

If you are joint tenants then the house now belongs to you and does not form part of your late wife's estate. If so it would seem your wife's estate is insolvent. If so you need to be very careful not to what is techniqly known as intermeddling. Any debts should not be paid. If this is the case it is up to the creditors to deal with.

Keep_pedalling

Even though holding the property as joint tenants takes your wife's share of the house out of her estate, you need to be aware that creditors can still pursue the dept via a Insolvency Administration Order.

http://www.lucasjohnson.co.uk/tag/insolvent-administration-order/

MichelleUK

Here is quite an interesting article:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cardsloans/article-1689651/Does-my-uncles-debt-die-with-him.html

Trelawneyman

Thanks for all the help and suggestions, I have some reading to do and will take some care and time now. Not going to rush into anything. Sorry for late reply now, but was her funeral today, so not been online again until now.