Death and DCA's what are my options regarding my mothers estate

[Gwolst77]

So my mother passed a few weeks ago, it was sudden but she had been very ill and was under palliative care but we was all expecting her to live another 6 - 12 months.

There was no will and when I closed down her account she had approx £16k which was savings and a surplus in her current account. There is also about another £7k to come via some insurance policies once I get that the paperwork sorted.

 

Now she has some outstanding legacy debts with Moorcroft's which date back from around 2009. These were originally from Halifax relating to overdraft and credit cards that defaulted due to her having to give up work suddenly due to ill health if I remember correctly and before you ask she did get PPI back on those accounts.

 

I've just cleared out the last of her things and found some direct debt cancellation letters from last week that have arrived via the post and I was wondering what my options are?

 

Just so we are clear

 

1. There was no will so I'm next of kin dealing with everything, I have not signed anything formally relating to dealing with her estate etc.

2. The DCA accounts are registered to my mum's old address she moved from back in September 2021, she had a Royal Mail redirection still in place so nothing is directly linked to her final address

3. I have not contacted any of the DCA's as far as they are concerned mum is still with us only her direct debt has been cancelled

4. My guess is that she owed to the DCA's around £10k - £12k across two maybe three different accounts. Looking at the bank statements these are payments of £5 per month

5. There is myself and my sister that will split any remaining monies once all funeral costs, rent, utility and benefit over payments have been settled.

6. There are no property or any other types of assets involved and she was living in sheltered accommodation provided by an housing association at the time of her death.

 

Obviously I would rather just ignore the letters for the DCA's and I am not sure how they can trace anything back to me and even if they did, do they actually have any options to take things further?

[dx100uk]

she most probably did not owe the debts in the 1st place

esp if she was paying scamming DCA's, we know how vulnerable people get done over.

 

ignore them.

 

dx

 

 

 

[AndyOrch]

Our sincere condolences Gwolst77 

The Moorcroft debt Re Halifax accounts will still be with Halifax so I would inform them direct (Halifax) and send a copy of the Death Certificate.

 

If the rest are with DCAs (IE the debt have been sold /assigned to them) then ignore them.

The letters you refer to have they been sent to the Sheltered housing? or her previous address?

 

Andy

 

[Gwolst77]

Letters are all going to her previous address before she moved into sheltered housing last year, the only reason I have seen the letters regarding the DD being cancelled is because of the redirection.

 

I will be handing the keys back in a few days time and that is me done and dusted with the place, I have no idea how long the redirection is setup for but the maximum time I think you can do is 2 years (or it may be 18 months)

 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Gwolst77

[dx100uk]

well done.

ruddy scammers

 

there was me thinking redirection was max 6mts..?

 

dx

 

[AndyOrch]

So just to get this straight as it's not clear. The redirection of letters is from her previous rented home to the sheltered housing ?

 

 

.

[Gwolst77]

Yes that is correct, everything in her name relating to these accounts is going to her old rented address she moved out of last year (September 2021).

 

If the redirection was not in place I could be totally unaware of this situation. There are no records as my mum shredded everything and left no records of any debts, well that's my official line and they would have to prove otherwise. 

[AndyOrch]

So just 3 accounts and chased by Moorcroft....of which you think are Halifax accounts.....not wishing to go on but if you can image the new tenants of your Mums house if Bailiffs turn up/Sheltered Housing and how they are going to be bombarded with letters

 

It's your decision but I would be informing the Halifax at the least...yes, they will write back to you asking about here estate but you respond and state there is no estate end of.

 

 

 

 

[Ethel Street]

Sorry to hear of your loss @Gwolst77

 

Royal Mail Redirection is for a max of 12 months at a time but can be renewed annually up to a maximum of 4 years.  However when it comes up to its next 12 months anniversary it cannot be renewed in your late mother's name. It would have to be a new Redirection application in your name as Adminstrator of her Estate. You would have to have a formal appointment as Adminsitrator from the Probate Office to do this, not just be doing it as next of kin.

 

If redirected post arrives at the sheltered housing after you have handed back the keys will it be passed to you?

 

Will you be applying to the Probate Office to be appointed as Administrator? [Jargon note: 'Administrator' is equivalent to 'Executor' when someone hasn't left a Will]. 

 

The bank accepted your notification of your mother's death, which is presumably why the DDs have been cancelled. But will they let you have the money now or will they require to get a formal appointment as Adminstrator from the Probate Office? You can apply online but I've heard that there are delays in the Probate Offcie and it takes several months before they issue the formal document, the 'Letters of Administration'.  Applying for probate: If there is not a will - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

Can you clarify whether your late mother had been making regular payments on all the debts you have identified? Is it the DDs making repayments of debt that have been cancelled?

 

As a general rule of thumb if you get a formal appointment as Adminstrator you do have a legal duty to pay the debts of the Estate. But solely as next of kin you are not liable for your late mother's debts. [Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.]

 

[Ethel Street]

2 hours ago, Andyorch said:

It's your decision but I would be informing the Halifax at the least...yes, they will write back to you asking about here estate but you respond and state there is no estate end of.

 

I'd be inclined to say that as I'm not the Executor I am unable to confirm anything about the Estate rather than state something that I know isn't true (as there is an Estate). I might also say that as she owned no property and was living in sheltered housing I doubt the Estate is very much,.

[AndyOrch]

 

 

Quote

5. There is myself and my sister that will split any remaining monies once all funeral costs, rent, utility and benefit over payments have been settled.

Probate may not necessarily be required once the account balance is below £20k assuming you have access to your Mums account and have not informed the Bank yet of your mother's death.

[Gwolst77]

Just to clarify a few things

 

We already have the money from my mum's bank accounts, Santanscare closed the account and transferred the money a few days later. The bereavement team at the bank said as it was under £50k (I'm pretty sure she said £50k but may have misheard £20k) there was no need for probate, TBH it was a very straightforward process I went into the branch on the Wednesday morning for about 45 mins and it was all sorted, the account was closed on Friday and the money was in my account on the Saturday morning.

 

The payments for the DCA's were via Direct Debt, hence the letters from them regarding the DD's being cancelled and to arrange alternative payment methods. The payment amounts are token gestures of £3 and £5 each and have been running for probably 10 years. I have noticed today on her the bank statements a Standing Order for Capquest for £3, I've no idea about that one, as all I have is the transaction record on the final bank statement to reference.

 

So far I have not been told officially by anyone or organization that I have to apply to administer of her estate, the only outstanding items left regarding monies coming in are two funeral plans that need to be claimed which total about £7k.

 

I do have to fill in a form regarding administrators/executors to close her private pension down which I received today from her pension company. It's annuity that had been running for a long time and our understanding based on what our mum said is we will not get anything from it when she passes.

 

Regarding mail being redirected etc. Once it ends all that will happen is it will go to the previous address and the people there either can bin it or RTS it, which is what virtually everyone I know does when they get mail for previous tenants/owners.

[AndyOrch]

Yes, all fine...but I would still inform Halifax then the debts can be legally written off and Moorcroft put back in their cage.

Yes, the new owners can bin or RTS but if Halifax get a CCJ which you will not know about then the new tenants could be plagued with Bailiffs and you can't bin them or RTS. 

 

Wouldn't worry about the Capquest debt I would assume that has been assigned to them.

[Ethel Street]

Sounds like you won't need to apply to be officially appointed by the Probate office as Administrator. No need if all the money/assets will be passed to you without it.

 

The pension plan was paying a pension to your mother presumably, you sent them the death certificate, and payments have ceased, yes? In which case all you need to say on the form is 'Estate too small to require Probate, no Executor/Administrator appointed'.

[jaycee113]

"Now she has some outstanding legacy debts with Moorcroft's which date back from around 2009. These were originally from Halifax relating to overdraft and credit cards that defaulted due to her having to give up work suddenly due to ill health if I remember correctly and before you ask she did get PPI back on those accounts."

 

This is interesting. I had three consecutive loans with a Building Society on which I claimed PPI. I was entitled to PPI on all three of them and I was advised of the amount of the PPI due on each one. To receive the total amount of PPI the loans needed to have been settled in full. Loan one was paid off by loan two, loan two by loan three and loan three by Lowell Portfolio when they bought the debt. Result! I owed the building society nothing. I don't think it would harm you to contact the Halifax but there's a fair chance you don't need to. 

 

 

[fletch70]

Ten years ago my ex died and I cleared her estate. After funeral costs, headstones and our expenses (clearing the house) I wrote and told her creditors there was no money left. They all accepted it although a couple did send it to a team who deal with estates- but a copy of the DC and they all went quietly away.