bills exceed funds on death of parent

taxidriver1

My mother recently passed, and I am executor of her will.  I hadn't seen her in several years until just before she passed.  My sister had been managing her finances as a representative (didn't know until recently).

I received the original copy of the will.  In it the beneficiaries of any estate are her children (4 including myself).

She was receiving private care at home and the bill for the final month/six weeks is approx 5k.  

After funeral costs, and paying rent on the flat she lived in, there is about 1.5k remaining of her 3k that was in her bank - bank have released money to my sibling into her account which she is holding on to.  

I have set up a separate bank account.  My sister had informed some parties through the 'tell once' service.  I am following up the rest and checking if any monies were owed to her as her paperwork has.
shares from a company scheme (tesco).  an annuity (not sure what it is for), and pension that seems to have been unpaid for a couple of years after she moved house (she sold a property 3 years ago).

I have put a notice in the Gazette which gives 2 months 1 day for anyone to come forward, as a failsafe.

There isn't enough money to pay her bills, I have some personal items which could be sold to increase the balance in her account.

Any advice welcome on the following q's

1.  would you inventories all remaining items from the flat which could potentially be sold.
2.  jewellry, she has some pieces of jewellry probably not worth very much, should I still persue a sale (they are of sentimental value, wedding ring for example)
3. should I get legal advice as the estate is insolvent
4.  are there any template letters that can be sent to creditors (e.g care provider, internet, phone) etc. to say bills can't be paid.
5.  I've tried to find an order of payees, but the wording is confusing.   Her last months rent was paid (by sister who have taken money from account), same for funeral expenses.

Any advice appreciated.

thanks

elsien

Funeral expenses to be paid from the estate is acceptable, but your sister really shouldn’t have intervened and paid the rent arrears if this was after your mother passed. 

Normally, the advice is just to walk away from an insolvent estate, but I’m not sure whether with what’s been done so far you are still able to do that. Other people on here may be able to advise. 

Template letters here.
https://www.bereavementadvice.org/topics/probate-and-legal/dealing-with-insolvent-estates/

Unsecured debts, you need to treat everyone equally which is why your sister paying the rent may be an issue.
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/104115#:~:text=The%20order%20of%20payment%20for%20liabilities%20is%20set%20out%20as,preferred%20debts%20and%20Preferential%20debts

fatbelly

It sounds like you don't know that the estate is insolvent yet.

The  shares need to be cashed in, the annuity may have a clause that funds are refunded within a timescale (probably not but you need to check) and the pension may have a value, unless that was what bought the annuity.

Personally I'd keep the jewellery amongst the family. Not everything has to be sold, and the furniture etc probably wouldn't fetch much

The funeral expenses take priority so it was good there was enough. If you are thinking of a headstone for example you still need to keep enough back.

At the end of the day, and this could potentially take years, the creditors get X pence in the £. I wouldn't be writing to them until I knew what X was, and defo don't pay for legal help.

Brie

re the jewellery...in my experience unless there's some really valuable gems or very artistic settings everything is going to be valued based on the weight of the metal.  So next to nothing really.  You could ask at a reputable jeweller in your area but even things I had which were considered by them as interesting (1920 gold drop earrings with large opals) were not worth selling. 

Find a way to split it amongst those who want it in the family.  (lay it all out, everyone interested draws a number and you each get to pick one item each in turn or similar.  individuals can swap with another at the end if they like)

taxidriver1

Thank you all for your comments so far.  The tenancy ends at the end of this month, and there is a deposit to be returned (a months rent) which will go back into the estate.  I will contact the care company to update them of the situation so they are not hassling for money which isn't there.  They've also put on their final invoice dates for visits after she had passed away so needs to be re-sent with correct info.  

RAS

You need to be very careful with a potentially insolvent estate, not to create personal liability.

You are the executor so your sibling was wrong to pay debts other than the funeral costs and wrong to take charge of the money in the account. Does she understand that her role as representative ceased the minute your mum died?

As present you should not be doing anything other than getting information.

Check out what the shares can be sold for, if they are current (when companies are bought out often the share value changes and when they go bust, shares become almost worthless).
Check any value in the annuity
Check what happened with the pension.
You should be able to estimate the excess care cost, but who told the care company mum died? They may be charging for visits which weren't cancelled and for which they have to pay staff.

Once you have that, you'll know if the estate is insolvent.

Household goods and most jewellery have little value.