Help with father's will now he has passed away

lisyloo

Have you asked for the paperwork to be sent to you? rather than your brother?
Our recent paperwork was paper not electronic.

The solicitors should have taken care of insurance for an unoccupied home.
Someone should have turned the water off.

Hermann

Any guardianship arrangement ends on death and the executor should take over at that point.

Is it possible solicitors didn't make any car home payments because there was a DPA in place to pay fees from house on death?

There are no circumstances under which you should pay anything from your own finances, his estate is an entirely sperate entity and the estate can either have the ability to settle any debt or the debt is written off. Debts do have a priority order in law so care has to be taken to calmly establish the full details of the estate and deal with any debts according to their priority.

Once you are certain the the will you have is the latest one and names you as executor then establish if the death has been registered, the care home should be able to tell you who certified the death and follow that up if needed.

Death certificates can be bought by anyone once the death is registered so there is no question of someone else registering the death causing you problems with obtaining death certificates. They are cheaper if bought at the time of registration ( EDIT: may no longer be the case that they are cheaper at registration) so if you are the one to register then buy some then, usually helpful to by a number of them so you are not waiting on one bank returning them to you before you can send to next bank, ie if there are three bank accounts then three certificates allow you deal with them all immediately. So consider how many organisations you'll need certificates for and buy appropriately.

When you buy certificates you charge that to the estate, that may mean repaying yourself once funds are available.

Check that probate is needed and follow that process through... https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate

One of the areas to be firm on is council tax, the local councils will often try and get the executors to transfer the account to their own name, this should not happen as it does then make you liable. Instead it should become "Executors of Mr XX"  and if the estate did not have enough to settle the CT then it is written off. Same applies to Utilities such as gas electric & water. Best to get meter readings if you can.

Contact house insurance and make sure the conditions of continuing cover are met, there will be some for empty properties & the solicitors should have been dealing with that until death but their responsibility ended on death and it is now the executors.

Assuming probate is needed then going through that process will establish your position, the validity of the will and provide you with the necessary certificates to deal with the estate regardless of a difficult family memeber.

If someone wishes to challenge the will they will have to go through a formal process and that process will ultimately establish the situation but meantime if you have a written will then proceed with it as a valid will and see if the formal challenge arises.

Sea_Shell

Kittyrules said:

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. 

Why did you pay this bill, rather than his guardians?  Was this out of your own money?

If so, there is a chance you should be reimbursed, depending on what is was for.

Or did you agree to cover any "top-up" fees, for example?

p00hsticks

Hermann said:

Death certificates can be bought by anyone once the death is registered so there is no question of someone else registering the death causing you problems with obtaining death certificates. They are cheaper if bought at the time of registration so if you are the one to register then buy some then, usually helpful to by a number of them so you are not waiting on one bank returning them to you before you can send to next bank, ie if there are three bank accounts then three certificates allow you deal with them all immediately. So consider how many organisations you'll need certificates for and buy appropriately.

I don't think there is a price difference between buying certificates now and buying later any longer (assuming England / Wales).

 I had to deal with a parents death last year and didn't need to post off a single certificate, although if I had not been able to visit a branch I would have had to post one to one particular small building society. Many institutions are now happy with either a scan or photo of the death certificate uploaded to them, or even just the registration number on the certificate which they can use to look up the register themselves.

Grumpy_chap

Sea_Shell said:

Why did you pay this bill, rather than his guardians?  Was this out of your own money?

If so, there is a chance you should be reimbursed, depending on what is was for.

Or did you agree to cover any "top-up" fees, for example?

I read that as though the OP received the bill and forwarded to the Guardians to deal with, not that the OP sent the payment.

Hermann

p00hsticks said:

Hermann said:

Death certificates can be bought by anyone once the death is registered so there is no question of someone else registering the death causing you problems with obtaining death certificates. They are cheaper if bought at the time of registration so if you are the one to register then buy some then, usually helpful to by a number of them so you are not waiting on one bank returning them to you before you can send to next bank, ie if there are three bank accounts then three certificates allow you deal with them all immediately. So consider how many organisations you'll need certificates for and buy appropriately.

I don't think there is a price difference between buying certificates now and buying later any longer (assuming England / Wales).

 I had to deal with a parents death last year and didn't need to post off a single certificate, although if I had not been able to visit a branch I would have had to post one to one particular small building society. Many institutions are now happy with either a scan or photo of the death certificate uploaded to them, or even just the registration number on the certificate which they can use to look up the register themselves.

Thanks for the correction, it does seem to have changed to the same cost. Still the important thing is the OP can get a certificate even if some one else has registered the death.

Alderbank

Hermann said:

There are no circumstances under which you should pay anything from your own finances...

I know what you mean, but I would add a couple of caveats:

Before executing the estate the OP should satisfy themselves that the estate is in credit. There seem to be quite a few unknowns such as the equity in the house (any mortgage or secured loans?) and outstanding care home fees.

If the estate is insolvent there can be circumstances where the executor has personal liability. If that is the case the usual advice is not to start the administration.

On a more positive note, if the estate is healthy and the OP is indeed the residual benefactor, then whether it's the OP or the estate who pays any particular bill becomes rather academic. It will equally feel to the OP that they are paying from their own finances.

SVaz

Next of kin has no legal standing. 

 He can’t do anything regarding bank accounts etc. as he hasn’t got the will and isn’t the executor.
Is his pension an annuity?  If it is it will probably die with him.
You will need probate to sell the house.  You need to insure it as an empty property, just buildings insurance will suffice. 

p00hsticks

Hermann said:

p00hsticks said:

Hermann said:

Death certificates can be bought by anyone once the death is registered so there is no question of someone else registering the death causing you problems with obtaining death certificates. They are cheaper if bought at the time of registration so if you are the one to register then buy some then, usually helpful to by a number of them so you are not waiting on one bank returning them to you before you can send to next bank, ie if there are three bank accounts then three certificates allow you deal with them all immediately. So consider how many organisations you'll need certificates for and buy appropriately.

I don't think there is a price difference between buying certificates now and buying later any longer (assuming England / Wales).

 I had to deal with a parents death last year and didn't need to post off a single certificate, although if I had not been able to visit a branch I would have had to post one to one particular small building society. Many institutions are now happy with either a scan or photo of the death certificate uploaded to them, or even just the registration number on the certificate which they can use to look up the register themselves.

Thanks for the correction, it does seem to have changed to the same cost. Still the important thing is the OP can get a certificate even if some one else has registered the death.

Indeed. And also that they will probably only need the one - an important consideration if money is tight. 

Kittyrules

Thank you for all the reponses. 
My parents took 30k from their home years ago, payable on death. Their mortgage was paid off on the home. 

He had a private pension. And rather a lot in savings last time I checked before he went into care. 

I have emailed and called solicitors, had nothing back. 

I called GP and asked to be listed as next of kin also. The funeral home said he will see the coroner, then sent to co-op near me as he had prepaid funeral. So is the five days from the date I get the notification from coroner? 
My concern is if my brother gets notification and decides not to register death in time, he is an !!!!!!, will it cause issues for me as the person in charge of the will it wasn't done in time? 

If I decide to not be in charge can I still have personal effects, I.e photos etc? And can my brother apply to do it instead? 
Thank you again