Duties of a named next of kin

exiled_red

I am just wondering if there are any duties or responsibilities associated with a next of kin to someone who died.

My mother and father had been visiting / looking after my father's cousin for a few years (doing his shopping, laundery, running his errands etc), about a year before the cousin's death he was admitted to hosptial and my father was named as his next of kin (his wife died 10 years previously and they had no children and he had no siblings). Anyway after being in hospital for a year he died having previously informed my father about his will and that my father was named as the executor.

Upon opening the will, my father determined that the will was invalid as his cousin had not signed it, at which point the people dealing with the funeral/after death services asked my dad as next of kin if he wanted their solicitors to handle the estate, given the complex family situation my father agreed the closest relatives being an number of cousins. (Based on one share going to the descendants of the deceased's parent's siblings). As my father only knew of those on one side of the family letting some professionals deal with this seemed sensible. This solicitor has employed the service of a fir of heir hunters to find the relatives. But as my father was the next of kin they have been constantly contacting him to provide contact details, birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, asking for this and for that, for the past 3 months he has been getting at least 3 calls a week and has been doing running around to get information for them.

If he were the executor to a will he would have the responsibility to do all this stuff but would be able to claim expenses from the estate, as a next of kin does he have any obligation to do any of these tasks, or if he does them should he be entitled to any expenses - he feels that he has a moral obligation to do this but I feel that this company that are being paid to do this work are taking advantage.

Linton

You refer to your father as "next of kin". Who is the executor/administrator of the estate - your father or the solicitor? Everyone needs to be very clear on this.

The executor/administrator can claim expenses from the estate prior to distribution of the assets. However this is to cover refunding of bills paid for by the executor. An executor can only claim for their time if they are undertaking the role in a professional capacity eg as a solicitor.

If you father hasnt got the requested details why doesnt he simply say so? Since the solicitor engaged the heir hunters perhaps you father should discuss the problem with him/her.

Keep_pedalling

He really should have only supplied information he already had, and if they needed birth certificates etc. They should had obtained them themselves.

No he can't claim expenses, as he is not managing the estate, so if they ask for any more info he should just decline the request.

Did he check that the will he found was not just a copy? If it was drafted by a solicitor it is likely that they still have the original.

exiled_red

My dad has got the solicitor to handle the estate, he was named as next of kin while his cousin was alive and had a key to the house. So my dad was the one who had to sort things out, as the situation was complicated he employed a solicitor to deal with the estate with the money to pay for this coming from the estate.

The solicitors have brought in the heir hunters to handle tracing of heirs. Their contact started with stuff like could they see my father's birth certificate and proof that he was related to the deceased, and he was asked to go through the house to find the deceased's paperwork which was fair enough he also provided them with the names addresses and contact details of all the other cousins/potential benficiaries, they have got back to my dad asking for him to get copies of their (al his cousins) birth certificates, parents death certificates etc and pass them on which surely should be their job.

The solicitors have also told my dad that he had to arrange for the house to be emptied before it could be sold, and a range of other such tasks. I told him that he should have told them to sort it as that's what they are being paid for, but he did it anyway.

There is no other copy of the will the deceased did a DIY job because he didn't want to pay for a solicitor, as a result 95% of his estate will go to people he either didn't like or didn't know...

Linton

You dont seem to have understood. "Next of kin" is a statement of relationship, not an official position. The official position is executor or administrator. A next of kin doesnt have to do anything. If the will doesnt exist or doesnt specify an executor the law defines a sequence of relations who should be asked. If one agrees to become the executor/administrator then they accept the responsibility of managing the estate with all that entails. Has your father done that? Or has the solicitor agreed to be the executor?

The executor may chose to hire a solicitor to advise him and carry out some of the work where legal skills are required. However the solicitor will probably charge on a time basis and the charges will be very high. If you are the executor, getting a solicitor to arrange a house clearance could be extremely expensive for the estate. It sounds like the solicitor is correctly advising your father.

As to the heir hunters - on what basis have they been hired? Fixed price or time and materials? If the latter, not being helpful again could be very expensive. But your father can only tell them what he knows. I am a little surprised that if your father is the executor the solicitor has gone ahead and hired the heir hunters without discussing it with your father.

exiled_red

The solicitor is the executor/administrator (not sure which or if there is a difference) my father wanted to stay well clear of that given the complexity of the family situation. The solicitors have control of all the assets - my father had to give over keys to the house bank cards etc. But they claim that my father as the next of kin has to approve things. For example when offers came in for the house they asked my dad if they could accept them. They wanted my dad as next of kin to arrange to empty the house, they have asked my dad for approval to pay to find out who owns the freehold of the property. They asked my dad for permission to use a firm of heir hunters to find beneficiaries, between the two firms they are constantly asking my father minor questions - which is the source frustration.

They claim that they are contacting my dad as he was the named next of kin when he died, but the truth is there are 20+ cousins who are equally related, the fact that my dad was named as next of kin seems to hold some weight for some unknown reason.

The solicitor and heir hunters are being paid a fixed fee plus expenses for the costs of obtaining copies of appropriate certificates etc (there was a list of what they could charge for). The estate isn't that large, given how many ways it will be split the solicitor will receive more money than anyone.

Yorkshireman99

Next of kin is really a meaningless term as far as estates are concerned. If the will was unsigned then the estate is intestate and the solicitor will have had to apply for letters of administration. Your father chose to take on the job of getting the estate administration sorted so he would be well advised to cooperate with them. The more the solicitor has to do the higher the costs will be.

securityguy

"They claim that they are contacting my dad as he was the named next of kin when he died"

So what? Is there any significant amount of money your father is likely to get from this? If not, why is he spending time on someone else's problem?

This is another of those "next of kin means you're obliged to..." threads. Other than in esoteric circumstances which need not detain us here, no-one is, at the first instance, obliged to administer an estate, be an executor of an estate or assist anyone in doing those duties. The definition of intermeddling is complex and poorly defined, but there are situations where if you start behaving as an administrator/executor you cannot then walk away from those responsibilities but the acts which trigger intermeddling have to be substantive (contrary to what is sometimes claimed,. organising funeral, informing utility companies and so on don't count). However, if you have done nothing for the estate, you are not bound to do anything for the estate, and even the "personal representative" obligations to provide information are only triggered in fairly extreme circumstances.

Your father would by the sounds of it have been best advised to stay out of it.

exiled_red

I get that the more the solicitors do the more it could/will cost, but given complexity of the situation my dad didn't want to have to deal with it and he's been getting 3 phone calls a week asking about this and that.

The estate isn't worth that much probably less than £50k by the time the solicitors fees etc have been paid, the estate will be shared out amongst about 20-25 cousins, most of whom the deceased didn't know or like. If he couldn't be bothered to have his will made properly I don't see why my dad should have all the hassle for helping to sort it out (my view not his), he'll end up having spent half of his inheritance in chasing around, phoning people up and getting copies of certificates for no recompense when the solicitors fee will be significantly more than he will get and the solicitors can claim for their expenses, which to me just doesn't seem right.

exiled_red

securityguy wrote: »

"They claim that they are contacting my dad as he was the named next of kin when he died"

So what? Is there any significant amount of money your father is likely to get from this? If not, why is he spending time on someone else's problem?

This is another of those "next of kin means you're obliged to..." threads. Other than in esoteric circumstances which need not detain us here, no-one is, at the first instance, obliged to administer an estate, be an executor of an estate or assist anyone in doing those duties. The definition of intermeddling is complex and poorly defined, but there are situations where if you start behaving as an administrator/executor you cannot then walk away from those responsibilities but the acts which trigger intermeddling have to be substantive (contrary to what is sometimes claimed,. organising funeral, informing utility companies and so on don't count). However, if you have done nothing for the estate, you are not bound to do anything for the estate, and even the "personal representative" obligations to provide information are only triggered in fairly extreme circumstances.

Your father would by the sounds of it have been best advised to stay out of it.

My father reported the death, arranged the funeral and appointed a solicitor to handle the estate as executors/administrators. My dad wanted this to be an end of it but has been asked as the listed next of kin to do certain things, a number of which I have mentioned above. They made it clear that my father shouldn't be executor as he had no more right to act than any of the deceased's cousin but there seems to be a wierd situation that he can't instruct them to do anything but they appear to be asking for his permission/approval to do things.

Yorkshireman99

exiled_red wrote: »

My father reported the death, arranged the funeral and appointed a solicitor to handle the estate as executors/administrators. My dad wanted this to be an end of it but has been asked as the listed next of kin to do certain things, a number of which I have mentioned above. They made it clear that my father shouldn't be executor as he had no more right to act than any of the deceased's cousin but there seems to be a wierd situation that he can't instruct them to do anything but they appear to be asking for his permission/approval to do things.

It is a classic case of your father wanting to to the morally correct thing. Unfortunately have got so involved he is stuck with the consequences.