is it regarded as an asset of my late husband?

mmex

Hi, I hope this is the right place for posting the topic.

My husband passed away some months back. He did not leave estate,
I live in a property where we paid mortgage jointly. 

We have this car, given by a friend. Husband stopped driving when he got very ill,
the car is sorn-ed ever since.Now he is gone, I was thinking about driving the car instead,
or maybe give away to my son.

Then I got this letter from "Phillips and Cohen"demanding the payment of debt
left by my husband as I am his executor.
If I can think of any asset as such, this car would be-?Is it still regarded as an asset even
if it's more like a family car?-Although my husband was the only person driving. 
I stopped driving some years ago, but I may now consider driving again.
Thank you in advance, for your advice.

Brie

If a friend gave you a car then any finance on it was theirs and therefore any debt associated with it should be theirs as well.  Potentially.

Phillips and Cohen - whomever they are - should give you more details about any debt outstanding but if your husband didn't have anything of value when he died then I would expect the debt would die with him.  

I suggest you write to P&C and state that your husband died and left no estate so there is nothing to pay the debt.  You might want to include a photocopy or the death certificate (don't bother with a certified copy) but I don't think it's essential.  You might get a response asking you to prove he's dead at which point I would suggest you send a prove-it letter asking the details of the debt.  Don't be bullied into paying anything that is not YOUR debt.

I'm wondering though if P&C are actually chasing for non payment of a parking charge notice.  If your friend gave you a car but didn't change the docs with DVLA quickly (assuming that was done at all but likely if you've sorned it) then the friend might have received a PCN asking to name the driver and they've named your husband.  

Please note - write to anyone like this, don't ring or email or text as you don't want to give them ways to easily harass you.

Sorry for your loss.  

fyi - starting to drive again - if you're nervous about it you might want to take a driving lesson or 2 just to ensure you're doing thing properly.  Or at least get a friend to go with you for support.

Flugelhorn

definitely need more details of the debt - agree write to them as above 

Keep_pedalling

P&C specialise on handling debt owed to larger institutions by people who have died and are not known for being heavy handed with bereaved people, this which is why they are used.

Who are the original creditors?

If his estate is insolvent then you write back to them stating that his estate is insolvent and that after funeral costs there are no assets and that no one is administering the estate. That should be the end of it. 

mmex

Hi,thank you for your replies.

Sorry I didn't include more details,
that's because my main question is if this car can be counted as his asset,while his widow
still may want to use.

"P&C" are "spelialists in managing deceased accounts"and in this case, they are workig on behalf
of Barclays loan.My hasband had a loan (£700) with them,which I am aware of(he had been paying token
payments as he could not afford to repay).
This debt had been managed by some other debt collecing agency for sometimes,(not orininal creditor-Barclays)
So I was surprised this seemingly got back to Barclays once, and got passed to P&C who contacted me.

Brie, thank you for your advice on driving again-I'm not ready yet, it's only thoughts at the moment.
It just annoys me to see the car collecting cobwebs and had not been moved at all for 6 months now.
It's probably not very good for the car,is it? I have no idea-I thought I need to do something about it.
As mentioned I may as well give it to my son,but I wanted to know the status of the car before I 
decide to do anything.

Marcon

mmex said:

Hi, I hope this is the right place for posting the topic.

My husband passed away some months back. He did not leave estate,
I live in a property where we paid mortgage jointly. 

How was the property owned? Joint tenants or tenants in common?

mmex said:

We have this car, given by a friend. Husband stopped driving when he got very ill,
the car is sorn-ed ever since.Now he is gone, I was thinking about driving the car instead,
or maybe give away to my son.

Then I got this letter from "Phillips and Cohen"demanding the payment of debt
left by my husband as I am his executor.
If I can think of any asset as such, this car would be-?Is it still regarded as an asset even
if it's more like a family car?-Although my husband was the only person driving. 
I stopped driving some years ago, but I may now consider driving again.
Thank you in advance, for your advice.

Presumably the car was registered to your husband(?), but even so, it's going to be hard to prove that the gift wasn't made to both of you. Unless it's a vintage Rolls Royce or other valuable motor, it's unlikely to be an issue, particularly if you could argue (as someone has helpfully pointed out above) that the value of the car has been swallowed up by funeral expenses.

p00hsticks

mmex said:

but I wanted to know the status of the car before I decide to do anything.

So you really need to go back and establish exactly who owned the car. Was it given by the friend to your husband (in which case it is his asset and forms part of his estate) or to the two of you jointly (in which case half would be treated as his asset). 

Keep_pedalling

I would treat a car rather like your household chattels as a joint asset unless it was a very valuable collectors item.

Even if we look at it as solely his asset, the value of a gifted car is unlikely to exceed the funeral costs which have priority over debts owed to a creditor. 

mmex

Thank you all!

Altogether it seems like I don't have to worry too much about it.
As you imagined, it's a regular old car without much value with scratches but
wasn't doing too bad.

I guess I should let them know that there is no asset?

Marcon said:

How was the property owned? Joint tenants or tenants in common?

From what I understand after reading some articles,
I think it was "joint tenants".

Marcon

mmex said:

Thank you all!

Altogether it seems like I don't have to worry too much about it.
As you imagined, it's a regular old car without much value with scratches but
wasn't doing too bad.

I guess I should let them know that there is no asset?

Marcon said:

How was the property owned? Joint tenants or tenants in common?

From what I understand after reading some articles,
I think it was "joint tenants".

You need to check that to be certain. https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

If there's a Form A restriction you are definitely TIC, but see helpful reading here:  https://hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/2022/11/02/what-kind-of-joint-ownership-do-i-have/

Keep_pedalling

mmex said:

Thank you all!

Altogether it seems like I don't have to worry too much about it.
As you imagined, it's a regular old car without much value with scratches but
wasn't doing too bad.

I guess I should let them know that there is no asset?

Marcon said:

How was the property owned? Joint tenants or tenants in common?

From what I understand after reading some articles,
I think it was "joint tenants".

Just write to them, inform them that his estate is insolvent with no assets after funeral costs. Also add that no one is administering the estate.


If it is joint tenants then full ownership passes to you automatically, if tenants in common then his share passes through his will or the laws of intestacy, which will still be you unless his share is worth more than £322k.