Weekly state pension in arrears after someone dies.

BooJewels

@WhiteCircle We got Probate granted on 9th May, the letter from the DWP is dated 21st May and I received it on 9th June.  So from my perspective, exactly a month between Probate and the letter arriving.

My letter was about Pension Credit and the fact that they thought she'd had it when she perhaps wasn't entitled.  I think they take the gross value on the Probate Grant and assume it's all cash in the bank.  When I explained that over 90% of the value was a property, she said we'd probably be alright.  I haven't had a letter yet about potential overpayment of her State Pension - but I've allocated the money for if it arrives.

Flugelhorn

the letters telling people to not distribute the estate are nearly always related to pension credit these days - the probate shows a much larger figure than that which was mentioned in the pension credit claim, usually due to the house sale. 

reminds me of gran's estate (complete with unsigned will) she had been claiming something back in the late 70s and had about 2K in her bank account when she died - far too much for the DHSS limits of the day. son she lived with had simply being paying all the bills for last 2 years of her life and she hadn't spent a bean. legal qualified relative got it to tribunal and they were able to prove that this was the case. complicated business though.

Sarahspangles

MIL did not receive pension credit.

We didn’t get any letters from DWP, OH called DWP before applying for probate to ask if anything was owed, so we could include it. They said there was a small sum that was technically owed but we were unlikely to hear from them about it.

WhiteCircle

Sarahspangles said:

MIL did not receive pension credit.

We didn’t get any letters from DWP, OH called DWP before applying for probate to ask if anything was owed, so we could include it. They said there was a small sum that was technically owed but we were unlikely to hear from them about it.

My mother was receiving Pension Credit though. I paid back benefits that were paid after her death. Then I got a letter saying along the lines of thanks, if we hear from the Probate Registry, we may need to contact you again... which I guess will be the dreaded you owe us money letter.

Sarahspangles

WhiteCircle said:

Sarahspangles said:

MIL did not receive pension credit.

We didn’t get any letters from DWP, OH called DWP before applying for probate to ask if anything was owed, so we could include it. They said there was a small sum that was technically owed but we were unlikely to hear from them about it.

My mother was receiving Pension Credit though. I paid back benefits that were paid after her death. Then I got a letter saying along the lines of thanks, if we hear from the Probate Registry, we may need to contact you again... which I guess will be the dreaded you owe us money letter.

Oh no - one more thing to worry about. 

While this won’t affect us, OH is holding back a bit from the interim distribution for things like errors in calculating final bills. He basically wants ‘no news’ for several months to feel confident he can distribute the last part.

Whereas a benefit claim review could result in quite a large recharge - but probably won’t. It would be good to identify a timescale otherwise it’s open ended. Frustrating

WhiteCircle

It is frustrating. I've read it can take up to a year sorting it out with DWP if they get involved. That's why I was wondering when I would receive the letter so I know when to start the clock! Thanks 

BooJewels

If you do get a letter like the one I got, asking for details about the Probate valuations, arm yourself with the numbers you used for Probate and ring them up and they might be able to sort it out there and then.

The letter I got included a form to complete with numbers of various sources of funds and said that 'it may take some time' to resolve.  The lady on the phone, took some numbers, did the calculation for me and declared it was unlikely that we'd have anything to pay.  I am however waiting for the letter that confirms this.  But it certainly might save some time ringing it through rather than posting the form.

p00hsticks

BooJewels said:

@WhiteCircle We got Probate granted on 9th May, the letter from the DWP is dated 21st May and I received it on 9th June.  So from my perspective, exactly a month between Probate and the letter arriving.

I suspect that it's the job of someone in DWP to look at probate application as they are granted and trigger a letter if means tested benefits were being claimed and the probate value is unexpectedly high (as others have said, this is usually due to the value of the deceaseds main residence being included). I know there is a service which charities can subscribe to that alerts them if they are mentioned in a will that is made public via probate.

BooJewels

I think you're exactly right @p00hsticks - the woman I spoke to said that HMCTS send through Probate valuations to them, but no details. Hence they think those with properties look to be cash rich at first glance.

I think it was you that mentioned the charity monitoring Probate thing a while ago - and as a large one is named in this will (thankfully, for a modest fixed sum), I'm holding on to their bequest for the moment, just out of curiosity, to see if they write asking for it.  We're approaching 6 weeks since Probate was granted and I seem to remember that was about the time mentioned before getting a letter from the charity.

p00hsticks

BooJewels said:

I think you're exactly right @p00hsticks - the woman I spoke to said that HMCTS send through Probate valuations to them, but no details. Hence they think those with properties look to be cash rich at first glance.

I think it was you that mentioned the charity monitoring Probate thing a while ago - and as a large one is named in this will (thankfully, for a modest fixed sum), I'm holding on to their bequest for the moment, just out of curiosity, to see if they write asking for it.  We're approaching 6 weeks since Probate was granted and I seem to remember that was about the time mentioned before getting a letter from the charity.

@BooJewels I had to deal with three charities, all large.
One wrote immediately after probate was granted, obviously alerted by the grant.
The second wrote almost exactly a year later - I imagine they had also picked up on the grant of probate but it was their policy to wait twelve months before contacting the executor.
And the third appeared to be completely unaware of the bequest until I contacted them when I was ready to distribute the estate after the property was sold.