Council Tax Liability / Debt for a deceased person

[Wildfire]

Oh behalf of a relative who is a pensioner, a bit of advice please if anyone has some advice?

A relative died unexpectedly 2 years ago and it turned out they had not been paying their council tax and due to be issued a summons for about £8k. There was no estate, no possessions, only a lot of debt.

This week their mother (a pensioner on benefits, with no assets or income bar a state pension) has been sent a letter and bill for the full amount that reads:

"Where a deceased person was liable for the Council Tax their personal representatives are responsible for any payments due, the monies can be deducted from the assets or effects of the deceased's estate."

And then the bill state "AMOUNT PAYABLE BY YOU" and it is addressed to her directly.

There is no estate, or assets to claim any money back from, clothes were donated to charity and that was all he really had.

There was a lot of hassle from the landlord who was essentially a slum landlord (I saw the property and it was inside) a few years ago and the council suddenly know about a sofa that was removed - a sofa a neighbor lent the deceased, so something was going on then.

But surely this isn't right? The debt can't be passed on to the mother?

Can anyone help?

[otolith]

The personal representative is responsible for distributing the estate to pay off the deceased person's debts. They are not personally responsible for paying the debts. If there is nothing in the estate to pay the debt and there is no other occupant of the house, the council will have to write it off. There's a council tax section here;

https://nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/de...

[sugerbear]

"Where a deceased person was liable for the Council Tax their personal representatives are responsible for any payments due, the monies can be deducted from the assets or effects of the deceased's estate."

As you they have written at the end of the sentence. If there was nothing left/no assets then nothing to pay.

However if there was anything left then I would expect that the executor of the will / estate will need to cough up something. Did they really die with nothing to their name?

[Wildfire]

sugerbear said:

"Where a deceased person was liable for the Council Tax their personal representatives are responsible for any payments due, the monies can be deducted from the assets or effects of the deceased's estate."

As you they have written at the end of the sentence. If there was nothing left/no assets then nothing to pay.

However if there was anything left then I would expect that the executor of the will / estate will need to cough up something. Did they really die with nothing to their name?

Ok, great. Thanks, that makes sense.

Yes, not a penny to his name. He lived in rented accommodation, had recently lost his job and was struggling to get redundancy payments, he was in his overdraft. All that the family took were his clothes and the neighbor took the sofa. They actually left the fridge and TV, which "went missing" after the landlord went back in.

I guess it is a case of trying to convince the council that there is nothing and to write the debt off.

[Giantt]

Seems like the wording a scummy debt collection agency would use, trying to pressure someone, probably vulnerable

[alscar]

A relative of mine for whom I hold LPA had developed dementia and long story short had moved out to a friends house and then onwards to a care home.
2 years of Council tax was owed and debt collection agencies were calling round weekly.
I contacted the Council and they were happy enough to recall the debt back and cancel it.
In your relatives case I had always assumed that once you die any debts die with you especially if nothing left anyway.
Hope it gets sorted quickly.

[Wildfire]

Giantt said:

Seems like the wording a scummy debt collection agency would use, trying to pressure someone, probably vulnerable

Yes, it does. But called up the council and they confirmed that the letter is genuine.

They have said that she needs to prove that he didn’t have any money and that there was / is no money. They tried to get me to commit my address etc too. I declined.

[konark]

The lady may be his mother but she is not technically his 'representative' unless she officially applied to be, which in this case i doubt she did. So she should tell the council as far as she is aware the estate is insolvent and she is neither the executor or administrator so please don't bother her again.

[surveyor]

There is a balance. If the council just took everyone's word for it they would not collect a penny. Work with them to provide the evidence that they need and they will happily write it off.