Debt after death - 3.5 years on?

luckyoldme

Hi

Just wondering about the length of time before a debt is written off after death.

My husband passed away unexpectedly 3.5 years ago leaving me with a 9 month old baby. He also left three debts which although were in his name the monthly direct debits were coming out of our joint account. I was always under the impression that debts died with the person but my solicitor at the time advised me that the companies concerned had up to 5 years to reclaim their monies from his estate.

The 3 debts totalled approx £15k and were made up as follows:

Well known High Street Bank;- £3000 approx (which, incidently was incurred during his first marriage and he’d been clearing at an agreed rate per month)

Well known credit card:- £7500 approx - no insurance cover taken out

Well Known High Street Bank Credit Agreement for a Well Known Furniture Store:- £5000 approx – no insurance cover taken out

Initially my question was going to be if there was any way of finding out if these debts had been written off but have today received a letter from my solicitor with a refund cheque and basically to say their involvement has now ended.

Can I assume from this that the debts have been wiped OR just that the solicitors have done their bit? Incidently, this is the first correspondence I’ve had with them in 2 years approximately so they’ve obviously been doing their own year end clear up.

I have moved since my husband passed away but my solicitor knows my current address and could have given it to the companies concerned if she was asked.

Would appreciate any advice as currently downsizing (along with the rest of Britain) and don’t want any of these debts to rear their ugly heads and bite me on the **** when I’m not expecting it!!

Thank you

10past6

Hu Lucky

Welcome to the forum, take a look here, you may find it useful.

Are YOU, receiving correspondence from the high street banks?

You can if you wish name the banks.

Snaggles

Hiya - Firstly I just wanted to say I'm so sorry to hear about your husband, what a terrible thing to happen.

As far as the debts go, I believe that if a person passes away, the debts pass to their estate, but if the solicitor has been dealing with it, I'm not sure if this is something they would take care of or not. Hopefully someone else will know on here, but if not, perhaps speak to the CAB, or maybe the solicitors themselves to see what has happened to the debts.

I wish you well and hope you manage to get some answers to put your mind at ease.

notanothergreyhair

I'm sorry that I cannot help you but I just wanted to say I am sorry to hear of your loss.

Lots of people will help you soon.

10past6

Deleted

LilacPixie

I was under the impression when a person dies the debt passes to their estate. If your solicitor has been winding up your late partners estate it would imply that everything is sorted however a quick call to the solicitor should confirm this.

Snaggles

I can't believe someone would spam this thread - that is an absolute disgrace. :mad:

Luckyoldme, please ignore it if it hasn't been removed when you come back online.

Poosmate

Hi Lucky

I would agree with LilacPixie and advise you to call the solicitor who dealt with your late husbands estate.

What happened to your joint account? How many payments were taken out after his death? How were they notified and have you received any correspondence from them either at the time or since or did you just pass any letters addressed to your OH to your solicitor?

Sorry if I seem nosey but I've never had to deal with joint finances in those circumstances before and am just wondering if there is a clue to the answer to your question in the history.

I understand it must have been a terribly traumatic time for you and your head was probably all over the place for many months afterwards and maybe there were things that were sorted by other family members (I know my mom more or less sorted my daughters funeral out, I was useless).

Hope some of this helps.

Poo

Hell1

Hi Luckyoldme,

I can't offer advice, but would imagine you are not liable for your husbands debts if they were in his name only. I'd like to wish you the best, life can be so hard, it will get better.

Poosmate, - so sorry, can't imagine what you have gone through.

Take care both,

Hell

luckyoldme

Thanks for all your replies (apart from one – where did that come from?!!)

Poosmate,

I notified everyone I could think of and then had letters back confirming nil balances apart from these 3 (which I knew about) who asked for a copy of the death certificate and my solicitors address.

The Bank (HSBC) dealt directly with my solicitor eventually

The Credit Card company (Egg) dealt directly with my solicitor

Black Horse acting on behalf of MFI dealt directly with my solicitor – although not so straightforward as my husband passed away in the Sept (04)this debt wasn’t due to start being repaid until the following May(05). Initially my solicitor advised me to start these repayments but in May 2006 after meeting with her she advised me to stop these payments (my husband worked for MFI at the time of his death – don’t know if this would have any bearing as they were very helpful at the time – offering counselling etc)

Thanks for any further advice


Poo – just reread your post – that must have been awful for you. I can’t imagine anything worse than losing my daughter – my heart goes out to you.

MrsTinks

I would check with the solicitor but if they haven't made a claim against his estate by now I don't think they'd be likely to...
Not meaning to pry by would his estate have covered these debts? If not then chances are they wrote them off as with his debt they cannot pursue you for it and his estate did not cover the debt.