Help needed for death of my Dad

H1987

Hi everyone, my Dad has been sick for a few years but all-in-all ok but sadly he fell down the stairs and died a week after from his injuries.
I am his POA and have been looking for his will and funeral plan for days but cannot find any paperwork.
Does anyone have any info on national databases etc where I can find this information? I’ve tried calling around but I’m just clueless - I honestly can’t believe he’d do this to us as he was such a nice man and it’s been common knowledge that his health hasn’t been great for a few years.

im absolutely crippled by the entire situation so any help would be great.

la531983

Was he married? 

NannaH

Wills can be registered with the National Will register and also HMCTS.  

I would think that if he had a funeral plan, he would’ve told you the details or had you hold the paperwork,  my Sister is very disorganised but she gave me her Funeral plan.  

There are only a few companies so ringing them all shouldn’t take long. 

Be prepared for the fact he may have neither.
You POA has ended with his death so banks etc. may not deal with you without probate - if you need probate and can’t trace a will,  you can apply for letters of administration. 

Spendless

Did he ever discuss having a will and funeral plan with you> Lots of people don't make wills and the huge majority don't have funeral plans.   

elsien

Not sure what you mean by how he would do this to you?
Lots of people don’t have funeral plans and the cost of the funeral comes out of the estate if there’s enough in there.

If there isn’t a will then you follow the intestacy rules which give guidance on who should apply for letters of administration. 
Is there a property? 

Keep_pedalling

elsien said:

Not sure what you mean by how he would do this to you?
Lots of people don’t have funeral plans and the cost of the funeral comes out of the estate if there’s enough in there.

I understand why the OP feels this way, We have a responsibility not to leave a mess behind us when we die and leaving your children trying to find a will and insurance policies that may or may not exist is irresponsible.

The POA ends with his death, but assuming you are fully aware of what bank and savings accounts he had you need to contact the bank(s) to inform them of his death. If the amounts in those are modest the banks will release the money without the need for probate, so hopefully there will be enough to cover funeral expenses.

maman

So sorry to hear you're in this mess on top of your loss.

Assuming there sufficient funds in the bank account, I believe banks will pay funeral directors even if they don't release the rest of the money immediately. 

@H1987, if you had POA, you must know about his bank details. Any evidence of paying into a funeral plan? Was it something he talked about or did you just assume he had one? Did he ever mention a will? Was there a firm of solicitors he'd have used?

Are we talking about a large estate? Property? Debts? 🤔

Marcon

H1987 said:

Hi everyone, my Dad has been sick for a few years but all-in-all ok but sadly he fell down the stairs and died a week after from his injuries.
I am his POA and have been looking for his will and funeral plan for days but cannot find any paperwork.
Does anyone have any info on national databases etc where I can find this information? I’ve tried calling around but I’m just clueless - I honestly can’t believe he’d do this to us as he was such a nice man and it’s been common knowledge that his health hasn’t been great for a few years.

im absolutely crippled by the entire situation so any help would be great.

Your dad's death doesn't alter the fact he was a lovely man and he loved you. That doesn't mean he has a will and/or a funeral plan - sometimes being in poor health makes such things much harder to 'get round to dealing with' because doing so feels a bit too close to home.

Have you tried his address book to see if he had a solicitor? Checked his bank statements to see if any payments have been made to a solicitor and/or any of the major funeral plan providers?

Bereavement is difficult to deal with at the best of times - and a sudden death, with no paperwork immediately apparent, is far from the 'best' of times. I'm sorry there isn't a nice neat answer to your predicament, which I fear affects a lot of families.

RAS

As others say, check his bank statements for payments to a funeral plan, life insurance and lawyers.

As long as he has enough in a bank account, the funeral directors can send the bill directly to the bank and they will pay out.

Other accounts may pay out just on receipt of ID and the death certificate. You need to agree as a family who collects in the money. It's not unusual on this forum for someone to discover a sibling has cleared accounts and isn't sharing the proceeds in line with the will or intestacy rules. So the person collecting the money has to be trustworthy, or set up a joint account which two people can monitor and manage.

SiliconChip

If you can't find a Will then there's a strong chance that he didn't make one, most people would keep at least a copy of their Will at home. The government site will give you a start on how to proceed if there is no Will, but if you have further questions please ask on here, as there's a wealth of experience in many different situations held by the members.

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will 

And please, take this as an opportunity to prevent this happening to someone else in the future by making your own Will if you don't already have one and ensuring that the people who need to know about it are aware of it's existence and location (I've given a sealed envelope containing a copy of my Will to my executors along with contact details for the solicitor who holds the original).

NannaH

Good point about checking bank statements.
It would be about £25 a month for a plan, my Sister is 70 and that’s what she pays to Legal and General.