Mum has just passed - confused about utility bills etc while the house is still under her name

martin2345uk

Our mum passed yesterday morning, I am still in a bit of shock to be honest so please go easy on me, but I find it helps me to understand certain details that are stressing me out...

One of these is this - she owns her house. I believe that in her will it will be left to us (her children). But obviously that can take a long time to sort and process. In the meantime there are of course still bills etc related to the house - gas, electric etc that have "standing charge" elements and so still need to be paid, what usually happens in these circumstances?

Sorry if this is a silly question and thank you
Martin

JGB1955

I'm sorry for your loss. 

The executors of the estate will be responsible for paying the bills.  The executor(s) need to contact the bereavement departments of the various utility companies and take over the accounts.  It's also important to contact her house/contents insurance company as they may add some stipulations to the policy, particularly if the house is to remain empty.  

Any bills outstanding at date of death will become a liability and (if probate is required) can be offset against the value of assets.

getmore4less

Many utilities will suspend the accounts so no payments need to be made if that could be an issue.

Some (like us) were planning to keep the property for some time so we transferred to ur names to get the estate account closed with a known status.


If the property will not be used then there is a class F exemption for council tax, from DOD to 6 months after the grant is issued

If the property will be occupied then typically the costs fall on the occupant but by agreement they could be considered care taking and the estate could pick up the bills. 

Robin9

There's no rush for any of these - put them aside for a few weeks.

It's time to grieve not do that sort of paperwork

p00hsticks

martin2345uk said:

Our mum passed yesterday morning, I am still in a bit of shock to be honest so please go easy on me, but I find it helps me to understand certain details that are stressing me out...

One of these is this - she owns her house. I believe that in her will it will be left to us (her children). But obviously that can take a long time to sort and process. In the meantime there are of course still bills etc related to the house - gas, electric etc that have "standing charge" elements and so still need to be paid, what usually happens in these circumstances?

Sorry if this is a silly question and thank you
Martin

First of all, sorry for your loss.

It's not a silly question at all - it's a horrible thing to go through and for many of us it's something we don't have any previous experience of having to deal with. This board has been a great help to me in working through things and I hope it will be for you too - ask about anything that is bothering you and people will do their best to answer.   

Is there anyone still livng in the house ? If so, the usual thing would be for them to contact the suppliers and get the accounts moved across into their name, and they then pay the bills going forward.

If the property is now empty then it's down to whoever your mum has named as the executor of her will (if any) or, in the absence of a will, who is going to apply for letters of administration. Do you know who that is ?  It is worth trying to track down a copy of any will ASAP as it might contain details of what your mum wanted in her funeral (such as if she wanted to be buried or cremated).The executor should be getting in touch with the suppliers and letting them know what has happened, and either cancelling the supply if no longer required (e.g. TV licence. broadband etc ?) or arranging for future bills to be sent to them. Ideally, if your mum left any savings etc then this could be used to pay the essential bills going forward until the house is sold. It's best for the executor to use a bank account specifically for this purpose - it doesn't need to be a special executors account, but it;s easiest to keep track if you either use an existing but unused account or set up a new one specifically to receive money in and pay money out connected to the estate.

If the amounts of money in your mums accounts was relatively small ,then most banks will allow the money to be moved over to such an account on sight of the will/ death certificate and an ID check / declaration from the executor and you can use this to pay the essential bills going forward. Otherwise if you can afford it you can temporarily loan some of your own money to the estate to be used to meet the bills, and claim it back later when the estate is settled.

Many large utility companies and financial institutions will have a specialist bereavement team who are used to dealing with these things, or at least a page on their website that tells you what you should do and what will happen in the event of an account holders death - look on their websites to get the details.  I'd suggest that most of this can wait a week or two if you don't feel able to cope with it straight away (although some people find that it helps them to have things to do early on).  However I would make letting the house insurers know ASAP a priority  if the house is now empty, as well as making use of the Tell Us Once service ,which whoever registers the death will be told about, to let all the various government departments know of the death.

thegreenone

I'm so sorry for you loss and it's not a silly question at all.

Without wanting to sound nosey - did your Mum leave any cash in the bank?  If so, once the executor has received the death certificate, he/she needs to take that and the Will into the nearest branch.  You can do it by phone but I found it easier to do face-to-face.  I know others say you don't need the Will but HSBC staff wanted to see and photocopy it.    The bank will transfer the funds to the Executor and he/she can pay the bills using that money.  Keep a detailed record.

Do - Tell Us Once/Bank/Council Tax/House Ins, first before the utilities but you can shut down any landline straight away. 

But don't forget to breathe and grieve.  It's a little over a year since I lost my Mum and I had sessions of letter writing etc to keep busy and then sat and waited for replies.

Flugelhorn

I am so sorry to hear of your loss, honestly as @Robin9 says above, there is no need to worry about these for the time being.

The only  people to speak to would be the insurance company

re utilities, in time you can phone them, they have bereavement teams who always seem very helpful - eg the water company backdated closure of the account to the day my mother went into hospital (4 weeks before her death), didn't want any money until probate was through and also weren't bothered about water used while we were cleaning / checking on the property. 

kipsterno1

I can't add much more other than it's worth getting meter readings as they will ask for them when you make contact.

SiliconChip

Sorry for your loss, my mum died just over a month ago so I've had to do the same things very recently.

As advised, there's no need to contact anyone immediately, but I would agree with @kipsterno1 that it's a good idea to take meter readings now (although if there's a smart meter it may not be necessary). You should be aware that once you advise your mum's banks of her death that her accounts will be frozen and any direct debits set up will fail, so you should try to contact utility companies within a few weeks so that they can suspend payments.

If there is a bereavement number I would definitely ring that as it's handled much better than by going to the normal customer services number, although not all organisations have them. How future bills are dealt with depends on the company's policy, British Gas have said they will continue to generate bills but no payment is needed until the house is sold, whereas E.ON NEXT want bills to be paid as they're issued so I've asked them set up a DD on my account that is being used for executor money.

Magnolia

Oh Martin - I am so sad for your loss.  Its a right kick in the guts for sure.

The person who helped me most was our funeral director.  When he came to see me he asked what I had done and what was still needed to be done.  When I said I dont know he just sat me down and explained the whole process.  Ours might have been slightly different as Dad had to go to post mortem but the advice given would be the same for your Mum.

Take a deep breath and dont worry about any of it just yet.  Let experts (funeral director and bank) just do what they have to do and leave everything until after your dear mum has been laid to rest.

Take care xx

Edited to say - make sure you register her death.

Teapot55

Sorry for your loss. 

Although contacting the utility companies straight away isn’t strictly necessary it can help with the grieving process, just keeping busy sorting out the affairs of the deceased person.

Don’t worry too much if you can’t find the phone number for the bereavement department of the utility company because the people on the other end of the line are nearly always really kind when you explain the circumstances and will transfer you to the correct person if necessary. It’s hard having to make that phonecall though, so when you’re ready make yourself comfortable, have all the paperwork laid out and take a deep breath. 

If I remember correctly the utility companies etc each send a new bill as soon as you’ve informed them of the death to ‘Executors of Mrs Freda Bloggs’ and that’s hard too when they arrive, reading those. 

I would echo what previous posters have said about meter readings and informing the house insurance people being the main priority.