Distributing deceased estate

Claude_and_Eustace

Is Philips and Cohen the company acting on behalf of the credit accounts? If so they were excellent with me in a similar situation. They even queried the utility bill on my behalf when I got nowhere and got it cancelled (they tried to bill for 2 months of electricity after he died!).  They talked me through everything and didn’t pressure me to settle everything as long as I kept them updated every couple of months. It took a year to settle everything and I was finally able to pay everything off, but for most of our conversations I didn’t think there would be enough to cover all the debts. They raised me every time that the debt was his not mine. If it is P&C just be honest and open with them and they will help as much as they can. 

Roo2000

This has all been very helpful, so thank you all very much.

Including the home clearance (more than you think btw), I believe it would have been around the pro rata figure due (or slightly less). So I may have accidentally distributed correctly there.

Based on all the debts I knew about, it was touch and go whether the estate was solvent or not. When the housing association(landlord) said they may settle for less than their invoice. I thought great, there's only the store card and electric bill left and chanced offering them what was left after the other 2 debts.

Which was why I decided to administer it after the Gazette time period expired.

It was only when the new debts came to light that a realised the estate was insolvent.

And then it was too late.

And thanks for the heads up with the probate company.

When I contacted all the card companies back in January, they all took my details, didn't say what the balance was and said the name of the company would be in touch.

They were in touch, but only for the one card.

So I'm confident as I can be, that they are genuine.

I now know that the estate is insolvent.

I believe the electric company can't do anything other than uphold my complaint, else its a message to an ADR.

What I don't know is if the card probate company will consider all matters settled once I've given them the remainder of the estate?

It would be nice if there was an unexpected windfall in the future and no further debts come to light.

Which if I'm right and everybody I know had settled at that time, I could share with my brothers.

I know of no such windfall btw.

bobster2

Roo2000 said:

It would be nice if there was an unexpected windfall in the future and no further debts come to light.

Which if I'm right and everybody I know had settled at that time, I could share with my brothers.

I know of no such windfall btw.

As I mentioned earlier-  you can use https://www.mylostaccount.org.uk/ to check for bank accounts you might not know about.

Roo2000

Thanks Bobster,

I've done that one and another I found and only received letters saying no accounts found.

madbadrob

bobster2 said:

Good point above - I'd be very wary of what a "probate company" is.

I was going to post the exact same thing.  

Just in regards to the Section 27 and what happened after.  The OP here as stated that they knew nothing of certain debts before they had started paying out the shares to the known creditors.  This actually does protect the administrator from any pursuance of those monies owed and the creditors would have to chase their share from the paid creditors unless they can prove the administrator knew about the debts prior to any payout going ahead.  The complication here is that the estate was intestate and as such it sounds like the estate is now going to be insolvent.    In this instance it is important that all the creditors that have been paid that a new debt as been found that affects how much each of the creditors should receive.  In doing so you should make a new set of accounts up and how much each of those creditors (including all your own out of pocket eexpenses) should get on an equal footing and ask the creditors so paid to return the amount over paid.  If they dont then you are likely to have to apply to court for this.  Unfortunately it is now likely its going to cost the OP money because legal advice is most definately required now before they make any further mistakes

Also how old were these debts?  After 8 years all debts which have never been acknowledged by the debtor or that are a part of a disagreement become non claimable.  (unsecured debts)

I would not have paid anything out until the dispute with the Electric company had been completed although a letter to each of the then known creditors informing them of the situation and that full accounts would be available in the near future.  This may well have then brought to the forefront the unknown debts.  

So now with the 400 pounds the electric company have credited to the deceased account you can now build a new set of accounts.  The first question after you do this is "what is the value of total known debts"  Then what is the total of the estate (if you hadnt paid any out)  Dividing the 2 would give you what each of the creditors should get.  Then you will know if there as been any over payment or whether (you may be lucky) the extra 400 pounds covers the share entitled to the new creditor and then you can pay the other creditors the extra they would be owed.  If not then seek some professional advice as a matter of urgency

Rob

Roo2000

Thanks Rob.

I've just found out that the funeral plan was worth more than the funeral and the company want to send me the difference.

Its another spanner in the works, but a good spanner.

I think what I need to do at the moment (please let me know if you disagree), is to continue to collate the estate.

And triple check I've not overseen any credit or debt.

Then I can redraw my accounts, which I have been keeping a spreadsheet of.

As originally posted I thought the Gazette deadline was the key, but as I've learnt it isn't.

Maybe I could have saved a couple of quid there, by not taking out the deceased estate notice?

Four months in and the estate still hasn't settled, I (maybe stupidly) thought there would be a deadline and job done.

There's no secure debt as there was nothing to secure against, that I know of.

So far just the credit/store card accounts and the landlords rent bill of which I paid less than half due (settled?).

And the electric I believe will not be due, although still awaiting the outcome.

The Housing association (landlord) did offer to clear the home for a fee, but couldn't tell me how much. Which is why I decided to shop around and employ a clearance company myself to do it.

RAS

Expecting to finalise even the most basic estate in a few months is unrealistic. If there's anything to refund to the DWP, they can take the best part of a year to calculate and notify.

madbadrob

Roo2000 said:

Thanks Rob.

I've just found out that the funeral plan was worth more than the funeral and the company want to send me the difference.

Its another spanner in the works, but a good spanner.

I think what I need to do at the moment (please let me know if you disagree), is to continue to collate the estate.

And triple check I've not overseen any credit or debt.

Then I can redraw my accounts, which I have been keeping a spreadsheet of.

As originally posted I thought the Gazette deadline was the key, but as I've learnt it isn't.

Maybe I could have saved a couple of quid there, by not taking out the deceased estate notice?

Four months in and the estate still hasn't settled, I (maybe stupidly) thought there would be a deadline and job done.

There's no secure debt as there was nothing to secure against, that I know of.

So far just the credit/store card accounts and the landlords rent bill of which I paid less than half due (settled?).

And the electric I believe will not be due, although still awaiting the outcome.

The Housing association (landlord) did offer to clear the home for a fee, but couldn't tell me how much. Which is why I decided to shop around and employ a clearance company myself to do it.

YOu should write to those you have settled with and inform them that more debts have come to light and in the same time more assets also and that you are now having to review the payouts.  They need to be made aware that they may have received more than they were entitled to under the share out and the opposite that they may in fact be receving more.  

I would if I was in your shoes stop any payments take a deep breath and start putting together the accounts as you know now.  You can show that you have done all that is possible to trace any creditors ( you posted the gazette notification, you went through all the deceased post that was left around.  CHecked all available bank statements etc) so if after you have done all that you should be ok to pay the just debtspro rata.  So treat each debt as a share and for every pound of debt = 1 share.  Then pay each creditor per the shares they hold.  SO for example 3 debts 10000 20000 and 1500.  You have in total 31500 shares.  The estate is valued at 25000 so that would equate to 79.3p per share (25000/31500).  So using my basic example the creditor owed 10000 would get 7930 the 20k creditor 15860 and the last one 1190.  

There is no need to rush as the debts are going nowhere.

Of course you could hope that the extra monies due to the estate make it a solvent estate and then it becomes so much easier 

Rob