Brother in Law died - no estate or will

rachpid

My brother-in-law died a month ago, as his only next of kin it's down to my husband to sort everything out. He had learning and physical disabilities and was in a care home, so had no property other than some clothes and toys which have been donated to other residents in the home. He had no bank account and his benefits were paid to me as his appointee, but then transferred to the home for things like personal care products, hair cuts etc. He also had no will.

What do we have to do now in terms of IHT and probate? Anything? We've registered the death and the funeral is organised.

Miles86

If it's as you've described and there are no assets left then that's the end of it. Probate only comes into play when the estate reaches a certain size, and IHT only comes into play at a much higher number. 

The only thing I'd be think of is making sure that the DWP are satisfied with the closing position regarding benefits.

Linton

Your husband is under no obligation to sort things out.  "Next of kin" has no legal status or responsibilities.

SInce your brother in law had minimal assets and did not own any property, shares or bank accounts, probate is not required.  Assuming there are no debts or credits from the care home, there is nothing more to be done

rachpid

Miles86 said:

If it's as you've described and there are no assets left then that's the end of it. Probate only comes into play when the estate reaches a certain size, and IHT only comes into play at a much higher number. 

The only thing I'd be think of is making sure that the DWP are satisfied with the closing position regarding benefits.

Thanks. Yes we’ve used the tell us once system to inform the DWP. Usually his payment would come in today and it hasn’t so it seems like it worked. We had a letter from Hmrc telling us that they’d be looking into whether he paid enough tax but as he wasn’t able to work I’d assume he has? 

Marcon

rachpid said:

Miles86 said:

If it's as you've described and there are no assets left then that's the end of it. Probate only comes into play when the estate reaches a certain size, and IHT only comes into play at a much higher number. 

The only thing I'd be think of is making sure that the DWP are satisfied with the closing position regarding benefits.

Thanks. Yes we’ve used the tell us once system to inform the DWP. Usually his payment would come in today and it hasn’t so it seems like it worked. We had a letter from Hmrc telling us that they’d be looking into whether he paid enough tax but as he wasn’t able to work I’d assume he has? 

It's a standard letter from HMRC and from what you've said, it's highly unlikely that any tax would be due.

Newly_retired

Who is paying for the funeral? Normally the person who arranges it is expected to pay, but if an estate has any assets, funeral costs are the first claim. If there are no assets, is your husband paying?

elsien

If the OP was the appointed then there may be enough of the persons money left in savings to pay for the funeral.
Presuming the local authority were paying for the care home, you also need to check that all the financial contributions were up-to-date. 

rachpid

We’ve paid for the funeral. Partly from the money left in the appointee account, partly from our savings. I only became appointee in May this year after my MIL died (it’s been a tough year) so there wasn’t much backlog. His care home was NHS funded.