Contract Law when 'contactee' has passes away, and other...
Contract Law when 'contactee' has passes away, and other...
Author
Discussion

AndrewEH1

Original Poster:

4,922 posts

177 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
quotequote all
Hi,

Bad news I'm afraid. My mother passed away earlier this week and are minds are whirring about all the things that need sorted out. If anyone is wondering we are all doing okay.

She has a phone contract with O2, probably amongst other contracts, and my dad was wondering what happens to a contract when the 'contractee' (if that is the correct word) passes away.

Our thought is that as my mum is no longer alive the contract itself 'dies' - unless there are outstanding payments.

There are also credit card fees, amongst others, that she wasn't paying - how should we deal with that?

Obviously the executor should be dealing with this but we think that my dad is the named executor on my mum's will - although we are having difficultly finding said will which may have changed during the past three years.

Also, is there any other advice that you guys might have in regards to things that might need sorted out?

FYI - My mum separated from my dad three years ago and despite all our best efforts her life was unravelling slightly out of control.

Tyre Smoke

23,018 posts

285 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
quotequote all
Sorry to hear of your loss. My mum died in 2010.

Once we had got the death certificate (get at least 6 certified copies!)it was a case of contacting the relevant companies. Most cancelled everything straight away, some required a copy of the death certificate.

If you want to PM I'll try and answer anything you don't want broadcast on an open website.

bigandclever

14,219 posts

262 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
quotequote all
Sorry for your loss.

What to do with O2... http://service.o2.co.uk/IQ/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE...

AndrewEH1

Original Poster:

4,922 posts

177 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
quotequote all
Tyre Smoke said:
Sorry to hear of your loss. My mum died in 2010.

Once we had got the death certificate (get at least 6 certified copies!)it was a case of contacting the relevant companies. Most cancelled everything straight away, some required a copy of the death certificate.

If you want to PM I'll try and answer anything you don't want broadcast on an open website.
We have registered the death, sadly my grandmother passed late 2009 and my dad is the executor for her ongoing estate so has a bit experience, so we got six certified copies of the death certificate so plenty to send off although they were £10 each!


bigandclever said:
Sorry for your loss.

What to do with O2... http://service.o2.co.uk/IQ/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE...
Thanks for that link! Exactly what we are after.

helmutlaang

488 posts

183 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
quotequote all
Sorry to hear of your loss.

My Father died in 2003 leaving a fair bit of debt.The companys involved cancelled everything and said they would claim against his estate.He actually had a life insurance policy which covered most of the debt.

Dont forget that any bills incurred by the executor in their duties(travel ect)are the first to be paid by the estate.Then,I think,it is stuff like council tax.Then a bunfight betwen the rest of them.

I should mention that he was overdrawn at the bank and when I informed them of his passing they refused to suspend his overdraft account and kept piling interest on it.One major row with the manager later they reversed all charges.Just watch for idiots like this.

Good luck.

Cheib

25,085 posts

199 months

Saturday 7th April 2012
quotequote all
AndrewEH1 said:
we got six certified copies of the death certificate so plenty to send off although they were £10 each!
This is very good advice.....get multiple copies as lots of people require them. It will certainly speed up the process of dealing with the paperwork, probate can be quite a burden so in my mind it's worthwhile making it as easy as possible.

Deva Link

26,934 posts

269 months

Saturday 7th April 2012
quotequote all
You have to tell the Dept of Work & Pensions ASAP and, don't think I'm suggesting anything here, but be careful if she was getting means tested benefits, especially Pension Credit, but then it turns out she's got significant savings. It's quite common.

They pick up the probate application and typically about 6-9mths after the deceased passed away the DWP will approach the executor and demand a repayment. Where families dealt with the estate themselves the money is often well gone by then, and of course they don't feel like chipping in to meet the demand.