The police called me tonight to tell me that a distant relative was found dead in their home last week.
I am the only surviving relative they could find, he never married, his oarents are dead and he had no siblings.
He lived in a council flat and had been dead for some time before a neighbour contacted the police.
There has been an autopsy and death was due to natural causes.
I am collecting keys from the Council on Monday to go to his flat and try to find any information I can - a will, bank details etc.,
I need to get a death certificate and tell the coroner which funeral director to release his body to.
I am absolutely lost with what needs to happen. I have no access to any money he might have - who sorts that out? How can I pick a funeral Director if I dont know how the funeral bill will be paid? What do i do with the contents of his flat? The council want it back..... i surely cannot just throw stuff away, its not mine to dispose of. What if I cleared the flat only to find that he had a will somewhere ( and how do I find that out), and he wanted everything to go to the cats home?
He lived 90 miles away, which makes everything an even bigger pain.
Really out of my depth, so if anyone has experience or knowledge, I will really appreciate some help😊