Mums house being sold for care but she has now passed
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hoangtaybaokiem1993
Forumite 1 posts
Hello
My Mum passed away on Friday, she has suffered with dementia for many years so this has been a blessing.
Her property was taken over by the local council late 2016 to be sold to help costs of her residential care.
The question that the family has now is that the property has not sold (not worth a lot plus a leasehold issue) and while happy for any of this to be used towards the outstanding care costs, we are left with finding cash for the funeral costs which is going to be a huge struggle for us at the moment due low paid work and little savings for us to tap into.
Are we in a position to see if we can use some of the sale for funeral expenses or do we need to look to get a loan to support the funeral costs?
Any guidance is appreciated, we are not trying to get away from our responsibilities but as the property is unsold at time of death wonder if have some lee-way for help
Thank you in advance x
My Mum passed away on Friday, she has suffered with dementia for many years so this has been a blessing.
Her property was taken over by the local council late 2016 to be sold to help costs of her residential care.
The question that the family has now is that the property has not sold (not worth a lot plus a leasehold issue) and while happy for any of this to be used towards the outstanding care costs, we are left with finding cash for the funeral costs which is going to be a huge struggle for us at the moment due low paid work and little savings for us to tap into.
Are we in a position to see if we can use some of the sale for funeral expenses or do we need to look to get a loan to support the funeral costs?
Any guidance is appreciated, we are not trying to get away from our responsibilities but as the property is unsold at time of death wonder if have some lee-way for help
Thank you in advance x
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Replies
When you say the property was "taken over" what does that mean.
Was there a DPA (deferred pament agreement).
Did the LA put a charge on the property?
If the property isn't actually sold I'm not sure how it could be used to pay for a funeral.
You could contact the LA as they are duty bound to provide a funeral but do be aware that this will be no-frills. No transport for family, no flowers etc. it will just be the basics.
Can you confirm if you meant NOW sold instead of NOT sold?
If it's not sold there is nothing to use is there?
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/help-paying-for-a-funeral
As AlanQ mentioned do investigate whether you can get help with the funeral costs.
But, that £22-23k that is "hers" would include any other money she's got in other accounts.... so if she had a savings account with £22k in it already, tucked under her mattress at the home... or in an account you were managing for her, then she'd not be allowed both amounts. It's about £22k or so "in total". So, in theory ... one way or another, your mother must have this amount that's in her name.
As the house wasn't sold ... the issue is that there is no ready pot of money (today) to dip into.
Assuming there is no cash available within the estate at this time I'd suggest speaking to Citizens Advice to find out what the options are.
Also have a look at results of a search using "funeral no money to pay"