Brothers passing 19 September 2022 at 9:06PM edited 19 September 2022 at 9:10PM in Deaths, funerals & probate 11 replies 1K views

flexeh

Hello All,

My little brother past away 2 weeks ago at aged 28 with a cardiac arrest. Im beside myself as I am left to sort everything out as I am his closest relative. He doesnt have any children nor partner or anything so its left to me to sort out. I doubt he had a will due to his age.

His work have stepped up and offered to help with the funeral costs which is fantastic.

I wasnt sure if our mum was around, as she had not been in our life for him (25 years) and me I saw her 18 years ago. When  I spoke to the police, i did ask about their help to contact her etc, and they gave me the impression she is also now deceased. I asked the question multiple ways and their answer was "All I can tell you is, as far as us the police and the coroner are concerned and the information we have, you are his next of kin" I was sort of afraid she might just appear out the blue but that has reassured me now. I know it sounds bad but our mum had some severe mental health issues and could be seen as a danger.

So I know theres nothing in his bank, as its confirmed now and he owes them 1000 on the overdraft, they said he had a pension which i assume that will have to pay off the over draft. I also think he has a death in service. Im not bothered where it goes as long as it doesnt go to someone automatically who hasnt been in his life. The other thought I had recently is he started this job (5 years ago) when he was dating someone for a couple of months and he was besotted. She done the dirty on him and they were only together 3/4 months. Im just concerned that he may have named her when he started the job. If so, is there anyway I can appeal it? or is that deemed his wishes. I just again dont want someone profitting off him whilst hes dead. Now if he named his best friend I dont have any issues what so ever as the guy has been a rock and supported my brother.

Thanks

msb1234

If he didnt leave a will and he has a work pension that includes death in service, they may require probate to release the money. have you spoken to the pension provider? If not, ring them up and ask the question. If they require probate you will have to apply for ,letters of administration. Not knowing if your mother or father are alive or not complicates matters significantly. You will have to prove they are dead as the estate cannot be distributed until this is known.  

Flugelhorn

Would the DiS Benefit / pension be outside the estate and down to the trustees as to who gets it ? normally this would be whoever is named on the forms your brother completed but they may consider other people instead.

Keep_pedalling

msb1234 said:

If he didnt leave a will and he has a work pension that includes death in service, they may require probate to release the money. have you spoken to the pension provider? If not, ring them up and ask the question. If they require probate you will have to apply for ,letters of administration. Not knowing if your mother or father are alive or not complicates matters significantly. You will have to prove they are dead as the estate cannot be distributed until this is known.  

Unlikely that probate will be required as pension payments do not usually form part of someone’s estate. 

Keep_pedalling

As far as the overdraft is concerned, his estate is insolvent so you should write to them informing them that a) the estate is insolvent and b) that no one is administrating it. 

The tricky thing with the pension is the fact that you don’t know for certain if your parents are alive or dead, the police certainly would not have spent any time confirming that one way or the other, all they would be concerned about is finding a relative to take the problem off their hands. 

macman

No you cannot appeal the death in service benefit distribution, it will be decided by the trustees of the pension. You don't actually know if he named the ex as his preferred beneficiary. though?
If you know where your mother lived, it should be relatively easy to find out if she has passed away, as you can simply check if a death certificate has been issued. If there are any assets in the estate after debts are paid, then this issue must be addressed, as under the laws of intestacy, your parents are the first beneficiaries. Only if both have died do you inherit any assets, equally with any siblings.

RAS

I'm sorry for your loss and the difficulties you are facing.

I'd speak to the pension provider and follow-up with an email or letter. Check who the beneficiary is and if you need to trace your parent's death. They may have their own tracers but if it's down to you, take it a step at a time.

If you know where your mum used to live, try looking on Ancestry at the local history or main library; many have the Library version on-line. They have details of the electoral roll until 2010. A bit of a long shot as she may not have lived a very stable life, and she may have ticked the box to remove herself from the public register.

Then see if she continued to be registered at that address by copying it into 192.com and searching on her name.

Ancestry only has details of English and Welsh deaths until 2007.

You can find English and Welsh deaths for the more relevant period here:

General Register Office - Online Indexes - Search the GRO Online Indexes

Scottish deaths are on scotlandspeople and are indexed on birth name, married name and mother's maiden name, although that is sometimes wrong.

Avoid the fakename companies who charge 10 times as much for a certificate and buy from the GRO rather than Ancestry.

And if your brother's friends and colleagues attend the funeral, take time to chat to them as it's just possible one of them knows something useful.

Keep_pedalling

Pension payments are discretionary and it is down to the pension trustees who, if  anyone, to pay, which is why they don’t form part of the estate. If he he did not nominate any beneficiaries there may be no payout as he had no dependant partner of children. If he had nominated his former partner it will be entirely down to the trustees whether to follow the nomination or, based on the fact they were no longer partners, may use their desires soon not to follow his wishes.

p00hsticks

Keep_pedalling said:

Pension payments are discretionary and it is down to the pension trustees who, if  anyone, to pay, which is why they don’t form part of the estate. If he he did not nominate any beneficiaries there may be no payout as he had no dependant partner of children. If he had nominated his former partner it will be entirely down to the trustees whether to follow the nomination or, based on the fact they were no longer partners, may use their desires soon not to follow his wishes.

That depends on the type of pension. While you are correct in saying that defined benefit (DB) pensions (ones which promise a payment for the life of the person) will usually only pay a pension to a spouse and/or dependant children after the persons death, a defined contribution (DC) pension is a pot of money built up by the employee and I don't believe that pension trustees can just refuse to pay it out after the holders death simply because no beneficiary has been named - it would be their responsibility to identify the best recipient for the money.

I don't think the OP has specified what type of pension we are talking about here but as the employment  only started five years ago I think we can be pretty certain that unless the person was emplyed in the public seector it will be a DC one.

getmore4less

The authorities say what they can to get any one to take on the responsibility

A living parent is first in line to deal with this estate(no spouse or kids)

They are especially keen for insolvent estates as council/hospital are responsible for funerals if no one steps up.

Mojisola

flexeh said:

My little brother past away 2 weeks ago at aged 28 with a cardiac arrest. Im beside myself as I am left to sort everything out as I am his closest relative. He doesnt have any children nor partner or anything so its left to me to sort out. I doubt he had a will due to his age.

His work have stepped up and offered to help with the funeral costs which is fantastic.

You don't have to do anything if you don't want to.
As the funeral costs are being covered, you can just walk away from the rest.