Late Mothers Debt - Executor's liability towards unsecured debt (most in default or DCA)

[twistyp]

My mother passed away recently. She made me the sole executor of her will. Her estate is (barely) large enough to require grant of representation (Scotland). She has a number of unsecured creditors (bank loan, bank overdraft, credit cards). She had not worked for 5 years prior to her death, and was recieving various benefits. Around a year ago she contacted Consumer Credit Councilling Services who assisted her in writing to her creditors. Most creditors had applied defaults and were accepting goodwill payments towards the accounts. Two of her creditors had sold the debt to Debt Collection Agencies.

 

I have listed as much relevant facts above as possible. Have I missed anything?

 

I understand I need to publicly advertise to invite creditors to make a claim against the estate. I shall do this in the national press.

 

What I need to find out the extent of my responsibilities with regards to:

 

- Notifying of the death

- Advising on the value of the estate

- Making offer of settlement (or otherwise)

 

Seeing some of the action taken against unsecured lenders on this site - particularly the CCA then SAR angle, does anyone have any experience of this under the circumstances (deceased estate)?

 

Obviously given the scenario here, I am loathe to allow unsecured creditors to take what my mother intended as our inheritance if you like (life insurance policy). However as stated, it leaves little change if every creditor must be settled. Hence I'm sure you can understand I'd want to establish the boundaries I'm working within!

 

Any help is massively appreciated, and the gesture would be returned if possible.

 

Grant

 

Any other advise appreciated.

[baileyboy]

You have a duty to protect any assets in the estate from fly by night creditors. Don't pay out anything untill every claim has been scrutinised and proven with relevent agreements or documents.

[cerberusalert]

An executor is not personally liable for the deceased debts unless they execute the estate incorrectly. You are legally entitled to challenge all creditors to prove that a debt legally exists, that it is enforceable and that they have the right to collect. This could take a year or more and you would be perfectly within your rights to withold any payments for a year or more until the estate is finalized.

 

The main thing is to determine which of these debts are enforceable, those that are not can be ignored. Those that are need to be paid from the estate after priority debts are paid, these include cost of the funeral, taxes, mortgage (if any) and your costs incurred administering the estate etc.

[twistyp]

Thanls for the replies so far. My intention is to value the estate in it's entirety and have the solicitor apply for grant of representation. I will then write to each of her supposed creditors asking for any alleged liabilities to be disclosed, which I can then challenge hopefully. I need to ensure I have the legal power to make CCA requests and SAR as the executor, and not the original debtor? The solicitor asked for a break-down or at least a rough estimate of any debt owed. I felt putting that down would make it easier for creditors to stake a claim further down the line. Any Court Grants I understand will be held publicly available, so once it is granted the value of the estate is visible, and with an accompanying acknowledgement of the debt, not a good combination I'd imagine. Despite it feeling morally wrong not to disclose the debt to the lawyer ergo it doesn't appear on anything disclosed to the courts, is this illegal as such?

[cerberusalert]

A couple of links that may be helpful.;

 

http://bfime.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/203/~/wills,-probate-%26-inheritance---some-information-for-residents-of-scotland

 

http://www.assistedprobateservices.com/dealingwithprobate.html

 

Any Court Grants I understand will be held publicly available,

Yes and any Will too.

 

Remember as an Executor if you fail to disclose information you would be held personally liable.

[twistyp]

Thanks for the above links, much appreciated.

 

I'ts a fine line with the adminstration it seems. If I write to the creditors asking for confirmation of any liabilities, once I have collected this in, I should put an ad in the paper and apply for a Bond of Caution? (Scotland).

 

Obviously I want to tick the boxes, but do the minimum, I do not want to make it easy for creditors to place a claim.

[cerberusalert]

When you write to the creditors ask them to provide proof of the debts + copies of statements.

I should put an ad in the paper and apply for a Bond of Caution? (Scotland).

Yes, then if any creditors turn up at a later date there is no comback against you.