Debt after husband's death: advice please

Whitecat_2

Hello, My husband sadly died last month with debts.

£12,000 owed to Santander (personal loan)
£3,000 owed to Barclays (credit card)

My husband died with £3,500 in his bank account which went to me and won't cover the full cost of his funeral. The only other money considered his "estate" (?) was £8,000 in a life insurance policy which has been paid to me.

We don't own our home and we have four young children. Will I have to pay back my husband's debts? And who do I pay first? I don't have enough to cover it all.

building_with_lego

I am sorry for your loss. I can't offer much help but didn't want to read and run.

I believe that debts held in your husband's sole name will be written off if his estate is insolvent (i.e. not enough money to pay for his funeral.)

I am sure that someone with deeper knowledge than mine will be along soon with accurate advice, but try not to worry about it too much at this stage. Concentrate on looking after yourself so that you can look after your children. Take care.

Ms_Chocaholic

Was your husband's bank account a joint account?

Mojisola

Do you know about this -
https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment

Whitecat_2

Hello again,
To answer some questions that were asked...

No, we did not have a joint bank account.
Yes, I have applied for a Bereavement Support payment.

I am hoping someone can tell me if I will have to pay my husband's debts with the money left in his account and the life insurance money or do I get to keep it?

Mojisola

Whitecat wrote: »

Hello, My husband sadly died last month with debts.

£12,000 owed to Santander (personal loan)
£3,000 owed to Barclays (credit card)

My husband died with £3,500 in his bank account which went to me and won't cover the full cost of his funeral.

The only other money considered his "estate" (?) was £8,000 in a life insurance policy which has been paid to me.

Whitecat wrote: »

I am hoping someone can tell me if I will have to pay my husband's debts with the money left in his account and the life insurance money or do I get to keep it?

If everything is as straightforward as in your first post, then no.

The money in his bank account can go towards his funeral (but not the wake). If there is nothing left after that, you just need to write to the companies saying that there is nothing in the estate to pay the debts. They will probably want a copy of the death certificate.

The insurance money goes straight to you and isn't part of his estate.

You may find the companies will put pressure on you to try to get you to pay the bills but you have no legal liability if the debts were in his name.

Whitecat_2

Thank you Mojisola. When I closed my husband's bank account, Santander told me they would be asking me to repay that £12,000 loan. They said they could see he'd been paying life insurance (via direct debit) and "that could pay for part of the loan." You're saying that isn't true? They won't require me to pay off the debt from the life insurance money?

What can I expect from these companies? Will I have to send them copies of my bank statements to show how I've spent the money? I find this so distressing and intrusive.

Yorkshireman99

Whitecat wrote: »

Thank you Mojisola. When I closed my husband's bank account, Santander told me they would be asking me to repay that £12,000 loan. They said they could see he'd been paying life insurance (via direct debit) and "that could pay for part of the loan." You're saying that isn't true? They won't require me to pay off the debt from the life insurance money?

What can I expect from these companies? Will I have to send them copies of my bank statements to show how I've spent the money? I find this so distressing and intrusive.

I strongly recomend that you make an appointment with the the CAB. Dealing with this sort of situation is every day work for them. costs nothiung to do.

SevenOfNine

My condolences.

It is as Mojisola stated. Assume your husband named you as beneficiary of the policy, therefore it does not form part of his estate, will be paid directly to you & no, Santander can't take it from you to pay a debt, which I assume was an unsecured loan.

It would have been more transparent if his bank account had been frozen & the funeral director's invoice sent there for payment, the funeral cost takes priority over the loan.

Perhaps it might be appropriate to send them a copy of the invoice, so they see that you did indeed spend the £3500 on the funeral, so they don't pester you.

But no, I would not be letting them take a look at your bank statements. That is none of their business, the loan was nothing to do with you.

CRANKY40

Whitecat wrote: »

When I closed my husband's bank account, Santander told me they would be asking me to repay that £12,000 loan. They said they could see he'd been paying life insurance (via direct debit) and "that could pay for part of the loan." You're saying that isn't true?

The insurance money is for you and the children. Tell them to get lost. It's not part of your husband's estate, it belongs to you. Don't put that money in any account linked to S@nt@nder in case they decide to override the law and help themselves.

I was what was optimistically called a "young widow" at 42 with a 4 year old son. I can't answer the specifics of how you deal with your husband's debts as my husband didn't have any but I do know that if there isn't enough money in the estate to pay them you do not use insurance money. Send me a message if there's anything else you can think of that I might be able to help with.

There's also an excellent organisation called "widowed and young" or WAY for short that's maybe worth getting in touch with and if you have any other questions try posting on the chat forums on Kate Boydell's Merry Widow group. The people that I spoke to in the second group (anonymously at first, but friends now) saved my sanity.

CRANKY40

Whitecat wrote: »

What can I expect from these companies? Will I have to send them copies of my bank statements to show how I've spent the money? I find this so distressing and intrusive.

Nope, it's nothing to do with them how you spend the money. It's not part of your husband's estate. I don't suppose your husband was a civil servant at all? That still has nothing to do with his debt, but it helps you no end if he was.