Death without a will

Ammah45

Hi all. 
Hope you can help with some advice. 

In short, a friend of a relative has sadly passed away suddenly at the age of 48. He was divorced but had two teenage children (~ 13 and 15 yo). He had no will and his family wants to know how to find out what assets he had. They believe he had savings in places other than his main bank account but they can find no paperwork. 
It made me wonder, what happens in this situation? Is there a mechanism whereby his family can find out what money he held in online accounts etc? If not, what happens to the money he saved in these accounts?

Thanks 

p00hsticks

The presence or absence of a will doesn't really make a difference in terms of identifying the assets of the estate - other than that a will would name a person as executor who would be the person responsible for establishing what assets and debts the estate has. 

In the absence of a will, a close relative can apply for 'letters of administration' that gives them the same authority. 
But this may not be necessary if there is no property involved and the banks are willing to hand over any savings identified. The fact that under the intestacy rules the children inherit but are underage and so will need an adult to act on their behalf may complicate things. 

There are websites like this that help identify lost accounts but I've never personally used it and don't know if they would allow someine to find another persons accounts if they are deceased
Home | Gretel

The amounts in unidentified accounts remain with the financial institution until claimed - after a few years inactivity the accounts will be made dormant, but the funds can still be claimed at any point in the future if and when discovered and the person can prove that they are entitled to them. 

bobster2

p00hsticks said:

There are websites like this that help identify lost accounts but I've never personally used it and don't know if they would allow someine to find another persons accounts if they are deceased
Home | Gretel

The amounts in unidentified accounts remain with the financial institution until claimed - after a few years inactivity the accounts will be made dormant, but the funds can still be claimed at any point in the future if and when discovered and the person can prove that they are entitled to them. 

I've used this one - you can use it to find accounts for someone who is deceased...

https://www.mylostaccount.org.uk/

RAS

If he ever worked, they should also contact current and previous employers to check for possible death in service payments and dependant's pensions.

user1977

The chances are that his main bank account will show transactions with any savings accounts etc, so checking back through those statements would be my first step in order to make sense of his finances. And some things may be online-only but still generate postal annual statements and the like, so those may become apparent from his mail.

Ammah45

Thank you all for your replies.

TBagpuss

His children would be his beneficiaries - as they are too young to apply to be the administrators of his estate then another person can apply - this would usually be the closest relative - did hw have living parents or siblings? 

If they apply for letters of administration they become (in effect) the executors with the right to obtain information and the responsibility to them administer the estate, meaning clearing his debts, and then ensuring the money goes to his beneficiaries, which would be his children, once they are old enough.  

If he had pensions then these are usually outside the will and may be able to arrange to make payment to or on behalf of the children. Assuming that the children live with their other parents, that would like mean payment to that person for any ongoing survivors pensions while the children were minors.

It would be sensible to get some legal advice before starting the process to make sure whoever is seeking to take it on understands their responsibilities and what is involved