Dealing with a Freeloader at time of Mourning?

RolandFlagg

My step brother moved in with my Mam and helped to look after her in her final months before she passed away.

But in reality his wife had thrown him out of the family home and he saw moving in with my Mam as a way to get free lodgings.
The rest of the family ended up looking after my Mam just as much as he went out wasting his money.

Now she has passed away, he is still living there as he has nowhere else to go.

Although he's a freeloading waster, he has lost his Mam as well, so I don't want to make life harder for him at the moment, but I don't want to be stuck paying his bills.

The council house is two bedroom and I suspect the council will want to move him into a flat so they can get a small family in the house.

But for the time being he's asked me not to inform the council, and we will have a small amount left over from my Mam's life insurance to cover his bills until the end of the year.

At some point though, I'm either going have to inform the council and inform the energy company, water company etc that my Mam has passed away, but not to cut anything off as my step-brother is still living there.

I will have to do this, because he will be happy freeloading for the rest of his life. If someone else is paying his bills he sees that as more money for him for alcohol and cigarettes.

I wonder if anyone else has been in a similar situation, and advice please.

Grumpelstiltskin

You must tell the council ASAP, they will want him out.

I hope she wasn't claiming any benefits and not declaring him to be living there.

Keep_pedalling

As he is not on the tenancy he has no right to stay there. If you are administrating your mother’s estate you have a duty to inform the LA that your mother has died. 

theoretica

You/he need to look at the specific eligibility for succession of tenancy - but if he has only been there for a few months and was not named on the tenancy this may not apply and it depends on date and type of tenancy.  Was your Mother claiming single person council tax?

If England, see:

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/council_housing_association/can_you_inherit_a_council_tenancy

elsien

Unless he is in a higher category due to health/illness, then as a single person with no dependants (given that his estranged family are adequately housed) the council does not have a responsibility to house him.
 They have a duty to provide him with information, nothing more. 

Is he not working or claiming any benefits?
Now that your mother has passed, if he’s not on the tenancy and has no succession rights, you need to be telling people as the executor/administrator of the estate. 

From your other thread, your mum passed away in a nursing home. It is a difficult time but this hasn’t come as a surprise to him and he does really need to start thinking about where he can go.
if he owns or shares a tenancy with his ex partner, technically there’s nothing to stop him from going back there, however unpleasant that may be for both parties.

Be aware that once the council are informed (and they may find out in other ways - via cross referencing pension/housing benefit/council tax/whatever) - they will want the property back very quickly. He needs to start planning now rather than be taken by surprise and he must not work on the assumption  that he qualifies for any sort of council property.

If there is any money left from the life insurance and you are willing to forego any if it that may be due to you, it may be better used as a deposit on a private rental of he can find one. What has be been doing for money up till now? 

Linton

If you are the executor/administrator your duties must outweight other considerations.  A basic duty of an executor is to ensure that other relevent people know of the death,  You have no choice, you have nothing about which to spend time thinking.  If you don't inform the council because your step-brother is living there then couldn't that be seen as fraud?

RolandFlagg

Thanks for the replies.

I will get onto the council. 

Obviously I am not benefiting in any way by not telling the council, I was just trying to give him time whilst the arrangements and funeral was over.

thegreenone

If you used the Tell Us Once service, the council may be aware.  I should imagine the council would give you a month to clear the property, including the freeloader.

elsien

ETA - he may be able to ask about succession rights if he has lived there for over 12 months but from your post I took it to be less than that. 

Savvy_Sue

thegreenone said:

If you used the Tell Us Once service, the council may be aware.  I should imagine the council would give you a month to clear the property, including the freeloader.

Possibly only two weeks. 

SiliconChip

I think the council will know once the death is registered, as you do it with them and it should be done within 5 days of the death. How long it will take to get to the housing department is anybody's guess but I would expect them to be in touch with him eventually.