Paying back a loan after death

Pine

My father in law recently died. No probate was needed as he only had a joint bank account and the house was jointly owned with his wife.
 He had taken out a personal loan from M&S in his name a couple of years ago. It was paid into the joint account, and payments were taken out of the joint account, but the loan was only in his name.
M&S have now cancelled the repayments upon hearing of his death and asked for the balance to be paid in full from the estate.
Is my mother in law responsible for paying this back when there was no probate and therefore no estate as such? I know morally she should, but she has no income of her own, as they lived off of my father in laws pension, his attendance allowance, and her carers allowance, all of which have now been stopped. She would struggle to pay this back even with a payment plan.
I’d appreciate any advice. Thanks! 

phillw

Pine said:

No probate was needed as he only had a joint bank account and the house was jointly owned with his wife.

Were they joint tenants or tenants in common?
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cardsloans/article-1689651/Does-my-uncles-debt-die-with-him.html

Pine

Thank you for your reply. They were joint tenants. 

jonesMUFCforever

Sorry for your loss - did FiL have any assets in his own name - savings, Premium Bonds, ISA, Life policies?
Mother in law does not have to pay the loan from her own monies - only the estate of the deceased can a claim be made.
It probably will depend on the amount outstanding but if there are no monies to pay the loan then M&S will have to write it off, for a small amount I cannot see them putting a charge on the property.

Pine

Thank you for your reply. He didn’t have any savings or insurance policies in his own name. He had a private pension but we have checked and it does not come with any death benefits. Their shared car was in his name - could she be forced to sell that? The amount outstanding on the loan is approx £2000. 

jonesMUFCforever

Pine said:

Thank you for your reply. He didn’t have any savings or insurance policies in his own name. He had a private pension but we have checked and it does not come with any death benefits. Their shared car was in his name - could she be forced to sell that? The amount outstanding on the loan is approx £2000. 

I would not think that the car would need to be sold.
Whoever is dealing with the estate as administrator needs to write to M&S loans advising them that the estate has no funds to pay the loan. If all goes well that should be the end of the matter.

[Deleted User]

Pine said:

Thank you for your reply. He didn’t have any savings or insurance policies in his own name. He had a private pension but we have checked and it does not come with any death benefits. Their shared car was in his name - could she be forced to sell that? The amount outstanding on the loan is approx £2000. 

The car form part of his estate and any assets in his estate should be used to repay any debts in his estate. 

Are you positive probate is not required because we’ve now got a car that was solely in his name. 

anniecave

How much is the car worth? Is there any outstanding finance on the car?

Pine

jonesMUFCforever said:

said:

Thank you for your reply. He didn’t have any savings or insurance policies in his own name. He had a private pension but we have checked and it does not come with any death benefits. Their shared car was in his name - could she be forced to sell that? The amount outstanding on the loan is approx £2000. 

I would not think that the car would need to be sold.
Whoever is dealing with the estate as administrator needs to write to M&S loans advising them that the estate has no funds to pay the loan. If all goes well that should be the end of the matter.

Thank you. I will let my mother in law know to contact them. 

Pine

Are you positive probate is not required because we’ve now got a car that was solely in his name. 

We were using this as a guide, and I haven’t seen anywhere else say a car has to go through probate. His name was on the V5, but I’ve seen that a V5 is not considered proof of ownership. It was purchased from their joint account.

Pine

anniecave said:

How much is the car worth? Is there any outstanding finance on the car?

About £5000 I believe. There is no finance on it.