Neighbours Death

Surfbabe

Last week we found our neighbour dead. He has only his elderly mother (83) who lives approximately 70 miles away.

He lived in rented accommodation, has no assets apart from the contents of his house and a bank account.He didn't leave a will, only an expression of wishes for his funeral.

 So far my husband and I have been dealing with everything on behalf of his mum and we havent done anything that she hasn't agreed to be done.

It would appear that she doesn't need Probate or Letters of Administration but can just have a personal representative.

Can anyone help and advise if this is the case and whether she can nominate myself to to this ? If so does she have to see a solicitor or can she just provide a letter. I will be registering the death. 

Been going round in circles on various websites etc.

Thank you very much for any help

Brie

Slightly different circumstances but we didn't have probate for either FiL's or MiL's deaths.  No solicitors involved at any point as they had simple mirror wills (leaving everything to the other) with my OH as the final beneficiary.  So all straight forward.  When MiL died all she had was some bank accounts, none of which had a fortune in them and all going to OH.  

Obviously it's much more ordinary to have a next of kin registering the death but I've no reason to think you can't do it particularly if his mom provides a letter of instruction.  Might be handy to have her include some sort of ID - something traceable like a passport, driving license or a blue badge would be great.  But lots of people die with no kin of any sort and friends and neighbours have often picked up all the leg work so I doubt the registrar would be very surprised.  

Frankly I'd call the registrar to make an appointment and ask what they require given your circumstances.  They are very nice and understanding individuals who are used to coping with people at a dreadful point in their lives and will almost certainly be willing to help guide you better than any website.  Ensure you have contact details for mom if she's going to become the first point of contact for all the government stuff - we've been getting letters from the local council about local taxes and from HMRC about income tax as well as DWP for other benefits.  All of this has been generated by the "tell us once" service that is initiated at the registrar.

Surfbabe

Thank you . I've already spoken to the registrars and have sorted about registering the death so that isn't a problem.

What I really want to know is does his mum need to provide us with anything if we deal with his bank, landlady, emptying the house etc - lots of stuff to go to an auction house and be sold OR does she have to deal with it all. Just trying to make life a little easier for her really. Probate and letters of Administration are not needed. Its the Personal Representative bit I'm not sure about 

Thank you

macman

Who is the next of kin after his mother? Are you sure there is no-one else?
If the estate is potentially insolvent after funeral costs etc have been paid, then you would be best advised not to get involved, beyond registering the death. Do you know the approx balance in the bank? 
The nearest surviving relative would normally be the Administrator/PR, but it would be possible for her to grant you a POA to act on her behalf. if needed.

peb

Personal representative means that you have letters of administration.

Basically you need to know what the bank will accept 

Froglet

Can I just say,Surfbabe, what a kind thing you are doing,to make it a bit easier for.his elderly mother.Not everyone would step in and do what they can like you are both doing.There are still nice people in this world.

Surfbabe

Jacob_Jones said:

Surfbabe said:

Thank you . I've already spoken to the registrars and have sorted about registering the death so that isn't a problem.

What I really want to know is does his mum need to provide us with anything if we deal with his bank, landlady, emptying the house etc - lots of stuff to go to an auction house and be sold OR does she have to deal with it all. Just trying to make life a little easier for her really. Probate and letters of Administration are not needed. Its the Personal Representative bit I'm not sure about 

Thank you

How much do you think the contents of his home are worth? 

About £5 - £10K  but difficult to  know as lot of it is memorabilia from when he was in the entertainment business so needs to go to specialist  auction house. He had been in touch with one in September about selling some stuff

Surfbabe

Jacob_Jones said:

Surfbabe said:

Thank you . I've already spoken to the registrars and have sorted about registering the death so that isn't a problem.

What I really want to know is does his mum need to provide us with anything if we deal with his bank, landlady, emptying the house etc - lots of stuff to go to an auction house and be sold OR does she have to deal with it all. Just trying to make life a little easier for her really. Probate and letters of Administration are not needed. Its the Personal Representative bit I'm not sure about 

Thank you

Is the deceased's mother going to come and look through the belongings before you clear them? 
I would be cautious when it comes to clearing other people's chattels. 
Do you know a reputable house clearence company that is used to dealing with this situation? 
Will they be keeping a record of what is present and sold?  

Yes she will be but not until the funeral. We have contact with a reputable auction house which our neighbour had already contacted before he died. We then have plenty of local charities that will take furniture and other goods that really are not worth anything 

Surfbabe

macman said:

Who is the next of kin after his mother? Are you sure there is no-one else?
If the estate is potentially insolvent after funeral costs etc have been paid, then you would be best advised not to get involved, beyond registering the death. Do you know the approx balance in the bank? 
The nearest surviving relative would normally be the Administrator/PR, but it would be possible for her to grant you a POA to act on her behalf. if needed.

Next of kin is his mother, He does have a sister and niece who I know are net of kin but they have had nothing to do with one  another for years and are not at all interested in him.

No idea as to balance in bank -he did everything on line and everything is face id ( quite righty so).

just trying to see if it is feasible for us to act for her as she lives  away away and is elderly. She trusts us to do everything correctly and we have kept her informed of everything we have done so far.

getmore4less

You can apply for the LOA grant using the POA option.

 not clear it will be needed.

If you have space clear the rental to get that cost terminated.


How much effort for nothing in return are you happy are you happy to do?