Final Deputyship fee, insolvent estate

Hotglove

Hi all
This is a follow up to previous discussions about my late sister's estate, which is insolvent.
After receiving good advice here I decided that the best course of action was to have nothing to do with administering the estate, other than to provide information to the DWP and other creditors as to the basic facts of the estate.
This appears to be an unusual situation because, for example, her bank sends out automated forms offering to transfer her funds to me, but explaining the situation to the bank's bereavement team does not stop them sending the forms.
This is no real problem, but another, similar, situation is the Office of The Public Guardian, they keep sending me reminders for the final fee (£140) they say that it should be paid from the estate, and ask for the name of the administrator. but, in this case, there is no administrator, which I have explained to them. I have suggested that they should contact her bank to be paid in the same way as the funeral expenses were paid.
I could pay the fee from my own pocket, but am reluctant to do so because the OPG has stated that it should come from the estate. my stance is, "Just apply to the bank for payment. or write it off"
However, I do have the concern that, if I just ignore the matter, it will be passed to a debt collection agency.
Any observations? 

Savvy_Sue

OK, so they pass it to a Debt Collection Agency. My observation: repeat ad nauseam, "I am not [sister's name], [the address you have used is not and never was her address], this is not my debt, I am not the administrator / executor of her estate, AFAIK there are no funds, feel free to administer the estate yourself if you think different."

And if you haven't yet written to that effect to the OPG then you should do that. And make a complaint if they persist. 

Potentially stressful but I don't think you are at any real personal risk. 

elsien

Debt collectors have no power; they are just a nuisance. 

They will keep trying to harass you to pay but ultimately if anyone wanted to enforce it they’d have to go to small claims court at which point you just wave at them all the evidence you have done up until now. 

The OPG can be very slow indeed, and you may well be in a system of automated letters. 

msb1234

Are you the Deputy for your sister? If so, completion of the annual Deputy report up to the date of her death will show the OPG the balance of her bank account on that date. I’m currently dealing with my late stepfathers estate and was his Deputy. When I notified the OPG of his death, I was told to keep hold of all financial records I currently have for 2 years, but that I wouldn’t need to complete the current annual report (which runs from Jan 24 to Jan 25).