What to do after death....

[sue38]

Hi Christine,

I don't know how you and Peter owned the property, but in most cases this is the form you need

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/www/w..._2CbEdFAPpXE5A!

PM me if I can help more.

[Vonny]

Hi Christine,

After my husband died I informed the mortgage company who put into my sole name, but it wasn't until I was in the process of selling that the Land Reg wouldn't let my solicitor transfer the deeds as I'd forgotten to remove my husband's name from them

It was all sorted out fairly painlessly but I don't know if I could have done it so quickly without a solicitor.

Good luck

Vonny xxx

[sue38]

Oops, that link doesn't work.

It was meant to go to form DJP1. Until recently you could just send a copy of the death certificate to the Land Registry, but they have now brought in a form.

Jennifer's link is to the right Practice Guide. As I said PM me if you need help.

[christine_batch]

Thank you all for your help. It is so hard removing Peter's name from documents but I know it has to be done.

Thank you all my virtual friends.

Love from
Christine

[griffinm7]

Hello everyone

I lost my mother 5 weeks ago. She had no assets to speak of. Her house is Local Authority owned and she has no savings, investments or insurance policies. All that was left was some household furniture and a few hundred pounds in her bank account.

She has died owing a debt of £7000 to a bank/credit card. I advised them of her death and they immediately froze her bank account. As there is no will, probate is not relevant to her, but I hear you speak of letters of administration. What are they?

I know that her debts cannot be passed onto a surviving relative, but have no idea whether I need to get a solicitor involved or not. For me, her passing is quite cut and dry. She has left nothing to pay her debt and this is the only information I can provide her bank when they write to me.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

[sue38]

Hi Griffinm,

I'm sorry to hear of your mum's passing. Please accept my condolences.

If someone has left a will then the executors apply for a grant of probate. The word 'probate' essentially means proof that the will is valid. If there is no will then the next of kin, or a creditor can apply for a grant of Letters of Administration. This would allow them to administer the estate.

As your mum has very few assets, I doubt it would be worth the while of the bank/credit card company to pursue this option. They would only increase the debt.

If a bank becomes aware that someone has died they will automatically freeze the account, whether or not the person is in debt. You can often close the account without a grant of probate/letters of administration if there is only a small(ish) balance in the account. Policy varies from bank to bank, but if we are talking hundreds rather than thousands, you should be able to use the more simplified procedure (a statutory declaration - the bank will have pre-printed forms).

If the debt is owed to the same bank as where your mum had her account they will probably not allow you to do this, and any money in that account will go toward that debt. But that should be the end of it. As you know, they cannot force you to make up the difference.

Don't bother with a solicitor - you'll just run up more debt.

Hope this helps.

[griffinm7]

Many thanks Sue. Greatly appreciated.

[raec.1]

What wonderful advice and a great help to everyone.

I could do with some advice, on how to rebuild my confidence after having been bullied and hounded for eighteen months by a social worker? The woman made life a misery and towards the end to avoid her I had to turn the answer machine off and not answer the telephone.

I always thought social workers were there to help people but this one broke the mould, thankfully after my mother passed away I had no further contact with the woman but I feel that her constant nagging and bully boy tactics have completely broken me.

[jenniferpa]

I think your first step is what you have done here - acknowledge the effect she had on you. Next stage is to decide if you want to put it behind you and move on, or if it will help to put it behind you if put some energy into ensuring that this social worker doesn't do to others what she did to you. Only you can answer that - I'm inclined to be a bit 'water under the bridge" about this stuff, but other people do find it helps to take a stand. Whatever you do, it has to be what you are most comfortable with, and no one can tell you what that is. The only thing I would be concerned with, though, is if you allowed it to become an obsession: I do think that sometimes people become so wrapped up in what went wrong with their situation that the quest for justice can itself become corrosive.

Welcome to Talking Point, by the way.

[Ladywriter1968]

I think this is really good and helpful advice and I am going to write this down. As when you have never dealt with it, no one comes and tells you what you should do, do they really, and you are mostly left to get on with it. At least I now have an idea for when my dads time comes.

What to do after a death in England & Wales
Ref: D49 April 2006

This is a book/leaflet you can get from any CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau). It has loads of useful information including details on the things you must do.

For example - in the first five days you must:

• Notify the family doctor
• Register the death at the register office
• Contact a funer director
• Advise the DWP
• Complete form BD8 - this stops any benefits

Here is a link to a PDF version for the computer savey.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/d...49_april06.pdf

Moderator note: this page link is now broken. A chase-through leads to
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governme...eath/index.htm


Hope this helps
Craig

It is very useful and has a lot of information on benefit that the bereaved may claim.

[Ladywriter1968]

What to do after a death in England & Wales
Ref: D49 April 2006

This is a book/leaflet you can get from any CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau). It has loads of useful information including details on the things you must do.

For example - in the first five days you must:

• Notify the family doctor
• Register the death at the register office
• Contact a funer director
• Advise the DWP
• Complete form BD8 - this stops any benefits

Here is a link to a PDF version for the computer savey.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/d...49_april06.pdf

Moderator note: this page link is now broken. A chase-through leads to
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governme...eath/index.htm


Hope this helps
Craig

It is very useful and has a lot of information on benefit that the bereaved may claim.

Very helpful information to know, thanks.

D

[Ladywriter1968]

I think this is really good and helpful advice and I am going to write this down. As when you have never dealt with it, no one comes and tells you what you should do, do they really, and you are mostly left to get on with it. At least I now have an idea for when my dads time comes.

If the person is not insured for enough, who do you contact to help out with the money? is it the LA? DSS? or what? To claim for funeral expenses if you cant afford the funeral?

[Ladywriter1968]

Very helpful information to know, thanks.

D

If the person is not insured for enough, who do you contact to help out with the money? is it the LA? DSS? or what? To claim for funeral expenses if you cant afford the funeral?

[Ladywriter1968]

Another thing for people to be aware of is the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions).
Back in 2003 I filled in all the forms for pension credit on behalf of Mum as the forms were too complicated for her and listed all her savings and assets with the result that she was entitled to pension credit.
When she was taken ill and moved in with me February 2007 I informed the DWP of the situation and they advised me that everything was ok and the pension credit would still continue.
When she died however I received a form from them stating that I had to declare all her assets and savings(peps,government bonds,properties here and abroad,private pensions,tessas, bank and building society accounts - the list was horrendous). I duly filled in this form and sent it back to them and I have now received a reply saying that they have overpaid mum and they are working it out by how much. In the meantime, I am not allowed to distribute any of the estate (I am the named executor) as, obviously, the overpayment has to come out of this estate.
WHY, when I filled in all the original forms correctly (which was again reviewed in 2005 with the same result) have they now decided that as Mum has passed away they have been overpaying her? Needless to say, I am still waiting for the letter stating the overpayment amount.
It may not be much, I don't know, but it really is something I could do without especially when I'm still trying to get over Mum not being here any more.
These things really are sent to try us!!
Love Liz xx

This is not fair on you, you did everything right on your part, I think its their negligence and they are making you suffer now.

[Ladywriter1968]

What wonderful advice and a great help to everyone.

I could do with some advice, on how to rebuild my confidence after having been bullied and hounded for eighteen months by a social worker? The woman made life a misery and towards the end to avoid her I had to turn the answer machine off and not answer the telephone.

I always thought social workers were there to help people but this one broke the mould, thankfully after my mother passed away I had no further contact with the woman but I feel that her constant nagging and bully boy tactics have completely broken me.

I think the social worker should be struck off if thats how she is treating people. You needed her help not her bullying. If you want to persue this I wonder if you could contact her office where she works and put in a complaint about her to her manager and say that you will persue this if nothing gets resolved that you dont want others to suffer like you did. Or you could just move on now and forget about it all.

The choice is yours. Hope this helped. The social worker I had backed down to me in the end about my dad, but only cause I guess I am a very strong person. When my dad was sick she wanted to just send him home again with another care package as before, the previous one did not work.

I had lots of help and advice from people on here as well which helped. In fact the people on here cared more about what was going on with my dad then my own relatives to be honest. They always all sat back and let me get on with it all basically.

I told the SW I could not cope and dug my heals in at her. I said if you send him home and anything else happens I will hold you personally responsible and my Brother Inlaw works for a top lawyers in London so I will have no problem getting legal representation on this. Cause you are duty bound to him and his care. I will have you for neglect etc. But he only got into that home because of that stuff I said.

None of dads family showed up for the meetings, it was just me fighting alone, and the doctor agreed with me and nurse to. and when my husband could get time off work he came to support me. Even when uncle did come to one meeting he sat their like a stuffed toy anyway.

But this is just an example of how strong you have to be sometimes regardless of how you are feeling. Not everyone can be like this I agree. But sometimes when you get **** in life, you suddenly think, thats it, enough is enough. I am not putting up with this **** anymore and fob offs from services.