Father has suddenly passed away; what happens to his bank account

SuperSpud

Hi Guys & Gals,

Having an awful time; moving house, was going to bring my father with me, but he had a heart attack the very same day I collected the keys.

Some advice on the following would be appreciated

My father and I had a close relationship, and what was mine was his, and vice versa.  His bank account has about £11k in, that has come from regular pensions and benefits since retiring.  I have managed his account, finances, bills and everything in between for over a decade.  This occasionally included sending me money for no reason other than he wanted to pay his way, so if I bought something new, he liked to contribute.  For example, I bought him a new car 2 weeks ago, and he allowed me to send £2k from his account to help with this.

He had no will.  Zero - what an idiot I am for not sitting down and discussing this with him.  I'm so angry with myself.

He has 3 children; myself, a daughter (my half sister) that he has no contact with (this relationship broke up many decades ago; he has reconciled with her mum, but she has shown no interest), and a second sister (my full sister) who was in regular contact, but had a fractus relationship.

Now, first things first, I have no intention of touching his account, and have only logged in today to glance.  I know it will be frozen when I go through the process tomorrow (Monday), so not going to do anything stupid before then.

If he were to set out a will, he would have given that money to me.  I know that easy for me to say, but it is obvious to anyone who knows me and my father.  That being said, if it is split between me and my 2 sisters, I would not be overly unhappy.  I'm financially independent, and have no financial issues myself.  But, I would like to use this money to fund the funeral, and believe that is allowable?

I was very hesitant posting this, as not sure how it would sound.  I can't express how gutted I am to lose him; he was my best friend, and my rock.

Flugelhorn

someone has to administer the estate and it would probably be reasonable for you to do so - you may not need probate if he doesn't own property / shares / premium bonds / big savings accounts 

the funeral should be paid out if his money - when the account is frozen, the funeral director can send the invoice to the bank and the bank will pay it 

Brie

As the previous person has said the funeral can be funded out of his account and banks will assist with this.

After that it will depend if he is married still or not.  Any spouse (England or Wales, check if Scotland) would inherit the rest no matter how good or bad the relationship was.  If no spouse then split between any children.  

But frankly it doesn't sound like there was a lot to split up so if possible I wouldn't get into a fight about it (doesn't sound like you want to actually) as life is much too short to get cranky.

Sorry for your loss - sounds like you were doing a nice job of supporting him in a good familiar way.

Marcon

SuperSpud said:

Hi Guys & Gals,

Having an awful time; moving house, was going to bring my father with me, but he had a heart attack the very same day I collected the keys.

Some advice on the following would be appreciated

My father and I had a close relationship, and what was mine was his, and vice versa.  His bank account has about £11k in, that has come from regular pensions and benefits since retiring.  I have managed his account, finances, bills and everything in between for over a decade.  This occasionally included sending me money for no reason other than he wanted to pay his way, so if I bought something new, he liked to contribute.  For example, I bought him a new car 2 weeks ago, and he allowed me to send £2k from his account to help with this.

He had no will.  Zero - what an idiot I am for not sitting down and discussing this with him.  I'm so angry with myself.

He has 3 children; myself, a daughter (my half sister) that he has no contact with (this relationship broke up many decades ago; he has reconciled with her mum, but she has shown no interest), and a second sister (my full sister) who was in regular contact, but had a fractus relationship.

Now, first things first, I have no intention of touching his account, and have only logged in today to glance.  I know it will be frozen when I go through the process tomorrow (Monday), so not going to do anything stupid before then.

If he were to set out a will, he would have given that money to me.  I know that easy for me to say, but it is obvious to anyone who knows me and my father.  That being said, if it is split between me and my 2 sisters, I would not be overly unhappy.  I'm financially independent, and have no financial issues myself.  But, I would like to use this money to fund the funeral, and believe that is allowable?

I was very hesitant posting this, as not sure how it would sound.  I can't express how gutted I am to lose him; he was my best friend, and my rock.

It sounds exactly as it should: a newly bereaved son who is trying to behave properly and responsibly after the shock of losing a beloved father with no warning.

Yes, it's fine for reasonable funeral expenses to be paid out of your dad's money, and as someone has already said, the bank may well be prepared to settle the funeral director's invoice directly if the funeral director sends it to them.

After that, and once you have recovered a little from the initial shock, it's a case of dealing with an intestate estate. See https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

Keep_pedalling

With no will and a relatively low amount of cash in his account the bank will almost certainly release it to you without the need to go to probate. The rules of where the money goes under intestacy rules are quite clear. The funeral costs come first, any debts next and anything left after that should be distributed between you and your siblings in equal measures.

msb1234

Keep_pedalling said:

With no will and a relatively low amount of cash in his account the bank will almost certainly release it to you without the need to go to probate. The rules of where the money goes under intestacy rules are quite clear. The funeral costs come first, any debts next and anything left after that should be distributed between you and your siblings in equal measures.

I thought that financial institutions would only release funds, even small amounts, if there was a will? If no will, how would the banks know who to release the money to? 

Keep_pedalling

msb1234 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

With no will and a relatively low amount of cash in his account the bank will almost certainly release it to you without the need to go to probate. The rules of where the money goes under intestacy rules are quite clear. The funeral costs come first, any debts next and anything left after that should be distributed between you and your siblings in equal measures.

I thought that financial institutions would only release funds, even small amounts, if there was a will? If no will, how would the banks know who to release the money to? 

No, they will release funds to a close relative who has taken on the role of administrator. All they will require is proof of ID and relationship to the deceased. Call the bank’s bereavement team to see what they need.

jackieblack

Keep_pedalling said:

msb1234 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

With no will and a relatively low amount of cash in his account the bank will almost certainly release it to you without the need to go to probate. The rules of where the money goes under intestacy rules are quite clear. The funeral costs come first, any debts next and anything left after that should be distributed between you and your siblings in equal measures.

I thought that financial institutions would only release funds, even small amounts, if there was a will? If no will, how would the banks know who to release the money to? 

No, they will release funds to a close relative who has taken on the role of administrator. All they will require is proof of ID and relationship to the deceased. 

And the Death Certificate