Hi, I live in Scotland, UK. My father passed away last year, and recently the local authority has been sending an oustanding bill to recover an overpayment made by them towards his welfare benefits as he was disabled. This has been going on for a few months. Now, the local authority is sendign these same reminders to my mum, and threatenign that they will take leagl action to recover the debt. The thing is my mother lives with me (i own the house) and has signed a trust deed to protect her against bankruptcy. At the time of my father's death, he had also signed a protected trust deed.
Given all the evidence, can the local authority still take action against my mum, and more importantly can they take action against me to recover the debt which runs into thousands of pounds due to the local authrities incompetence.
Please help, I fear that I may lose my house over this and end up on the street. What will happen to my young family?
2007-03-19 04:24:24 · 3 answers · asked by zabeonline 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Um, the guy in the USA is correct.
If someone dies and they still have a debt then it IS the next of kin that is responsible for the debt. That is why it is SO STRONGLY encouraged that you take insurance on any loan, mortgage, etc. That way, incase of death, your insurance company pays off your debts and your family is not left with the debt load. This is even true of credit cards...if your carry a balance, it will be paid off if you die if you have paid for insurance.
Many people these days don't have 'estates' to cover their debts....most North Americans don't even own their own homes or cars...they're all financed.
So, I'm not sure what the system is like in Scotland but I do know in North America that insurance is one VERY important part of life if you care about your family.
2007-03-19 08:29:59 · answer #1 · answered by PAWS 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your father's estate owes the money, not his heirs. So, if there was money in his bank account, or he owned property, all debts up to the time of his death must be paid from that before the money is distributed to his heirs.
If there is no money in the estate to pay the debt, the debt dies.
Oh, and the guy from the US is completely wrong! The system is the same in the US - the estate owes the money, not the heirs.
2007-03-19 12:16:53 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
In the USA a deceased person's debts fall to their next of kin and must be paid.
2007-03-19 11:55:04 · answer #3 · answered by dude0795 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋