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Joint Mortgage and Estate
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droiderm
Posts: 778 Forumite

Hi all,
Looking for a little bit of direction. My mother in law has recently died, and we are getting around to dealing with her estate.
It seems a bit overwhelming, and have lots of questions. My wife is going to apply to be an administrator (we don't believe there is a will).
Working out the value of the estate is going to be a little difficult, partly because we live a few hours away and don't have any documentation yet.
We believe she has little assets :
A small life insurance policy, around 9k.
Possessions and some jewelry probably of little value.
A pension, we believe she has death in service benefit, but we don't yet know the value.
We don't know the value of any bank accounts/savings but expect there won't be anything of significance.
She has some debt, up to now we only know of a CCJ of around 16k. We don't know the detail but it may be secured in some way on a property she was jointly on the mortgage of.
She lived in rented accommodation, and had fairly recently split with her partner (not married) . He still lives in the property and is jointly on the mortgage.
I have read that the mortgage debt (and or any equity in the home) will pass to him, and not be part of the estate?
We don't know if their is a separate life insurance policy covering the mortgage, and we don't think if there was, her ex partner would be forthcoming. All we can do is ask him, and if he says no , are we expected to, or can we do any further investigation? I believe this would form part of her estate?
Regarding the CCJ, does that form as a debt in her estate?
Thanks for your help!
Looking for a little bit of direction. My mother in law has recently died, and we are getting around to dealing with her estate.
It seems a bit overwhelming, and have lots of questions. My wife is going to apply to be an administrator (we don't believe there is a will).
Working out the value of the estate is going to be a little difficult, partly because we live a few hours away and don't have any documentation yet.
We believe she has little assets :
A small life insurance policy, around 9k.
Possessions and some jewelry probably of little value.
A pension, we believe she has death in service benefit, but we don't yet know the value.
We don't know the value of any bank accounts/savings but expect there won't be anything of significance.
She has some debt, up to now we only know of a CCJ of around 16k. We don't know the detail but it may be secured in some way on a property she was jointly on the mortgage of.
She lived in rented accommodation, and had fairly recently split with her partner (not married) . He still lives in the property and is jointly on the mortgage.
I have read that the mortgage debt (and or any equity in the home) will pass to him, and not be part of the estate?
We don't know if their is a separate life insurance policy covering the mortgage, and we don't think if there was, her ex partner would be forthcoming. All we can do is ask him, and if he says no , are we expected to, or can we do any further investigation? I believe this would form part of her estate?
Regarding the CCJ, does that form as a debt in her estate?
Thanks for your help!
0
Comments
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Hi all,
Looking for a little bit of direction. My mother in law has recently died, and we are getting around to dealing with her estate.
It seems a bit overwhelming, and have lots of questions. My wife is going to apply to be an administrator (we don't believe there is a will).
Working out the value of the estate is going to be a little difficult, partly because we live a few hours away and don't have any documentation yet.
We believe she has little assets :
A small life insurance policy, around 9k.
Possessions and some jewelry probably of little value.
A pension, we believe she has death in service benefit, but we don't yet know the value.
We don't know the value of any bank accounts/savings but expect there won't be anything of significance.
She has some debt, up to now we only know of a CCJ of around 16k. We don't know the detail but it may be secured in some way on a property she was jointly on the mortgage of.
She lived in rented accommodation, and had fairly recently split with her partner (not married) . He still lives in the property and is jointly on the mortgage.
I have read that the mortgage debt (and or any equity in the home) will pass to him, and not be part of the estate?
We don't know if their is a separate life insurance policy covering the mortgage, and we don't think if there was, her ex partner would be forthcoming. All we can do is ask him, and if he says no , are we expected to, or can we do any further investigation? I believe this would form part of her estate?
Regarding the CCJ, does that form as a debt in her estate?
Thanks for your help!0 -
Thanks for your help.
We are trying to speak and get the information on the life insurance policy and the death in service. We are hoping to get more information tomorrow.
I assume they are joint tenants as they were living together for 15 is years in the property. I guess we have to ask her ex for the mortgage company and inform them ? Or is it his reponsibility to inform them ?
I don't think there is much equity in the property , probably not much more than the value of the ccj. The property is going to be the most difficult part. When you say some of the property may belong to the estate , do you mean as a debt or asset ? What happens in either circumstance , and who and when will be responsible for selling the property ?
Is it better to get a solicitor involved ? Thanks again0 -
Death in service is paid if you're still working for the employer when you pass away. It's paid to whoever the employee listed in a 'expression of wishes form' outside of the estate. However the trustees have the power to change the beneficiary if there's evidence that the expression of wishes no longer reflects what the employee would have wanted. So if it names the ex-partner it could be worth challenging this.
You can download from the land registry whether the property is joint tenants or tenants in common.Don't listen to me, I'm no expert!0 -
Just downloaded the title from the LR.
They are both named in the proprietorship section on the same line. I assume that means they are joint tenants ?0 -
Assume nothing! Give the LR a call and ask them to confirm which it is.0
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Thanks for your help.
We are trying to speak and get the information on the life insurance policy and the death in service. We are hoping to get more information tomorrow.
I assume they are joint tenants as they were living together for 15 is years in the property. I guess we have to ask her ex for the mortgage company and inform them ? Or is it his reponsibility to inform them ?
I don't think there is much equity in the property , probably not much more than the value of the ccj. The property is going to be the most difficult part. When you say some of the property may belong to the estate , do you mean as a debt or asset ? What happens in either circumstance , and who and when will be responsible for selling the property ?
Is it better to get a solicitor involved ? Thanks again0 -
Collected together some paper work , although still fuzzy on the process.
She had an ex common law partner, and a boyfriend (they didn't live together although did plan to, and has since moved in to her property).
I am assuming neither are classed as a spouse for these purposes?
We have discovered there is a will, it's held at a solicitor, and they are currently the executor. We have no idea who the beneficiaries are, although it is from 20 years ago and hasn't been updated.
Death in Benefit - apparently will go to "next of kin". I am assuming that will be her children, and will NOT be part of her estate?
Life insurance - they asked if there was a will, or a surviving spouse. As there is a will, I assume that WILL go to her estate?
There is the CCJ, the mortgage, around 40k equity apparently, and the CCJ is about 15k. I assume that will somehow come from her part of the equity?
There is at least one other 5k debt.
It seems her estate may be insolvent, if the death in service and life insurance doesn't go into her estate?
If that's the case, is it still advisable to become the executor? The solicitor are happy to get it changed. Either way, who pays for the solicitor costs, assuming it's insolvent?
Sorry for all the questions, but it seems quite complicated although we have more facts to gather.0 -
There is no such thing as a "common law" wife or husband in England/Wales so neither of the partners are spouses.
If the will exists and hasn't been superseded by a more recent one, then it stands.
Solicitors costs would come out of the estate before the remainder is distributed - if the estate may be insolvent the solicitor will be very keen to pass on the responsibility. I would think very carefully before getting involved in this at all.0 -
"My wife is going to apply to be an administrator"
Why? It sounds like the estate is either insolvent or as near as, and there are going to be extensive complications. Before getting involved at all, your wife should consider whether she actually has any reason to. Unless there is more money in the estate than you imply, the cold-blooded rational advice would be to walk away.0 -
Collected together some paper work , although still fuzzy on the process.
She had an ex common law partner, and a boyfriend (they didn't live together although did plan to, and has since moved in to her property).
I am assuming neither are classed as a spouse for these purposes?
We have discovered there is a will, it's held at a solicitor, and they are currently the executor. We have no idea who the beneficiaries are, although it is from 20 years ago and hasn't been updated.
Death in Benefit - apparently will go to "next of kin". I am assuming that will be her children, and will NOT be part of her estate?
Life insurance - they asked if there was a will, or a surviving spouse. As there is a will, I assume that WILL go to her estate?
There is the CCJ, the mortgage, around 40k equity apparently, and the CCJ is about 15k. I assume that will somehow come from her part of the equity?
There is at least one other 5k debt.
It seems her estate may be insolvent, if the death in service and life insurance doesn't go into her estate?
If that's the case, is it still advisable to become the executor? The solicitor are happy to get it changed. Either way, who pays for the solicitor costs, assuming it's insolvent?
Sorry for all the questions, but it seems quite complicated although we have more facts to gather.0
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