Council Tax re Deceased

HOGOGG

Hi Guys
I'm looking for a bit of advise, my brother died last April and we are in the process of dealing with Estate, he had quite a few debts and we have manged to pay the funeral costs but still have a lot of loan companies chasing money which as soon as the house has been sold i will be able to deal with ( what i haven't got they can't have as i can't afford to pay them out of my own money).

The problem i have is the Council Tax, they froze the council tax payments for 6 months from obtaining probate but now there chasing me for money. The house is currentley on the market and hopefully will sell this summer. i have received a bill today for £478.97 !!! :eek: which although includes a 50% discount for empty property, i still can't afford to pay this as i have my pwn coucil tax bill to pay.

Sorry to waffle on but i just want to know where i stand, do i have to pay this as i'm selling the house,or can i demand that they wait along with all the other loan companys until the house has been sold ?.

Any advise would be great

CIS

You have no right to demand that they wait.

I presume that you inherited the house therefore you will be liable for any Council Tax due. You can ask the council wait until the sale completes but they are within their rights to say no and proceed with a Liability Order and further recovery.

HOGOGG

CIS wrote: »

You have no right to demand that they wait.

I presume that you inherited the house therefore you will be liable for any Council Tax due. You can ask the council wait until the sale completes but they are within their rights to say no and proceed with a Liability Order and further recovery.

I haven't inherited anything, i'm just dealing with the Estate as next of kin, the house will be sold and the mortgage paid off then the credit card companies and then the loan companies if there is anything left.:o

dzug

You have every right to demand they wait.

You are not personally liable for this tax. Do NOT pay anything out of your own money - you may not get it back.

Your brother's estate is liable. So yes you can tell them to proceed against the estate and that they will be paid (or not) from the estate when it has liquid funds.

What I don't know is if Council tax is a priority debt or not - ie whether it must be paid ahead of other debts or has equal ranking with them.

You could actually walk away from the estate and leave the creditors to sort it out between themselves.

donnalove

dzug wrote: »

You have every right to demand they wait.

You are not personally liable for this tax. Do NOT pay anything out of your own money - you may not get it back.

Your brother's estate is liable. So yes you can tell them to proceed against the estate and that they will be paid (or not) from the estate when it has liquid funds.

What I don't know is if Council tax is a priority debt or not - ie whether it must be paid ahead of other debts or has equal ranking with them.

You could actually walk away from the estate and leave the creditors to sort it out between themselves.

council tax would be a priority debt and must come first

CIS

I haven't inherited anything, i'm just dealing with the Estate as next of kin, the house will be sold and the mortgage paid off then the credit card companies and then the loan companies if there is anything left.:o

If you have not inherited anything then by acting solely as executor the council cannot hold you personally liable although they can issue recovery proceedings against the estate,

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1992/ukpga_19920014_en_3#pt1-ch1-pb6-l1g18
and
http://www.thesite.org/homelawandmoney/askthesiteqandas/legalandrightsqandas/deathdebt