Deceased

TonyBee

Thank you all for your replies and input. Everything is now in the hands of my solicitor who explains i have a powerful case.

JoeCrystal

Frankly, your first port of call would have to be a solicitor. The DWP and the Post Office will not release any information, and quite rightly so. Have you tried https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/?

Flugelhorn

depends what you are hoping to find - probable that anything that was in the account went to pay for clearing the house and the funeral and other expenses.

The account can be emptied / close by anyone who administering the estate - most likely they would just have needed to the death cert. 

Pension will have stopped probably on registration of the death when the "tell us once" service is used 

there may be no solicitor involved

anmarj

post office accounts were closed down a few years ago, if a bank account was not provided, then the alternative was payments collected via vouchers/paymecard/text with voucher code - https://www.gov.uk/payment-exception-service. this would have stopped when department informed of death.  Post office account would need to be closed via Post Office itself if not done at time.

LHW99

There are rules regarding the estate of a person without a will (if any is left )

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/who-can-inherit-if-there-is-no-will-the-rules-of-intestacy/

You would first need to know what estate was left, and where it is; then apply for letters of administration if there is any significant amount.

You mention you found out when visiting grandparents - do they have information about where / when he died? Were they given as his "next of kin"? If not, who registered the death, and why were they entitled to?

Did he have any form of partner (official or not) - they could have either inherited absolutely, or possibly have a claim if they are dependent?

You may well need the help of a professional, which would cost money, and may not be worth it if the remaining estate is very small.

Silvertabby

If your dad didn't own the house, and his only income was the State pension, then it's likely that all of his assets would have been used to pay for his funeral and/or house clearance, leaving nothing for any beneficiaries.

My sympathies on your loss.  Regardless of the circumstances of your estrangement, he was still your father.

MEM62

Sorry for your loss.

TonyBee said:

It appears by law my sisters and i are valid next of kin

Next of Kin is not any kind of legal status.  

TonyBee said:

I have discovered that there was no will

Then the rules of intestacy will apply.  Who administered his estate?    

What are you looking to achieve here?  

Marcon

TonyBee said:

My father died last year which i only recently discovered his grave when visiting my grandparents. You may ask why i have only just discovered his passing, where was i. The answer is extremely personal and there are valued reasons for the lack of contact. 

There is no reason at all why you should give any information, personal or otherwise - everyone is entitled to their privacy. Happily the reasons are wholly irrelevant to answering your question, so the helpful responses above are valid regardless - although I'm sorry to learn of how you found out about your father's death.

I can only echo a question asked already: what are you hoping to achieve?

silvercar

Sorry for your loss.

Given this is more than just a pension issue, I am going to move this to the death, funerals & probate board.

Flugelhorn

Oh dear - clearly far more to this than meets the eye and is more to do with  family breakdown over the years. Sometimes people feel that if you haven't been around during life, then you are unlikely to be around after death - father's sister probably had a lot of work to do at the time - it can be relentless.

TBH can't expect these people to be chasing round trying to find you and your siblings, it isn't their job - you find one person who is handling the whole thing and that is it.
Used to be a churchwarden and there often used to be "discussions" about stones etc and it was far better when everyone agreed before we applied for the diocesan faculty etc to get it done (if in any particular case we needed to) . 

MEM62

Flugelhorn said:

Oh dear - clearly far more to this than meets the eye and is more to do with  family breakdown over the years. Sometimes people feel that if you haven't been around during life, then you are unlikely to be around after death - father's sister probably had a lot of work to do at the time - it can be relentless.

This is a very valid point.  With respect to the OP and the acknowledgement that we do not know all the facts, I would say that, if they were not part of his life then it is difficult for them to be part of his passing.