Death of a sole director - Ltd company - help

vickster75

Hi guys. I hope I'm in the right place and I'm desperate for some help and advice as I've been going around incircles for the last few months and getting no where fast. This is my last chance before I look into a solicitor which unfortunately I don't have the funds to do so. 

My dad suddenly passed away last year. He was the sole director of a Ltd business, I was the company secretary. Due to the circumstances we closed the doors of the business a few days before his death. The building was leased and there are no assets, funds etc...

These are the areas I am struggling with (by the way he didn't leave a will which is making things much more difficult): 

* How do I wrap this company up as creditors are constantly chasing but sadly the pot is bare?

* I and my dad has resigned from the business so currently there are no officers assigned and the business has not traded for more than 3 months which I believe is a breach under companies houses rules which means in theory the business can be struck off - is that right? I have tried to contact them numerous times but at present they are not getting back to me. The company is still showing as active.

* My dad had a 10 year commercial lease which was not registered with land registry. I believe this causes problems especially for the landlord, is that right?

* Most creditors are being very cooperative but the odd one are not and they are now asking for details of my dads private estate. Can they come for his private estate even though he was a private Ltd company? (including his BBL)

* I am being chased for his self assessment tax return which is fine but how do I do this? All his bank accounts are now closed down and obviously his previous accountants are no longer involved as there is now a debt with them.

I have wrote out to all his creditors advising them of the situation some months ago, some helpful, some not so much.

Any snippets of advice will be helpful no matter how small and thank you

Hoenir

Was the business trading insolvently prior to your late father walking away? 

vickster75

The business was a successful little pub and it was only after we closed the doors that the debts started to accrue as we had no income to pay the creditors. My dad didn't walk away, we made the decision to close the doors as he was very ill in hospital. We only closed the doors 3 days prior to his death. 

Grumpy_chap

vickster75 said:

Hi guys. I hope I'm in the right place and I'm desperate for some help and advice as I've been going around incircles for the last few months and getting no where fast. This is my last chance before I look into a solicitor which unfortunately I don't have the funds to do so. 

My dad suddenly passed away last year. He was the sole director of a Ltd business, I was the company secretary. Due to the circumstances we closed the doors of the business a few days before his death. The building was leased and there are no assets, funds etc...

These are the areas I am struggling with (by the way he didn't leave a will which is making things much more difficult): 

* How do I wrap this company up as creditors are constantly chasing but sadly the pot is bare?

* I and my dad has resigned from the business so currently there are no officers assigned and the business has not traded for more than 3 months which I believe is a breach under companies houses rules which means in theory the business can be struck off - is that right? I have tried to contact them numerous times but at present they are not getting back to me. The company is still showing as active.

* My dad had a 10 year commercial lease which was not registered with land registry. I believe this causes problems especially for the landlord, is that right?

* Most creditors are being very cooperative but the odd one are not and they are now asking for details of my dads private estate. Can they come for his private estate even though he was a private Ltd company? (including his BBL)

* I am being chased for his self assessment tax return which is fine but how do I do this? All his bank accounts are now closed down and obviously his previous accountants are no longer involved as there is now a debt with them.

I have wrote out to all his creditors advising them of the situation some months ago, some helpful, some not so much.

Any snippets of advice will be helpful no matter how small and thank you

Sorry for your loss.

Creditors may be able to pursue funds from your father's Estate if he entered into personal guarantees.

BBLS may be able to pursue your father's Estate if the loan was not used in compliance with the terms of the BBLS.  How were the BBLS funds expended?

The business may be compulsory struck off, but creditors can appeal this.  If HMRC is a creditor, they almost certainly will appeal unless there are business funds in the business bank account larger than any debt owed to HMRC.

Whether other creditors can pursue your father's Estate personally, piercing through the veil of the Ltd Co., will depends upon the details of the case.

• Was the business trading insolvently prior to the last day?
• Were any funds drawn from the business in the final periods before closing?

vickster75

Thank you so much.

No he didn't enter any personal guarantees. He was actually quite savvy when it came to his finances. 

Yes HMRC are one of the creditors. His business account is now closed and he had a balance of just £30 odd pounds which even though it was minimal I thought they would offset it against his BBL/HMRC but they transferred it to me instead which I have got to one side. 

I believe he used the BBL as per terms. He basically used the funds to keep the business afloat in Covid times. So when pubs could start to open on a restricted basis, his revenue was much lower than standard so he used the BBL to pay the day to day bills. 

Dad was in hospital a month prior to his death, so in that timescale I kept the pub open and all regular bills were paid to keep the business afloat. It was only after his death the bills were not paid, purely as I had no income to pay them. There was no cash withdrawals from his account, just the standard DD's etc... Even prior to him going into hospital, he never withdrew cash from his business account.