Catalogue debt after death

Lmillar243

Hi, 
My father in law sadly passed away earlier this week. We have found that he has a catalogue account with about £2000 owing. He owns his home outright with his wife but has no savings.
They do have around £1500 in their bank account but this won't cover the funeral. My husband and I will be paying for this to allow his mum to keep what she has in her account and adjust to the changed incoming and outgoings.
Where does she stand with the catalogue debt? Would she be expected to settle his account as the house is an asset? From my research I can see that debts should be paid from the estate, the only estate in this case is the house. My husband and I will take out a loan to pay the debt if necessary, I just wanted to check our options and make sure that we're doing things in the right way.
Thank you 
Laura 

xylophone

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cardsloans/article-1689651/Does-my-uncles-debt-die-with-him.html

It seems to me that the catalogue debt would be the equivalent of the C/C debt to which reference is made above.

Was the house owned as joint tenants?

It seems to me unlikely that the catalogue company would apply for an insolvency administration order in these circumstances  (deceased with no savings/shares etc).

Keep_pedalling

Apart from from the debt your MIL is in a very precarious situation having zero savings and a house to maintain, on what will now be a reduced income, which is something that needs to be addressed in the very near future.

Lmillar243

Thank you. That article was very helpful. We will send a letter to the catalogue company. I have already addressed her reduced her incomings and outgoings and my husband and I will be covering the shortfall. 

Thank you

Gavin83

I second the question asked by xylophone, was the property owned as joint tenants or tenants in common?

Lmillar243

Gavin83 said:

I second the question asked by xylophone, was the property owned as joint tenants or tenants in common?

Sorry Gavin. They would have been joint tenants. 

Thank you 

74jax

Lmillar243 said:

Hi, 
My father in law sadly passed away earlier this week. We have found that he has a catalogue account with about £2000 owing. He owns his home outright with his wife but has no savings.
They do have around £1500 in their bank account but this won't cover the funeral. My husband and I will be paying for this to allow his mum to keep what she has in her account and adjust to the changed incoming and outgoings.
Where does she stand with the catalogue debt? Would she be expected to settle his account as the house is an asset? From my research I can see that debts should be paid from the estate, the only estate in this case is the house. My husband and I will take out a loan to pay the debt if necessary, I just wanted to check our options and make sure that we're doing things in the right way.
Thank you 
Laura 

Do you know where his pension was being paid?  If they were both claiming a pension and every single penny of it each month was spent, then keeping the same property with only 1 pension will be pretty impossible.  What did they do if the boiler broke etc?  Could there maybe an account somewhere else that hasn't come to light yet?