Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

AIBU - to be thinking about not paying?

107 replies

HumptyDumpty1947 · 02/09/2020 15:07

My father died at the end of July. I told his landlord and cleared his flat immediately.

Today I received a bill for nearly two thousand pounds from the landlord - for six weeks notice (when the flat was empty - except for their contractors getting it ready for the next tenant). They. have also said that I am responsible for paying the council tax for six weeks after he died.

I am feeling very fed up and minded not to pay - but I have never even considered doing anything like this before and know I am very emotional at the moment and may not be being reasonable. I would be grateful for your advice on what you would do.

My fathers estate won't cover the funeral costs so it would be for me to pay.

I don't mind paying any of his bills but feel annoyed towards the landlord. They are an almshouse - a very rich charity (part of which includes two of the most expensive independent schools in the country so money for them really isn't an issue). Unfortunately they weren't especially kind to my father whilst he lived with them and many of the services that we were told would be provided weren't - so, unfortunately, I dont really feel under any moral obligation /or debt of gratitude towards them. .

I also dont really see why I should have to pay for services (such as as are paid for through council tax) when we didn't receive them. My father was dead and I pay council tax where I live. We didn't and couldn't access the flat during the six week period so had no benefit from it.

If they had been kind towards my father I might feel differently but I dont. I would resent making this payment but I do realise that perhaps I have to. I'm not sure what the legal obligations are once someone has died and what the relatives are responsible for. If they had been good with my father I wouldn't think twice about it but given some of the problems he experienced I would really resent making the payment. What would you do?

OP posts:

jessstan2 · 02/09/2020 17:43

Tell them there is no money left and they will write it off. They have to try but can't get blood out of a stone. It's not your responsibility to pay the rent and the place will be snapped up if it hasn't happened already, there is a waiting list for almshouses.

I'm sorry your dad died.

I am also very sorry the place didn't treat him well. I don't know what the usual expectation is with almshouses but I have a friend who has lived in one for a good many years and loves it. However she is OK healthwise at the moment. When I see her I will casually ask what is included in the agreement.

Thisismytimetoshine · 02/09/2020 17:48

You're not liable for any of it, ignore him.

Heffalooomia · 02/09/2020 17:55

I received a bill for nearly two thousand pounds from the landlord
you are not liable, he hopes that because you are grieving you'll be vulnerable and give in easily
ie he trying to exploit the situation

RunningAwaywiththeCircus · 02/09/2020 17:57

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

honkytonkheroe · 02/09/2020 17:59

I can see everyone else has said it but the making you feel responsible for the debt is very wrong. It’s his estate’s debt and if there is nothing in the estate to pay it then it can’t be paid. It does not get passed on to the next of kin. My dad died recently and it is shit. You definitely don’t need this.

honkytonkheroe · 02/09/2020 18:01

Anyone who has chose YABU has either done it by mistake or they do not know how this works. Your father could have a huge estate and have left it all to charity. Would you be responsible then?

Reubenshat · 02/09/2020 18:02

What a cheeky heartless twat.

You don’t need to pay a penny.

Porcupineinwaiting · 02/09/2020 18:02

I am sorry for your loss.

It may be that, as a charity, they have to try and recover the money but ultimately their claim is against the estate and, as the money is not there, they'll have to write it off.

m0therofdragons · 02/09/2020 18:03

Council tax is not charged to dead people! You’re not responsible for this. Landlord should speak to the executor but there must be a caveat regarding death in the contract.

PinkyBrain · 02/09/2020 18:04

Send a copy of the death certificate to the council tax department at the local council and they will exempt it for you.

Doodar · 02/09/2020 18:07

you're not responsible, they're chancers.

FinallyHere · 02/09/2020 18:19

Sorry for your loss.

My fathers estate won't cover the funeral costs so it would be for me to pay.

The landlord's contract was with your DF, he is a creditor to the estate of your late father. If there isn't enough in the estate to pay the landlord, the debt will be written off

You owe nothing

endofthelinefinally · 02/09/2020 18:36

The LL is attempting to fleece you. Dreadful.
I am sorry for your loss.

IncandescentSilver · 02/09/2020 18:42

Oh god, thats ridiculous!

The contract is frustrated - the tenant is dead (sorry to be blunt) but that ends the contract without any liabilities on either side other than debts run up while the tenant was alive. A deceased tenant cannot give notice, and a third party cannot be liable for their tenancy.

Neither is a dead person required to pay council tax.

I'm really shocked that an almshouse, which presumably has quite a few tenants and properties, isn't aware of frustration of contract when a tenant dies. It is a long established, and well known legal principle based on common law. Perhaps it is one person who has got it wrong.

Its almost verging on fraudulent to try and persuade a third party to pay this debt. I'd be tempted to threaten to call the police and ask them to investigate as to whether this is some kind of scam by an indvidual working there - perhaps they have an intention to line their own pockets?

Do not pay it. It is not, in any shape or form, a legally enforceble debt, either against you or the estate.

OlympicProcrastinator · 02/09/2020 18:49

He is lying about council tax to get money out of a grieving woman. For that alone he could go sing.

In any event, you PERSONALLY are NOT liable according to the law. He could only possibly claim on the estate and only then if it was a fixed term contract. If there is not enough left from the estate after funeral costs then he has no claim whatsoever, even if you personally were a millionaire.

Don’t pay the wanker. Sorry for your loss.

rwalker · 02/09/2020 18:54

Don't pay it comes out of the estate if theres anything left which there isn't

independentfriend · 02/09/2020 18:55

Council Tax isn't chargeable when a property is empty after a resident has died for I think six months (but certainly more than six weeks). If your father was in hospital immediately before his death, the estate may be due a refund as there's also an exemption from Council Tax where someone is living permanently in a hospital and I've seen that used to ask for a refund of Council Tax where someone has had a "last illness" in hospital before their death.

MrsSlipSlop · 02/09/2020 18:58

I thought the idea was that alms houses were that they were charitable for people of limited financial means.

Someone here is being greedy, and it’s this charity.

SusanneLinder · 02/09/2020 19:08

I work in Housing. Tenant stops being liable for rent on the day they pass away in our organisation. And CT. Any bills would be liable from the estate, but as there isn't one, you aren't expected to pay.

ILoveFood87 · 02/09/2020 19:11

Sorry for your loss OP. You have no obligation to pay,its really rude of the landlord as they must know you have no obligations. You are not their tenant. Really really bad tbh.

ChesterDrawsDoesntExist · 02/09/2020 19:24

Money can be passed on but debts cannot. You are not financially responsible for his debts. They die with him.

SorrelBlackbeak · 02/09/2020 19:25

@MrsSlipSlop

I thought the idea was that alms houses were that they were charitable for people of limited financial means.

Someone here is being greedy, and it’s this charity.

As people have said earlier, the charity are very unlikely to be expecting payment, but to meet their own management obligations they have to show that they have requested payment of rent and it's been refused for very valid reasons (not enough money on the estate). It isn't the charity being greedy. They know you are liable for it, but just have to check about the estate.

LadyMacbethWasMisunderstood · 02/09/2020 19:56

Just to add so you have the weight of many replies. You are not liable for your Father’s debts. You are not responsible for these debts at all. Sorry for your loss.

Bluntness100 · 02/09/2020 19:59

Go back to them and say the bill is to your fathers estate.

Did you inherit anything? Because I think there is a thing that if he basically leaves his estate to you you become liable for it’s debts, so you need to refuse it. A solicitor can confirm.

Either way go to the council and landlord and just say the contract wasn’t with you and it needs to be passed to the estate. Have you a solicitor?

tsmainsqueeze · 02/09/2020 20:48

Sorry for your loss x
When you have informed them of the facts i think i would also be giving them an eloquent piece of my mind regarding the treatment of your dad,
it may stop them doing the same thing to someone else .

Flip

1 2 3 4 5