Looking after deceased persons house

[Belle427]

My Father passed away last week and i am responsible for all his stuff, he has a small very well insulated end of terrace house and i am just trying to decide what`s best to look after it whilst things are sorted.
Turn off water would be one.
Central heating wise he had a programmable stat with frost protection set at 5 degrees but i am thinking of leaving the heating on manual at say 12 degrees just so its kept damp free.
Has anyone done this and could advise on if its the way forward?
In my experience of this house at 12 degrees I doubt the heating would ever kick in but its just trying to strike a balance.
It is a property about 15 mins from me so i will visit regularly.

[Riley Blue]

I'd suggest putting some lights on timers to give the impression it's occupied and notify local police it isn't.

[hidetheelephants]

Any covetous relatives? If so change the locks, it's cheap insurance against things removing themselves.

[alscar]

Condolences to you and your family.
I would also inform your Father's Insurance company that he has passed away and the precautions you are taking to safeguard the house especially with the time of year in mind and also to request that the policy remains in force for at least the time being.

[Belle427]

Thanks, good tip on the insurance, will get on.tbat today.
No issues with relatives really, it's all pretty straightforward.

[Sporky]

Definitely check with the insurer.

[apn]

I'd recommend removing anything of any value, sentimental or otherwise. It'll soon be noticed that the property isn't occupied.

[craig1912]

We turned off the water, left the heating on but not alot else.
You need to tell the insurer and they will probably insist the house is visited regularly. We put a “visitors book” in the hall so we could note date and time visited (insurers suggestion).
Lights on timers a good idea as is changing the locks if anyone else has potential access.

[Mr Pointy]

Just leave the heating on at a normal temperature. It will keep the house in good condition & the cost is minimal compared to that of even the smallest repair.

[NDA]

Sorry your dad died, that's sad to read.

As above, lights on timers and remove anything that's sentimental to you.

Is the property insured?

[spaximus]

Sorry to hear of your loss.

Good advice previously, I would add to contact council and assuming that he left a will crack on with starting probate so you get control of everything.

When my parents died we had everything in place and found most people we had to deal with were good because we had paperwork etc.

What I found the hardest was clearing their home out. You inevitably get side tracked looking at things they kept and one piece of advice, if you come across diaries do not be tempted to read them. I made that mistake and found just how desperately unhappy my mum was in her final years yet kept everyone thinking she was the opposite.

Do not rush things and take time for yourself to grieve.

[OutInTheShed]

Mr Pointy said:

Just leave the heating on at a normal temperature. It will keep the house in good condition & the cost is minimal compared to that of even the smallest repair.

I'd suggest having the heating adequate to avoid any damp issues, that may be weather dependent.
That may be more or less than some people's idea of normal.

A 'visitors' book' is a good idea, when we had a vacant house on the market, we got anyone who went in to sign the book, photograph it and share the photo.

A good deep clean is worthwhile.

There are brokers who specialise in things like vacant property insurance, I forget who we used.

[The Gauge]

craig1912 said:

We turned off the water, left the heating on but not alot else.
You need to tell the insurer and they will probably insist the house is visited regularly. We put a visitors book in the hall so we could note date and time visited (insurers suggestion).
Lights on timers a good idea as is changing the locks if anyone else has potential access.

We've deem this at mums house whilst its vacant, the insurance company say they will require proof that the house has been visited twice per week so we are keeping a written log whenever we visit, backed up ny WhatsApp messages on a family group chat.

Also put a bedside lamp on timer in the living room

Heating left on at a suitable temperature.

[The Gauge]

spaximus said:

What I found the hardest was clearing their home out. You inevitably get side tracked looking at things they kept.

We created three piles of stuff each time we visited to do some house clearing

1) Stuff to throw away
2) Stuff to definitely keep
3) Stuff thats a 'maybe' keep/throw

The three of us then took turns to look through pile 1 incase there was something there that needed to be kept. The difficult things were stuff like dads school qualification certificates from the 1950's, absolutely no need to keep them but seems wrong to throw away. We had to decide that if we kept stuff like this, would they simply end up hidden away in our loft for 30yrs for our children to one day have to sift through, and should we put that burden on them?

[Belle427]

Can you apply for probate online or is it better to involve a solicitor?

[eps]

Belle427 said:

Can you apply for probate online or is it better to involve a solicitor?

Really sorry to hear about your loss.

In terms of insurance - it may well become quite expensive, especially if the property is left vacant for long periods of time.

Check the Tell us once service - that should mean that most services are aware of the passing of that person.

In terms of probate, it will depend on the size of the estate and if you feel IHT would become applicable or not. If it isn't and the Will is fairly simple then probably completing it online yourself is okay. If it is large or complicated then it would be good to get a solicitor involved.

[Little Lofty]

I bought a house a couple of years ago that had stood empty for 20+ years, it had no damp as the roof and double glazed windows were sound, it was very dated but you could not tell it had been empty all that time. The house I’m working on at the moment was a different story, it was soaked as the rainwater pipes were blocked and missing, dry rot had set in due to the age of the leaks, being water tight makes a massive difference. Once renovated and awaiting the sale to go through I usually leave the heating on low with the trv’s set to 2 or 3, I always turn the water off.

[Simpo Two]

The Gauge said:

We created three piles of stuff each time we visited to do some house clearing

1) Stuff to throw away
2) Stuff to definitely keep
3) Stuff thats a 'maybe' keep/throw

I enlisted the help of a couple of friends to keep me on track. For me the thought process for each item was:
Do I want to keep it, and if so have I got room for it?
Yes = take it home.
No = does it have any value to warrant taking to auction?
Yes = auction it.
No = give it away or skip it.

The Gauge said:

The difficult things were stuff like dads school qualification certificates from the 1950's, absolutely no need to keep them but seems wrong to throw away. We had to decide that if we kept stuff like this, would they simply end up hidden away in our loft for 30yrs for our children to one day have to sift through, and should we put that burden on them?

IMHO they deserve the choice. They may wish you kept it, but once it's gone it gone. Keep photographs and write names on the backs for future generations.

My loft is full of all sorts of ancestral things. I may never look at them but it gives me a sense of 'from'.

[chopper602]

Belle427 said:

Can you apply for probate online or is it better to involve a solicitor?

Sorry for your loss. I've been through the same thing as my Dad passed away in August, Mum six years earlier. There was a will and simple enough estate. I informed everyone who needed to know and did all the financial stuff. There was no IHT to pay and probate was sorted on-line and came back in a couple of weeks. Solicitors will take time and money.

We've left the heating as it was set, which wasn't high. Informed the utilities and they're billing by post rather than DD. Water company was very good, stopped any charges for 6 months.

Decorators will have finished giving the bungalow a fresh coat of neutral paint tomorrow and it will soon be on the market. We filled 2½ skips of rubbish - couldn't even give lots of the furniture away. Luckily Dad wasn't sentimental about things so didn't have lots of special family heirlooms

Edited by chopper602 on Tuesday 4th November 15:56

[hidetheelephants]

Simpo Two said:

The Gauge said:

We created three piles of stuff each time we visited to do some house clearing

1) Stuff to throw away
2) Stuff to definitely keep
3) Stuff thats a 'maybe' keep/throw

I enlisted the help of a couple of friends to keep me on track. For me the thought process for each item was:
Do I want to keep it, and if so have I got room for it?
Yes = take it home.
No = does it have any value to warrant taking to auction?
Yes = auction it.
No = give it away or skip it.

The Gauge said:

The difficult things were stuff like dads school qualification certificates from the 1950's, absolutely no need to keep them but seems wrong to throw away. We had to decide that if we kept stuff like this, would they simply end up hidden away in our loft for 30yrs for our children to one day have to sift through, and should we put that burden on them?

IMHO they deserve the choice. They may wish you kept it, but once it's gone it gone. Keep photographs and write names on the backs for future generations.

My loft is full of all sorts of ancestral things. I may never look at them but it gives me a sense of 'from'.

If you keep photos, make sure you write on the back who is in them; mum had a fair few photos from her mother's belongings that she can't identify anyone in and that generation are all long dead so there's little chance of IDing them now.