Late mother paid off her mortgage - had no confirmation

BadgeMishop

I lost my mum a couple of months ago and am in the process of dealing with her estate. About a month before she passed away she made arrangements with Halifax and paid off the mortgage she had with them. They gave her a figure to settle the account and it was paid in full. She did not receive any paperwork or confirmation after this, and now after her passing I am attempting to deal with it all on her behalf.

Today I have received a letter in her name saying "The interest rate on your mortgage is going down" and from the 1st of April 2020 they want her to pay £0.98. I was not aware  interest payments even existed anymore and I am wondering what to do about this. Her accounts have obviously not been touched since she passed. I am really anxious about approaching the Halifax now in case something has gone wrong and the house is at risk. The very small interest payment would suggest that it has been paid off but something has not been ticked off or signed somewhere along the line for such letters to continue to come. 

It is taking time to deal with things due to complications with funeral arrangements, errors in the death certificate and my own health, and on top of that we have the current pandemic. I am not sure who to approach first and what to say so any advice would be appreciated. Thank you. 

davidmcn

If it's a tiny balance left they're obviously not going to repossess the house. Just contact the Halifax to advise of her death and ask for details of the balance. You'll need date-of-death balances for all her accounts anyway to apply for probate.

Thrugelmir

Sounds as if the mortgage wasn't fully discharged. . 

BadgeMishop

Thank you. Will have to speak to them this week. 

maisie_cat

Years ago they used to hold a token balance and kept the deeds safe. Perhaps that's it

Thrugelmir

maisie_cat said:

Years ago they used to hold a token balance and kept the deeds safe. Perhaps that's it

Deeds are all electonic now. There's discharge fee that needs to be paid though to the lender to remove the legal charge from the property.