Selling deceased's clothes?

[reredos1]

I am sorting out the estate of someone who recently died. There is no will. There is no property. There isn't much in the way of money. The main asset left is clothes - and they are M&S, Matalan, Primark etc. They are in reasonable condition, but not exactly pristine, nothing left with labels still on etc.

I know the deceased would have wanted the clothes donated. There will be enough to cover the funeral, but not much more and there is likely that there will be debt outstanding after the money left has been used up.

Do I have to sell the clothes? Where do you stop when it comes to 'realising the value of assets'? I've got stuff like half used crossword books, used biros etc. The deceased was only discharged from bankruptcy in the last few years. There are no items that are worth more than pennies.

Any guidance really, really welcome.

[SolidGoldBrass]

You won't get more than pennies for the clothes even if you Ebay them, so I would suggest just giving them to charity.
WRT the debts, some debts basically 'die with' the deceased whose debts they were. I suggest a word with the CAB about the types of debt (if it was, for instance, Provident loans then those definitely get written off when the debtor dies). It might just be a matter of iinforming creditors that the person is dead and that they can whistle for their money there is nothing left to pay them with.

[Earlybird]

I wouldn't bother with selling any of it, tbh. You'll spend more in time/postage than the items are worth. Just donate.

[HowDdo2You]

I would donate too.

[paxtecum]

Just donate the clothes.
Ebaying them will be soooo time consuming.

Maybe make a list of the clothes and where they were bought from in case you are asked in the future.

Charity shops make money from selling old clothes for rags so they will take the lot.

[reredos1]

Thank you so much for this. It's a sad thing when someone goes, and now I have been looking at half used packs of Christmas cards and stuff and wondering what to do.

As for any debts left after the funeral is paid for (cheap funeral) I am tempted to tell them all to fuck right off. It was stuff that was being disputed anyway, but I haven't found enough from the papers to know if the deceased was in the right or not. It's really only one creditor and I'm not scared of them. I'll do right by the deceased, missing them a lot.

[Earlybird]

IF there is money to pay the debts, the debts will be paid. If there is no money left, then the debts will not be paid (unless there is a living co-signer).

[Lisawantsacat]

Doesn't matter whether the deceased was in the right or not, the debts should die. Tell them if they're desperate to be repaid they're welcome to the clothes, but otherwise there's no money left (funeral gets first dibs on estate), so they need to jog on. (And if those creditors happen to be banks or utility companies, enjoy the moment.... I bloody did when my dad died, go fuck yerself Santander!)

[reredos1]

I'll do the right thing. I've not found phone bills or anything like that. No utilities, no rent/mortgage, no hp, no car/car load, no loans, just one item which if is owed (I'll have to do some digging) will be paid but probably not in full.

[reredos1]

I'm glad I haven't had to deal with Santander. When MIL died the bank refused to deal with the administrator but tried to insist on only dealing with the deceased in person.

[Bleakhouse1879]

You can weigh the clothes in, there are many companies now that give you cash for clothes, determined by weight. The company then recycles the material.

[SolidGoldBrass]

this might help though it doesn't sound as though much of it applies to you. However it does say that, unless it was a shared debt (eg you are the deceased's partner and there are rent arrears) no one can come after you for it if there is nothing left in the estate to pay it.

[RedDaisyRed]

Everything I looked up in the 100 hours I spent on my father's estate was worth just about nothing in the house! The house clearance company once we'd taken what we wanted said usually there are 3 tonnnes and my parents had 7 tonnes to dispose of stuff and that these days peopkle buy ikea furniture new and there is no market for old furniture unless a real antique. Every item I looked up on Ebay from clothes to even the chair lift which was custom made so not reuseable had just about no value so I think just offer the clothes to the heirs if they want them and give them a deadline and otherwise just give them to charity. I did have my mother's shoe size so I still have a few of her shoes which I like to wear sometimes and I have about 35 pairs of her tights, unopened packets which might well take me a life time to use.

Obviously it depends on the chattels - some can be very valuable and ought to be sold.

[sleeponeday]

Nothing to add to the good advice here, except to say that I'm so sorry for your loss.

[reredos1]

Thank you for all the help, and the good wishes. I really appreciate it.

I may try the places that pay for clothes by weight.

It is actually straightforward in some ways. There are the funeral expenses. I am liable for those if the estate can't cover them as I arranged the funeral. The funeral should be covered, and I know that they are the first debt to be paid. There is a disputed debt, don't want to say too much as it is a bit unusual, and there may be insufficient funds if it turns out the money is owed.

After that, no debts, no money owed to the deceased, chattels are things like a watch bought for 99p from the market. No furniture, no tv, no collectables - this was someone who invested in life, not things. The bankruptcy a few years ago wiped out most of the assets.

I want to do the right thing, I don't want to be accused of getting rid of assets without paying debts. If it turns out the disputed debt isn't owed then there are a perhaps a few hundred pounds to split between relatives.

It isn't a bad way to be, I suppose. The funeral is going to be packed. I wish they were still here.