Dad's debt

Richard_Rees

Hi there, my dad passed away on the 12/10/2021, suddenly. And I have rang all the companies he had with his car, gas and electric and store cards, most of the debt has been written off and some money has been refunded, but the company that deal with the Argos store card customers that have passed away have sent my mum a threatening letter, can I get this debt written off, as my mum doesn't have all that much money coming in now. My mum doesn't have a clue when it comes to the Internet so I deal with it all for her. My parents have 3 years left or so on the mortgage, will they expect my mum to take this debt on. Or take it off from the sale of the house when my mum passes away. 

Keep_pedalling

What assets did your father own? Depts should only be written off if his estate was insolvent.

doodling

Hi,

What did your Dad own when he died?  Did he have a will?  If he did own a house (e.g. with your Mum) then how was it owned (Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common)?

If the house was owned with your Mum as Joint Tenants then she now owns the whole house.  If the house was owned as Tenants in Common then his share of the house (minus the value of any debts) will be owned by whoever he gave it to in his will, or as determined by the laws of intestacy.

It sounds from what you have written that he jointly owned a house with your Mum.  If that is the case then all his debts should be paid from his share of the house.

Irrespective of how the house was owned, once your Mum has sole ownership of the house then creditors would have to go through a legal process to be allowed to pursue your Mum for those debts.  If the debts are small then many creditors won't bother with that and will write off the debts but in the case of larger debts they may find it worth pursuing.  As you mention in your post, the most likely outcome if the debts are pursued is that either your Mum pays them off, or a charge is placed against the house with the debts being paid when it is eventually sold (e.g. when your Mum passes).

If your Dad did own a house (or a share in one) then be careful in your dealings with your Dad's creditors, telling them that he had no assets could be considered to be fraudulent.

It isn't clear whether you are asking a question about the mortgage but if you are then yes, that will still need to be paid.  If paying the mortgage isn't possible then your choices are downsizing, increasing your Mum's income so it can be paid or, depending on your Mum's age, the value of the house and various other factors, it might be possible to use some form of equity release mortgage where the interest is rolled up and paid from the sale of the house when your Mum passes.

It is well worth checking to see if your Dad had any life insurance, pension death benefits or suchlike which might make things easier for your Mum, as well as making sure that she receives all the benefits she is entitled to.

Richard_Rees

Dad had no bond's, stocks, or savings, we had to sell his car to help towards the cost of the funeral. He cancelled his life insurance 2 years ago, idiot. We are in the process of changing the names on the mortgage, they just need the death certificate. But the man I spoke to said that the company who instructed them to get in touch, thinks it could be written off but I'm not hopeful. 

Keep_pedalling

Richard_Rees said:

Dad had no bond's, stocks, or savings, we had to sell his car to help towards the cost of the funeral. He cancelled his life insurance 2 years ago, idiot. We are in the process of changing the names on the mortgage, they just need the death certificate. But the man I spoke to said that the company who instructed them to get in touch, thinks it could be written off but I'm not hopeful. 

If, as is very likely, your parents held the house as joint tenants then full ownership automatically passed to your mother and your father’s estate is insolvent. Technically a creditor can pursue a debt by getting the tenancy split by a court but that is very rare and the debt would need to be very large for it to be worth while.

If my assumption about joint tenants is corr3ct, then simply write to the creditor informing them that the estate is insolvent and that no one is administering it. That should be the end of it.

Such a shame you father cancelled those policies leaving your mother in a really poor financial position.