Paperwork—what can I chuck?

CHlHlRO

Locating my mother's paperwork was not as difficult as I'd anticipated but she left a LOT of very old things—can the older stuff be thrown? Here's a few examples:

*bank statements from the early 2000s
*store card statements from mid 2000s. They appear to have been paid and I can find no evidence that there is still money owed but nor can I find confirmation accounts were closed—is it best to check with the companies and get it in writing that the accounts were settled and closed or leave well alone and stick a notice in the gazette for creditors to contact me?
*payslips—I think she saved them all! She was retired though, so do I need to keep any of them if they're over 7 years old? I have details of her pension.
*utility bills—she switched providers a few times but I have the most recent bills from all providers (phone, water, Gas & electric), so do I need to keep old ones?


Sorry for a bazillion questions but I'd rather sort out her estate myself as far as I'm able until it comes to selling the house.

I found a few documents that seem to relate to investments and insurance policies but they're very old—is it worth checking with them if there is anything there even though I don't have anything more recent?


I found a bunch of documents related to the mortgage but this was paid off in 2006 and I have the house deeds—do I need to keep stuff relating to the mortgage and attached life insurance policy? It was only a mortgage cover policy from the looks of things. Still haven't found a will and I doubt I'm going to now I've found everything else. She filled in a slip for a will writing service through her work union but never sent it off and the union is now defunct.

CHlHlRO

Sorry—my paragraphs seem to have gotten a bit mixed up there!

Yorkshireman99

CHlHlRO wrote: »

Locating my mother's paperwork was not as difficult as I'd anticipated but she left a LOT of very old things—can the older stuff be thrown? Here's a few examples:

*bank statements from the early 2000s
*store card statements from mid 2000s. They appear to have been paid and I can find no evidence that there is still money owed but nor can I find confirmation accounts were closed—is it best to check with the companies and get it in writing that the accounts were settled and closed or leave well alone and stick a notice in the gazette for creditors to contact me?
*payslips—I think she saved them all! She was retired though, so do I need to keep any of them if they're over 7 years old? I have details of her pension.
*utility bills—she switched providers a few times but I have the most recent bills from all providers (phone, water, Gas & electric), so do I need to keep old ones?


Sorry for a bazillion questions but I'd rather sort out her estate myself as far as I'm able until it comes to selling the house.

I found a few documents that seem to relate to investments and insurance policies but they're very old—is it worth checking with them if there is anything there even though I don't have anything more recent?


I found a bunch of documents related to the mortgage but this was paid off in 2006 and I have the house deeds—do I need to keep stuff relating to the mortgage and attached life insurance policy? It was only a mortgage cover policy from the looks of things. Still haven't found a will and I doubt I'm going to now I've found everything else. She filled in a slip for a will writing service through her work union but never sent it off and the union is now defunct.

As a rule of thumb anything over seven years old is not needed. However, keep them until the you have the estate settled. You will need to publish the statutory notices to protect you against unknown debts. It is worth checking bank statements for any credits from old investments. It would be worth checking to see if there are any policies that pay out on death. Selling the house will probably need an estate agent but you should be able to do probate yourself.

jackyann

May sound obvious, but what we did was have 'shredding boxes' into which everything went that appeared chuckable
All that stuff you describe was then out of the way, but available should the need arise.
Glad we did, as one small pension surfaced, that needed a payslip.

You an then have a shredding marathon!

CHlHlRO

Thank you—I thought the 7 year rule might apply so that's all in a single pile, ready to go, but banking/salary/pension stuff I kept separate for checking.

I certainly wouldn't do a house sale myself! I may yet appoint a solicitor but I'll have saved myself a fair whack by organising the paperwork myself first, I hope!