Maintaining household utilities after the death of the home owner

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

Our remaining parent is terminally ill. I am trying to sort out what I can now while I am here away from home caring for them. I can't go out much, have the time, and quite frankly it's good to do something productive.

We will need to keep the house on for quite a few months to clear it, prepare for selling etc None of us siblings live nearby so will stay in the house whenever we're able to be here and we will need to continue gas, electric. Wifi, water etc for the duration. I know I will have to ring round all the providers eventually but just wondered what generally happens in that situation? Will we need to move the utilities accounts into one of our names? Or will they allow us to keep the accounts in Mum's name for a while?
What will they need other than a copy of the death certificate if they need to change the account name when the time comes?

I'm talking to the bank soon to arrange to make the bank accounts joint in my name (already have PoA so can access and manage the account, but PoA ceases upon their death). Joint access needed mainly so that the existing direct debits for payment can be honoured and that I can legitimately use that account to pay eg funeral expenses (I think anyway, will double check that directly with the bank).

Sorry if all of the above sounds callous but it will need sorting eventually and think I'm in a better frame of mind to do it now rather than when I'm dealing with grief and funeral arrangements.
Thank you

When I was dealing with my mum and dads house after their death, I phoned the bereavement department of each utility company and they were very helpful and moved the account to a special state where you don't pay the bills (as of course your mums current account will be frozen so even though you had access as POA that is cut off) though I got statements and this continued till the house was sold then I did a meter reading and paid the final amount. All they needed was the death certificate. The only thing not like this was the house insurance where I did have to make the payments

I am so sorry you are having to deal with all of this.

Council tax is not payable for a maximum of 12 months and you will need to supply a copy of the death certificate.

When the death is registered ask for about half a dozen copies of the certificate as it is cheaper to get them at that time. You can also ask the registrar to do one notification so everyone us contacted.

It can save some aggro if the person registering the death is an executor I found / creates less questions.

Bank account. The account had to be closed and the funds transferred to an executor account which goes not attract any interest. Took a couple of days when I did it.

Energy bills. I called the companies and they just changed the name and address on the bill. They were very helpful.

You need to notify any private pension provider if there is one. Do this asap if you may find you have to pay money back.

For probate, if required, it can be done by you online, particularly if it is a fairly simple estate.

This was about 2 years ago but I don't think anything has changed.

We continued paying all the bills which which were sent to us as Executors of xxxxx, are you Executors. Ask the bank for a debit card and cheque book , you will need to take an original poa in and your own i.d. you may not be able to clear the house before probate, has mum made a Will. The bank should release funds to cover her funeral. Sorry you are in this difficult position. You will need to contact the bereavement depts of all the utility companies and when mum has passed get plenty of copies of the death certificate and use the TellUsOnce service, you will also need to contact her insurance company if her house is going to be empty.

The bank being joint will still give you access

Thank you - so much useful information. I really appreciate it and all the kind words, even more so as this must bring back some unhappy memories. I am sorry if so x

I will clarify with the bank when I have my appointment but just to clarify (sorry if my OP wasn't clear, I'm sure you'll understand why!)

Currently, I have access to the bank account as PoA. I know that those PoA powers cease on their death.

However, I was advised that if I am added to the account as a joint account holder (which I can authorise as PoA even tho it's me?), the account t won't be frozen and I will still be able to use it? I may have misunderstood so will check . I have an appointment to discuss that as the bank person who dealt with setting up my access as PoA wasn't authorised to make the changes to joint account.

Anything else you think I should be sorting with the bank in advance?

We rang around everyone and explained we needed all the utilities to stay on until the house sold. We cancelled council tax as the house was empty however, it meant we had to take any rubbish to the tip. I would cancel wifi and telephone as people can use their data.

Once the house was sold we paid all the final bills and the estate was settled with a solicitor.

There is such alot to do and it is full on. I hope you have support.

Thank you @user1471538283
I think we would keep the landline because a lot of family and friends won't have our mobile numbers. Will check with the council as there will be one or more of us there a lot of the time.

There will be such a lot to do, which is why I am doing some of the thinking now. I will have some support but will have to be the one allocating actions and for reasons I'm ok with will probably end up with most of the admin.

Don't know how long it will be - some improvement today and nurse who came today seemed think it wouldn't be 'anytime soon' unlike when things were looking worse earlier in the week when I was being advised to expect the worst.

You could ask the bank if there are standing orders, direct debits, pensions, life insurance, any regular amounts going in or out and if there are more than one type of account.

@MayThePawsBeWithYou I have PoA access and can see everything online so know exactly what accounts there are with that bank and can see statements so what is coming in / going out - but appreciate your saying that because it's a reminder that all those organisations will need contacting at some point. I also have access to all of their paperwork in the house so had best check there's not another bank account I'm not aware of. Im focusing on the main account now as this is where money comes into / goes out of

If you haven't done so already I would get a royal mail redirection of any post that goes to the house, then you can deal with things as they arrive through your letterbox. There's likely to be memberships and subscriptions that can be cancelled.

If there are other bank accounts it might be worth asking if they can all be consolidated

@MrsMoastyToasty

If you haven't done so already I would get a royal mail redirection of any post that goes to the house, then you can deal with things as they arrive through your letterbox. There's likely to be memberships and subscriptions that can be cancelled.

That's a good point thank you @MrsMoastyToasty Added to the list for when the time comes, better to have mail going to their house for now as they are receiving letters, cards, magazines etc

@MayThePawsBeWithYou

If there are other bank accounts it might be worth asking if they can all be consolidated

That would definitely make sense. Thank you.

After my DM died the executors had to take out buildings insurance on the unoccupied house. One of the conditions of the insurance was that the central heating system was drained and the water turned off (as was the gas). The electricity stayed on though. It was a pain in the backside as we lived 1 1/2 hours away and were visiting the house to clear it out and keep the garden tidy whilst it was up for sale. Fortunately we did most of the clearance in spring so it wasn't too cold and the ndn was very kind in making us cups if tea and letting us use his toilet!

@bigbluebus thank you - I was just wondering about insurance. I will speak to the insurance company about that as I think there will probably be someone in the house most of the time. Draining. Central heating would be a pain as we'd be there too long to be cold. All depends when it happens but a really important point to make sure is covered, thank you

On a practical note, if none of you live locally, it really helped me to get a self store unit so that all the stuff that needed sorting through or selling all came back with me and then I could go and have a few hours sitting in the unit doing stuff at my leisure and of course everything of possible value was out of the house. I had the unit for 6 months and it made a big difference rather than trekking back and forth

That is an excellent idea @CMOTDibbler, that hadn't crossed my mind at all.
I'm creating a list of these suggestions to pass on to other people in future and hopefully this thread will help others too.
Very much appreciated.

Two other things that helped me (both my parents died in the first month of lockdown 1 and MIL died in November 21 so alas too much experience). A notebook with their NI, DOB/DOD, NHS numbers etc and a list of all the phone numbers for all the different companies then I listed on separate pages for example: British Gas. Date1, phoned bereavement no, sending forms by email. Date 2, sent death certificate and forms, date 3 certificate returned
This meant I could see at a glance where everything was, who I was waiting for and when someone called and needed information I had it all right there.
I also kept a spreadsheet of all the valuations, bank accounts and things I had to pay out so it was all in one place and it meant doing the IHT form was so much easier

I'm so sorry you had to deal with so much loss so close together @CMOTDibbler. I really appreciate your sharing your experience and so many helpful suggestions. All noted and truly appreciated thank you.

Regarding the bank, you will not be able to make it a joint account in the true sense as your dm would need to do this herself even though you have POA. Even if you did, the account would still be frozen upon her death. However, they will keep the account ‘live’ so to speak for. Length of time (my MILs was like this for 6 months) so that any payments from or to the estate could be paid in / out. The undertakers sent their invoices directly to the bank, who paid them promptly.
Are you the beneficiary of the estate? If so, the house then becomes your property as soon as probate is completed. You (or whoever is the beneficiary) will be responsible for any costs incurred in maintaining the house until it is sold.
Make sure you get plenty of copies of the will when you register the death - it works out much cheaper than getting more copies after you’ve registered it. Some companies will return copies of the will, others will keep their copy.

Ah ok so I'd misunderstood (or was incorrectly advised by the last person I spoke to in the bank) but will discuss with the bank directly.

The house is written in Trust to me and my siblings so that is another thing I need to look into. Not quite sure what happens there, does anyone know?

I knew to get multiple copies of the death certificate at the point of registering the death, I hadn't thought of multiple copies of the will, also noted.

Thank you @Soontobe60

Regarding insurance of unoccupied property, not all require you to drain tank or turn everything off. Instead you can have the heating on constant at 15 degrees (stops pipes freezing with resulting flood risk). I've had one like that. Then you can just turn the heating up when you visit

Not sure if this is relevant but the bank will release funds to pay for the funeral.

My MIL died last year, the house was then unoccupied. Gas and electric was on a smart meter so once it was transferred to dh's name they just used the meter for the readings. Water we didn't have to pay anything. Insurance we had to pay for unoccupied cover. Council tax we didn't pay whilst probate was going through.

I am not sure if it was because dh was the sole benefactor but the one bank paid the funds to us straight away as was under £50 000, the other bank we had to wait until probate had gone through as it was over this amount. Due to low house prices in the area we were no where near inheritance tax threshold.

Our biggest hassle was sorting out one of FIL's pensions that MIL had thrown her toys out the pram over when he died, we were entitled to the backdate of the pension for the 9 years. The amount of stuff they needed was ridiculous - all for the pricey payout of £95.

This is a good resource I used with a link to a checklist.

www.bereavementadvice.org/topics/what-to-do-when-someone-dies/step-by-step-checklist/

We paid the funeral costs directly, but if we hadn't had the funds they would have waited until probate had gone through. I just didn't want the bill hanging over us when we had the funds there.

Wishing you peace at this time.

Her house had no central heating, luckily the house is a mid terrace and also it only extended from March to November so not a cold time of year luckily.