Sorting out finances after a death in the family?
Discussion
My Father in Law passed away recently, and unfortunately my Mother in Law was has Dementia and lives in a care home.
We have no idea if there was a Will, however as MIL is alive we are assuming any money goes to her. The problem is she is her dementia means she is incapable of dealing with anything. We still need to pay care home fees (which FIL was paying), and of course there are funeral costs, so how do we go about sorting out the financial side?
There isn't a huge sum involved, probably less than 10k in total and their house is rented.
We have no idea if there was a Will, however as MIL is alive we are assuming any money goes to her. The problem is she is her dementia means she is incapable of dealing with anything. We still need to pay care home fees (which FIL was paying), and of course there are funeral costs, so how do we go about sorting out the financial side?
There isn't a huge sum involved, probably less than 10k in total and their house is rented.
In all honesty for £10k it's simply not worth the hassle.
There will be no care home feed as it's free if you have less than £XK savings.
What you do need to sort is understand if an executor had been selected? If not you will have to do the grunt work
Sending death certificate to all banks, insurance policies, pensions, state pension council. Sort out recovery of any deposit from the rented property.
Any vehicles? Clearly they would need to be sold as she cannot drive but you cannot really do that.
The important bit is the sentimental things they have in the house. Depending on how bed her dementia is or isn't they might sadly be meaningless to her.
I'm my parents executor and it's a very complex setup. Honestly I'm not sure it's a good idea that I do it as I'm sure my state of mind would be not the best at the time - then again it might help. However they asked and I simply couldn't say no.
There will be no care home feed as it's free if you have less than £XK savings.
What you do need to sort is understand if an executor had been selected? If not you will have to do the grunt work
Sending death certificate to all banks, insurance policies, pensions, state pension council. Sort out recovery of any deposit from the rented property.
Any vehicles? Clearly they would need to be sold as she cannot drive but you cannot really do that.
The important bit is the sentimental things they have in the house. Depending on how bed her dementia is or isn't they might sadly be meaningless to her.
I'm my parents executor and it's a very complex setup. Honestly I'm not sure it's a good idea that I do it as I'm sure my state of mind would be not the best at the time - then again it might help. However they asked and I simply couldn't say no.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Do you have a financial power of attorney in place for your MIL? This would allow you to act on her behalf.
If you do not you'll need to apply to the court of protection to get one in place (I'd suggest a medical one is done at the same time).
Not directly linked to the will / dealing with the estate but allows you to act on her behalf.... Which is probably key here.
Do you have a financial power of attorney in place for your MIL? This would allow you to act on her behalf.
If you do not you'll need to apply to the court of protection to get one in place (I'd suggest a medical one is done at the same time).
Not directly linked to the will / dealing with the estate but allows you to act on her behalf.... Which is probably key here.
Pheo said:
Do you have a financial power of attorney in place for your MIL? This would allow you to act on her behalf.
If you do not you'll need to apply to the court of protection to get one in place (I'd suggest a medical one is done at the same time).
Not directly linked to the will / dealing with the estate but allows you to act on her behalf.... Which is probably key here.
This. You'll need authority to be able to manage other people's money.If you do not you'll need to apply to the court of protection to get one in place (I'd suggest a medical one is done at the same time).
Not directly linked to the will / dealing with the estate but allows you to act on her behalf.... Which is probably key here.
The £10K will pass to her, but you (or an executor or attorney if one has been designated) will be responsible for managing it and it must be in her interests.
Over the years I have had to deal with these issues on seven occasions for my own and my wife's family.
If there is a Will it will indicate who the executors are and it's their job to sort out all the financials. They will need to obtain Probate before they can act. They can appoint someone else to act for them if they wish eg solicitors who will charge a fee. For the amount of money you mention the executors should be able to deal with matters reasonably easily.
If there is no Will, the deceased has died intestate and then someone will need to apply for a Grant of Representation before they can act. Once obtained this will enable them to act in the same way as executors and therefore sort out and wind up the financials.
With such an unusually small amount..you mention £10,000 or so...it may be possible to avoid applying for a Grant of Representation but the problem then is whether or not third parties who hold assets will act on your instructions from someone who is neither an executor or is not empowered by a Grant of Representation, so that the person can get access to any monies before distribution to the next of kin, usually the parents of the deceased.
It may sound odd but there are books available that give detailed practical advice. In all bar one of the seven occasions I mentioned earlier I got the latest book and in general followed the advice/procedure. The one exception was when property was involved and if that is the case my advice is to use the services of a solicitor to dispose of the property and still check everything from the book.
Hope this helps. I know it seems daunting for the first timer but keeping a cool head and doing everything "by the book" is actually reasonably straightforward, but it does take time and commitment.
R.
If there is a Will it will indicate who the executors are and it's their job to sort out all the financials. They will need to obtain Probate before they can act. They can appoint someone else to act for them if they wish eg solicitors who will charge a fee. For the amount of money you mention the executors should be able to deal with matters reasonably easily.
If there is no Will, the deceased has died intestate and then someone will need to apply for a Grant of Representation before they can act. Once obtained this will enable them to act in the same way as executors and therefore sort out and wind up the financials.
With such an unusually small amount..you mention £10,000 or so...it may be possible to avoid applying for a Grant of Representation but the problem then is whether or not third parties who hold assets will act on your instructions from someone who is neither an executor or is not empowered by a Grant of Representation, so that the person can get access to any monies before distribution to the next of kin, usually the parents of the deceased.
It may sound odd but there are books available that give detailed practical advice. In all bar one of the seven occasions I mentioned earlier I got the latest book and in general followed the advice/procedure. The one exception was when property was involved and if that is the case my advice is to use the services of a solicitor to dispose of the property and still check everything from the book.
Hope this helps. I know it seems daunting for the first timer but keeping a cool head and doing everything "by the book" is actually reasonably straightforward, but it does take time and commitment.
R.
Try this
https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance
Page 3
3. If the person didn't leave a will
An ‘administrator’ is the person who deals with the estate if there’s no will.
You can usually apply for a grant of representation to be the administrator of the estate if you’re the person’s next of kin, eg their spouse (or civil partner) or child.
Dare I assume your wife is your FIL's child ?? So could be administrator ? And skip the MIL
https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance
Page 3
3. If the person didn't leave a will
An ‘administrator’ is the person who deals with the estate if there’s no will.
You can usually apply for a grant of representation to be the administrator of the estate if you’re the person’s next of kin, eg their spouse (or civil partner) or child.
Dare I assume your wife is your FIL's child ?? So could be administrator ? And skip the MIL
speedyguy said:
Try this
https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance
Page 3
3. If the person didn't leave a will
An ‘administrator’ is the person who deals with the estate if there’s no will.
You can usually apply for a grant of representation to be the administrator of the estate if you’re the person’s next of kin, eg their spouse (or civil partner) or child.
Dare I assume your wife is your FIL's child ?? So could be administrator ? And skip the MIL
Thanks we've done that https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance
Page 3
3. If the person didn't leave a will
An ‘administrator’ is the person who deals with the estate if there’s no will.
You can usually apply for a grant of representation to be the administrator of the estate if you’re the person’s next of kin, eg their spouse (or civil partner) or child.
Dare I assume your wife is your FIL's child ?? So could be administrator ? And skip the MIL
Welshbeef said:
In all honesty for £10k it's simply not worth the hassle.
There will be no care home feed as it's free if you have less than £XK savings.
What you do need to sort is understand if an executor had been selected? If not you will have to do the grunt work
Sending death certificate to all banks, insurance policies, pensions, state pension council. Sort out recovery of any deposit from the rented property.
Any vehicles? Clearly they would need to be sold as she cannot drive but you cannot really do that.
The important bit is the sentimental things they have in the house. Depending on how bed her dementia is or isn't they might sadly be meaningless to her.
I'm my parents executor and it's a very complex setup. Honestly I'm not sure it's a good idea that I do it as I'm sure my state of mind would be not the best at the time - then again it might help. However they asked and I simply couldn't say no.
The care home fees are a top up payment so we still need to pay something. Thankfully we've now found the bank account is in joint names so that should make it simpler.There will be no care home feed as it's free if you have less than £XK savings.
What you do need to sort is understand if an executor had been selected? If not you will have to do the grunt work
Sending death certificate to all banks, insurance policies, pensions, state pension council. Sort out recovery of any deposit from the rented property.
Any vehicles? Clearly they would need to be sold as she cannot drive but you cannot really do that.
The important bit is the sentimental things they have in the house. Depending on how bed her dementia is or isn't they might sadly be meaningless to her.
I'm my parents executor and it's a very complex setup. Honestly I'm not sure it's a good idea that I do it as I'm sure my state of mind would be not the best at the time - then again it might help. However they asked and I simply couldn't say no.
Simpo Two said:
Pheo said:
Do you have a financial power of attorney in place for your MIL? This would allow you to act on her behalf.
If you do not you'll need to apply to the court of protection to get one in place (I'd suggest a medical one is done at the same time).
Not directly linked to the will / dealing with the estate but allows you to act on her behalf.... Which is probably key here.
This. You'll need authority to be able to manage other people's money.If you do not you'll need to apply to the court of protection to get one in place (I'd suggest a medical one is done at the same time).
Not directly linked to the will / dealing with the estate but allows you to act on her behalf.... Which is probably key here.
The £10K will pass to her, but you (or an executor or attorney if one has been designated) will be responsible for managing it and it must be in her interests.
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