Mums house being sold for care but she has now passed

hoangtaybaokiem1993 · 28 January 2019 at 5:15PM

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

lisyloo · 28 January 2019 at 5:51PM

Sorry to hear of your loss even though your loss may have occured a long time before the death (my MIL has dimentia).

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.

Are we in a position to see if we can use some of the sale

Can you confirm if you meant NOW sold instead of NOT sold?
If it's not sold there is nothing to use is there?

alanq · 28 January 2019 at 9:34PM

Might you be eligible for the Funeral Payment scheme?
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/help-paying-for-a-funeral

WoodyMax · 1 February 2019 at 11:30PM

I just wanted to say I am so sorry for your loss.
As AlanQ mentioned do investigate whether you can get help with the funeral costs.

TELLIT01 · 13 February 2019 at 10:09AM

I'm not clear on how it works when the council puts a charge on a property to recover care costs, but isn't there an amount allowed for savings which isn't accessible to the council? I thought savings below about £20k were allowed. If that is the case, presumably that much will remain in the estate, although part will be taken up with selling the property.

PasturesNew · 13 February 2019 at 10:17AM

If the house had been sold and the money put into an account ... she'd have still been entitled to "keep the last £22-23k or so" for herself, untouched.... so that amount, at least, would be deemed "hers".

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.

TELLIT01 · 15 February 2019 at 10:51PM

If the mother had money in an account it would be released to pay for a funeral, so presumably that is not the case here.
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"

Mums house being sold for care but she has now passed

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