step son refuses to be next of kin . 20 June 2022 at 7:29PM in Deaths, funerals & probate 26 replies 1.9K views

alfmurph

I married my wife 35 years ago and took on her 2 year old son . 
We lived happily ever after untill today .
My stepson who lives and works in saudi arabie got a phone call from police to say his father had died .
Looks likely to be suicide . He was a thief , drunk , bully and womaniser all his life .
My step son had very little contact with hin in 35 years .
He told police he does not want to be next of kin and is not coming home to deal with anything .
Father has no money to pay for his funeral .
I think police are just looking for someone to pay for funeral etc .
I understand he will now have a paupers funeral paid by the council .
My question is - Is my stepson likely to be in any trouble with police or debt collectors .
He has no siblings .

Also 3 month's ago his granny died and left a house only valued at £60k to be split equally between my step son , his father and fathers brother . This has not been settled by lawyer yet .
The 2 brothers hated each other as well . So unlikely brother will volunteer to be next of kin either .
Could the council claim the funeral money after the estate has been settled .

Flugelhorn

Your stepson has no liability for his father's estate or debts, police / council will just be wanting someone to take over responsibility for the whole thing but he doesn't have to accept this.
The estate has got some money in it (father's share of his mother's estate) - presumably the council (ans any creditirs) will be able to seek to be repaid from this when the estate is being settled, this will come out of the Father;s share, presumably your stepson will get the rest of it then along with his own share of his grandmother's will 

theoretica

Your stepson cannot be made to do anything, and will not be in any trouble.  Being clear and straightforward that he will not be organising anything is considerate to the people who need to step in. 

theoretica

alfmurph said:

Could the council claim the funeral money after the estate has been settled .

Yes - the council can, and should, claim the funeral costs.  And then the rest of his share needs to go towards his debts. If the father's debts exceed £20k, or whatever his share is, then the wisest course is usually not to get involved and let the debtors sort it out.

RAS

Th  rough and ready basics are

Unlike certain other countries, you cannot be jailed just because someone says you owe them money.

Your step-son has no obligation legally to his (ex)father including paying for his funeral.

And whoever executes or administers the ex-father's estate needs to pay off the funeral costs ahead of other debts. FWIW locally, direct cremations cost £995 and I'm sure the council could get it for less.

The executor's of granny's estate have no obligations to those sorting out her deceased son's estate, apart from making them aware of the inheritance.

It might be worth someone??? working out how much debt the ex-father has???. If it's close to £20K, ignore with a bargepole.  The LA might do something to retrieve the funeral costs because they take priority.

Otherwise, once granny's executors sell the house, your step-son will get £20K ish. Even if he was totally estranged, any old  family photos might worth more.

gwynlas

A paupers funeral is a very dated term with bad connotations. A council paid funeral is just a basic funeral directors service where mourners are allowed in the same way as any other. If there is mpney in the estate the council might try and reclaim the cost. Presumably there will be executors of the mothers estate and your stepson will inherit his biological fathers share.

Robin9

alfmurph said:

Also 3 month's ago his granny died and left a house only valued at £60k to be split equally between my step son , his father and fathers brother . This has not been settled by lawyer yet .
The 2 brothers hated each other as well . So unlikely brother will volunteer to be next of kin either .
Could the council claim the funeral money after the estate has been settled .

3  months is nothing in settling an estate - think 12 months if a member of the family is executor and picks up the reins straight away and 18 months if it is solicitor driven.

alfmurph

Just found out my step son's father [ the deceased ] got married again a number of years ago and then split up with this woman but technically they are still married .
Even though grans estate has not been finalised does this woman [ wife ] have claim to his share of estate as gran's will says it should go to his son . her stepson .
Meaning two thirds of the £60k should go to my stepson as estate has not been finished or does his wife inherit one third of estate .
Sad thing is the police found his dog beside his body .

alfmurph

3 executors named in grans will . deceased brother , a family friend and her lawyer .
Hopefully the lawyer takes over this mess .

DE_612183

alfmurph said:

Just found out my step son's father [ the deceased ] got married again a number of years ago and then split up with this woman but technically they are still married .
Even though grans estate has not been finalised does this woman [ wife ] have claim to his share of estate as gran's will says it should go to his son . her stepson .
Meaning two thirds of the £60k should go to my stepson as estate has not been finished or does his wife inherit one third of estate .
Sad thing is the police found his dog beside his body .

Unless he made a will, then I would guess that she would inherit 1/3rd as the Grans estate gets settled first before the fathers - of course his estate will still have to take into accounts debts etc so my guess is no body will see any of the £20k he would have inherited should he have lived longer.

DE_612183

of course now the Police / Council have a NOK which is not your step son.