Help with father's will now he has passed away

Kittyrules

My father passed away and we weren't informed. I am executor of the will and sole beneficiary. 

My brother has been listed as next of kin, I have spoken to GP and asked to be listed as this also as I need death certificate? I have the funeral plan etc. 
My brother hasn't spoken to the family in 20 years and will try to contest or cause issues. 

My dad has a house and some savings, he also owes money for his care. His solicitors have been legal graudianship for the past three years and paid none. I found out dad died today when I visited care home, he was moved for end of life care. 

I'm very confused what I am meant to do now? 
Do I need to pay bills for his house? I read that it's my responsibility to keep it running? I can't afford to run my house and his. We did plan on living in the house but of course we don't know if it needs selling to pay care bills, so where do we stand? We have no savings of our own. Under no circumstances do I want my brother to be in charge. My parents made a will and wrote a supporting letter to say what they wanted. 

As you can imagine I am devastated and trying to deal with all this, I have no real idea what I do now? 


Thank you 

Voyager2002

So sorry for your loss, and for the awful circumstances that surround it.

There is a government service called Tell us Once, which should record the death and pass on the information to the main organisations that need to know.

Probably your first task is obtaining a death certificate, since that will be needed for most practical things.

You should not pay any debts or bills out of your own money. First try to establish whether the total value of his estate (including the house) is greater than the total that he owed, including legal and care home bills. If his estate is insolvent then it is best not to get involved in anything: debts cannot be inherited.

Savvy_Sue

Do you have the original copy of the will? 

p00hsticks

Voyager2002 said:

There is a government service called Tell us Once, which should record the death and pass on the information to the main organisations that need to know.

Unfortunately it sounds as if it's the brother who registered the death and so will have been given the unique reference to use Tell Us Once by the registrar. Given that there appears to be no communication between the brothers and so it won't be clear if the service has been used, in the OP's shoes I'd be getting in touch with the relevant organisations (DWP, DVLA, HMRC etc) myself to let them know independently.

lisyloo

Can you say how much the savings are which bank they are with.
Who is living in the house at the moment?
One concern is the home insurance.

You should try to get the original will if you don't have it.

It's likely that the local authority put a DPA (deferred payment agreement) on the home - basically a loan.
You need to work out whether there's any money in the estate, which means finding out what assets there are and what debts.

Do you have an estimate for the home?
An average home won't be wiped out by 3 years care fees, but house prices vary considerable.

Kittyrules

He's private pension was almost 2k a month. He hasn't spent any as he hasn't paid care home bills. 

Yes I have his will. My concerns are if brother is sent the thing to register death and he doesn't, then what? It will fall on me that it hasn't and I will be held for it as I am in charge of the will? 

I've been told it could take upto 4 weeks to be sent the paperwork from them to register death? And I can do nothing until then. 

Also if banks get his death certificate how do I pay for probate, any other expenses as I can't access them right? 

Thank you 

Kittyrules

lisyloo said:

Can you say how much the savings are which bank they are with.
Who is living in the house at the moment?
One concern is the home insurance.

You should try to get the original will if you don't have it.

It's likely that the local authority put a DPA (deferred payment agreement) on the home - basically a loan.
You need to work out whether there's any money in the estate, which means finding out what assets there are and what debts.

Do you have an estimate for the home?
An average home won't be wiped out by 3 years care fees, but house prices vary considerable.

No one has lived there for 3 years. He has been in care of his solicitors as his legal graudianship as my brother and I wouldn't agree to let each other do it. So I assume they have taken care of what is needed with the house? I've never really been told anything by them. 

I just got a bill before Christmas for 40k for care which I sent to them. 

RAS

Speak to the bereavement team at the bank. 

Probably also go to the bank with the will and your ID. Inform them that dad has died and that you are the executor but you believe bro has the death notification. Which is preventing you getting the death certificate.

Have you told the solicitors that you are the named executor?

Grumpy_chap

Kittyrules said:

His solicitors have been legal graudianship for the past three years 

Sorry for your loss.

I think the first thing to do is to arrange a meeting with the Solicitors who held the Guardianship. 
They should be able to provide you with a full statement of accounts and assets that your father held. 
They should know what liabilities there are to be met from the Estate, particularly care home fees.  It seems odd that the Solicitor would simply not have paid care fees as they fell due so there may be some good rationale that they can explain.
They should also be able to confirm the final Will that is in place and whether that has you as sole Executor and sole Beneficiary or whether any other individuals need to be involved.
The Solicitors will probably provide an offer to support the administration of the Estate.  Best thing to do as the initial response is to thank them and say you are overwhelmed so need time to think.

If the final Will has you as sole Executor and sole Beneficiary that makes it simpler, though you may expect your Brother to be displeased.  In this event you should secure your Father's property, change the locks on the house and such like.

Keep_pedalling

As above speak to the bank ASAP, and arrange an appointment with his solicitors.

Don’t worry about funeral costs, you can arrange for the funeral director to send the bill to his bank, who will pay funeral costs from his frozen account. 

p00hsticks

Kittyrules said:

I've been told it could take upto 4 weeks to be sent the paperwork from them to register death? And I can do nothing until then. 

I'm sorry for your loss. 
Who has told you that it could take up to 4 weeks ?

You are usually expected to register a death within 5 working days of it happening, unless a coroner is involved, although I have seen another recent case of a death in hospital where the person was saying that there was a backlog in getting through the death certifications due to the number of deaths.
  
In my recent experience, the 'paperwork' could go electronically straight to the coroner or registrar.   

I'd speak to the care home to find out who certified the death, where your father is now, what paperwork if any is needed and who needs to have it. 

I'd also call the local registrar to explain the circumstances, see if the death has already been registered and if not, what paperwork is required to do so and would you be able to do it ? If your brother has registered the death already, then the registrar should be ably to provide you with a copy of the death certificate.