Probate Agents

[Bazile]

A bank has written to me regarding the accounts of a recently deceased family member , which is in debit.
From the letter :

‘’ At ……… Bank PLC we are committed to providing the help and support which is most appropriate to the needs of our customers , we have therefore referred the above accounts to our specialist probate agents , Phillips & Cohen Associates (UK) Ltd who will be writing to you shortly ‘’

1. What powers do a probate agent have with respect to Estate of the deceased ?
2. Can they force me to do anything / force me to do anything within a particular time period ?
3. Who is responsible for their costs ?

[atalanta]

Are you the executor of the deceased's will ? (If there was one.) If there wasn't, are you next of kin and prepared to deal with the estate ? Whatever the answers, I suggest you start with the Citizens Advice Bureau. They can at least point you in the right direction, if they can't help you immediately themselves.

[Peter Pedant]

.First of all Baz sorry for the loss - am I allowed to say I hope I hope they werent that close ?
and is there a will ?

I have been through this exercise Bazeel with ... philips and cohen....
and if you can supply a thow away email address, then I can go thro it with you

Phil & C will write to you - para three of their letter will say that executors are not responsible for the deceased debts - but that DOESN'T mean that you keep the assets and write off the debts...

it is overall. think balanced accounts

altho there is advice where the executor is advised to say " no no thank you I dont want to be exec " ( when one of the debtors can apply to administer the estate ) I went thro with it. There was a will.

If you decide to go ahead ( as I did as I thought it might be a usefull exercise for me ) then you have do the whole thing ( not just t the bank account )

and this I found quite useful
http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/dealing-with-a-deceased-persons-money-and-property

and followed this:

http://www.birminghambereavementadvice.co.uk/probate-and-other-legal-procedures/insolventestates.php

so I dealt with the estate 'informally'

so in short the debts were £10k and the assets £1.3k
so there was no hope of a dividend

the funeral expenses come first out of the estate - and the assets went on that. I paid the difference and made it clear to everyone that this was not a contribution to the estate but private money

google deceased insolvent estates

1. they have no powers as such unless they apply to a court
2. answered above only if you are an exec and have taken on mission impossible. - time period I think all estates if you are winding up, have to be done in 12 mo. With no money and so no money movements it took me 16 weeks
3. THEIR costs - they are . Your costs are basically yours I'm afraid - a lay exec cant charge. for example I didnt advertise for further debtors as it was an extra £250 which the estate didnt have, and didnt apply for bankruptcy as that was £500 which the estate didnt have


then you write a letter to all the debtors saying there is no money at all to pay any of this debt....

which in my case was utils, credit card, landlord, and money lender

BC I daresay will tell you what the position is if there is no will
( I think you have to apply to administer the estate )

you can walk away from this

BUT it is all or none - you cant do a bit and leave the rest

[ukbod2015]

Philips and Cohens specialise in debt collection - need I say more.

[Peter Pedant]

Having had a letter and de alings with them
yes ukbod I think you should .....

The letter they will send will make it clear that debts are not carried over - but that is a debt/deficit over all. You/one cant pocket the assets and leave the debts ( unsurprisingly )

[ukbod2015]

I couldnt answer more because you didnt finish the question - "family member" - how can you be held liable for any agreement unless you are personally involved. Yes an estates debts must be paid first but as its in debit - it does not appear there is anything else for you to do.