debts after death - advice needed

ChillyP

fatbelly said:

Op- there is no requirement for you to economise on your uncle's funeral. I think you know that.

I have read your posts and you seem to have an excellent understanding of the issues.


On the question you posted I agree with the others. There is a legal instrument that the creditors could use but for these sorts of debts it does not get used

Thank you. I thought that would be the case. Even taking the highest debt - £5200 - how much would the creditor actually benefit once they have paid the fees for the Insolvency administration order? I can understand why a creditor may pursue this route if the deceased person owed tens of thousands. 

ChillyP

pearl123 said:

ChillyP said:

It appears that all of the 4k will be needed just to pay for a 'standard' funeral. 

You could consider a direct to crematorium no frills funeral, which would pull the price down. Plus, you could try https://www.funeralguide.co.uk/ to get an idea of local prices. 
I'm sorry for your loss. 

Yes we could, but we aren't going to. We are having a normal funeral. There is no way that I would plan a no frills funeral just to free up a couple of grand for a creditor. 

dawnybabes

Unfortunately I’ve been here,  phoned each card and spoke to the bereavement dept. Everyone was very respectful and they all wrote the debt off. 

ChillyP

dawnybabes said:

Unfortunately I’ve been here,  phoned each card and spoke to the bereavement dept. Everyone was very respectful and they all wrote the debt off. 

Hi, Thank you. 

Were they for similar amounts?

marcia_

ChillyP said:

sevenhills said:

ChillyP said:

We have discovered that uncle had 4 debts, each one to a different lender - 

Debt 1 - £2700 - credit card
Debt 2  - £2000 - credit card
Debt 3 - £520 - credit card
Debt 4 - £5200 - personal loan ( this is solely in uncles name)

There will not be sufficient funds left in his estate to pay these debts. I understand that the 4k that has been left for funeral costs can not be claimed until reasonable funeral costs have been settled. It appears that all of the 4k will be needed just to pay for a 'standard' funeral. 

The Co-op does a funeral from £1,195 and there may be other companies that do it cheaper.

So that is at least one credit card paid off.

Your aunt is very fortunate if all the debts are in her husbands name, getting a credit card when you are over 70 is not always easy, unless there is an adequate income. The banks may ask questions about that income., especially for a £5200 debt.

https://www.coop.co.uk/funeralcare/funeral-services?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=brand_-_[an]_-_[uk]_-_Hagakure&utm_term=co-operative_funeral_cost&infinity=ict2~net~gaw~cmp~13752990852~ag~124543301899~ar~631168453320~kw~co-operative funeral cost~mt~b~acr~9442573849&&infinity=ict2~net~gaw~ar~631168453320~kw~co-operative funeral cost~mt~b~cmp~Brand+-+[AN]+-+[UK]+-+Hagakure~ag~(CAT:Brand)+(SUB+CAT:AN)+/co+op+funeral&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAivGuBhBEEiwAWiFmYX5BZKYUhs8uWiKQarLW_sn8zT2ZpKWnPlpycmbgGMcUFznxo3FpFhoCVCgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Hi, 

Thank you for taking the time to post. Whilst I am sure it was unintentional, there are aspects of your post that I find insensitive/offensive. Perhaps I am feeling oversensitive as I am grieving. 

The £1195 that you refer to is for an 'unattended cremation'. Whilst this may be what some people want, it isn't what mu uncle will be having. The 'rules' regarding managing the estate clearly states that money for 'reasonable' funeral expenses comes before debts/liabilities. My uncle will be having a normal funeral. Nothing fancy, flash or top of the range. 

You said - "Your aunt is very fortunate if all the debts are in her husbands name, getting a credit card when you are over 70 is not always easy, unless there is an adequate income. The banks may ask questions about that income., especially for a £5200 debt"

First of all, I haven't mentioned whether there are any other debts in my aunts name, as this is irrelevant. My Aunt isn't 'fortunate' that the debts are in his name. There is actually no such thing as a joint credit card, so with the exception of the loan, my uncles debts HAD to be only his name. . The £5200 refers to a personal loan. This was applied for with a mainstream bank, who would have carried out affordability checks. There is absolutely no reason for this to be questioned. I do hope that you aren't suggesting that my uncle falsified his income on the application? I didn't mention anything about my uncles income as again, this irrelevant. For all you know, he could have been working full time earning a massive salary. 

As I said, you may not have meant to cause offence, however I think that you post is insensitive. 

 I very recently paid £1500 for a basic attended funeral for my sister. Hearse, no cars, no flowers and the service and cremation fee. 

For reference, see if there is similar on your council website.....

"A Liverpool community funeral is a low-cost service that the local funeral directors listed on this page offer."

ChillyP

marcia_ said:

ChillyP said:

sevenhills said:

ChillyP said:

We have discovered that uncle had 4 debts, each one to a different lender - 

Debt 1 - £2700 - credit card
Debt 2  - £2000 - credit card
Debt 3 - £520 - credit card
Debt 4 - £5200 - personal loan ( this is solely in uncles name)

There will not be sufficient funds left in his estate to pay these debts. I understand that the 4k that has been left for funeral costs can not be claimed until reasonable funeral costs have been settled. It appears that all of the 4k will be needed just to pay for a 'standard' funeral. 

The Co-op does a funeral from £1,195 and there may be other companies that do it cheaper.

So that is at least one credit card paid off.

Your aunt is very fortunate if all the debts are in her husbands name, getting a credit card when you are over 70 is not always easy, unless there is an adequate income. The banks may ask questions about that income., especially for a £5200 debt.

https://www.coop.co.uk/funeralcare/funeral-services?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=brand_-_[an]_-_[uk]_-_Hagakure&utm_term=co-operative_funeral_cost&infinity=ict2~net~gaw~cmp~13752990852~ag~124543301899~ar~631168453320~kw~co-operative funeral cost~mt~b~acr~9442573849&&infinity=ict2~net~gaw~ar~631168453320~kw~co-operative funeral cost~mt~b~cmp~Brand+-+[AN]+-+[UK]+-+Hagakure~ag~(CAT:Brand)+(SUB+CAT:AN)+/co+op+funeral&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAivGuBhBEEiwAWiFmYX5BZKYUhs8uWiKQarLW_sn8zT2ZpKWnPlpycmbgGMcUFznxo3FpFhoCVCgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Hi, 

Thank you for taking the time to post. Whilst I am sure it was unintentional, there are aspects of your post that I find insensitive/offensive. Perhaps I am feeling oversensitive as I am grieving. 

The £1195 that you refer to is for an 'unattended cremation'. Whilst this may be what some people want, it isn't what mu uncle will be having. The 'rules' regarding managing the estate clearly states that money for 'reasonable' funeral expenses comes before debts/liabilities. My uncle will be having a normal funeral. Nothing fancy, flash or top of the range. 

You said - "Your aunt is very fortunate if all the debts are in her husbands name, getting a credit card when you are over 70 is not always easy, unless there is an adequate income. The banks may ask questions about that income., especially for a £5200 debt"

First of all, I haven't mentioned whether there are any other debts in my aunts name, as this is irrelevant. My Aunt isn't 'fortunate' that the debts are in his name. There is actually no such thing as a joint credit card, so with the exception of the loan, my uncles debts HAD to be only his name. . The £5200 refers to a personal loan. This was applied for with a mainstream bank, who would have carried out affordability checks. There is absolutely no reason for this to be questioned. I do hope that you aren't suggesting that my uncle falsified his income on the application? I didn't mention anything about my uncles income as again, this irrelevant. For all you know, he could have been working full time earning a massive salary. 

As I said, you may not have meant to cause offence, however I think that you post is insensitive. 

 I very recently paid £1500 for a basic attended funeral for my sister. Hearse, no cars, no flowers and the service and cremation fee. 

For reference, see if there is similar on your council website.....

"A Liverpool community funeral is a low-cost service that the local funeral directors listed on this page offer."

Thank you and I am sorry that you have lost your sister. 

We are having a 'normal' funeral. Hearse, 1 car, crematorium, small gathering afterwards and a memorial plaque at the crematorium. Uncle worked hard all of his life and whilst we are not going to splash our of unnecessary expenses, we are also not going to scrimp just to free up a small amount of money to pay an unsecured debt. 

EssexHebridean

Could people commenting bear in mind that the £4k-ish that the OP is talking about being for a funeral is in no way excessive - in our area even something very basic - a cremation with a hearse only, no additional cars and no flowers can exceed that level by quite some way. Could they also remember that a funeral is for the living, and not the dead - suggesting that the OP's Uncle should not be given a pretty standard send-off due to debt isn't either considerate or respectful. The Aunt and other relatives are the ones who are being affected here now - and they should be able to have a "normal" funeral to say their goodbyes - they are by far more important than the creditors, here. In this case, a standard funeral should be considered as a "priority bill" IMO - and therefore it comes ahead of paying unsecured debts. 

OP - I'm sorry for your loss. You do have some good advice here  which has hopefully helped set your mind at rest. Well done for the calm and reasoned way you have responded on some if the other posts - that can't have been easy when you are indeed grieving yourself. 

ChillyP

EssexHebridean said:

Could people commenting bear in mind that the £4k-ish that the OP is talking about being for a funeral is in no way excessive - in our area even something very basic - a cremation with a hearse only, no additional cars and no flowers can exceed that level by quite some way. Could they also remember that a funeral is for the living, and not the dead - suggesting that the OP's Uncle should not be given a pretty standard send-off due to debt isn't either considerate or respectful. The Aunt and other relatives are the ones who are being affected here now - and they should be able to have a "normal" funeral to say their goodbyes - they are by far more important than the creditors, here. In this case, a standard funeral should be considered as a "priority bill" IMO - and therefore it comes ahead of paying unsecured debts. 

OP - I'm sorry for your loss. You do have some good advice here  which has hopefully helped set your mind at rest. Well done for the calm and reasoned way you have responded on some if the other posts - that can't have been easy when you are indeed grieving yourself. 

Thank you. I can that some of the other posts have now been deleted. 

ChillyP

We spoke to one of the creditors half an hour ago. We still don't have the death certificate so they couldn't go through the entire process, however the person on the phone explained that if there are no assets, the debt will likely be written off.

sourcrates

ChillyP said:

We spoke to one of the creditors half an hour ago. We still don't have the death certificate so they couldn't go through the entire process, however the person on the phone explained that if there are no assets, the debt will likely be written off.

That is the usual course of events with most consumer credit debts, I went through the same thing myself last year with my Brothers debts after he died.

He had a bit less than 10k on various credit products, and it took one letter to each lender for them to write it all off, no questions asked.

Just because a legal framework exists, it doesn't mean it always get used, oh, and his funeral was £3500, which is pretty standard nowadays, and yes, that is paid from his assets before any other debts.