My dad died this morning, He took loans out with doorstep lenders before his death and there's nothing in the contracts saying what happens.

[avenanap]

He was very ill, he had emphasema and was taken into hospital with pneumonia yesterday. He died this morning. My sister has been given the things from his pockets and it appears that he's taken out loans to pay for his funeral a few weeks before he died. I am very angry that he was allowed to do this given how ill he was. My sister is unsure what she should do about these, there's no payment protection. He didn't write a will or sign over anything to her. I've also got nephews that have no contact with the family (long story), I think they should be told but I have no way of contacting them. I know my dad's in a better place where he can breath, he was housebound and I think he knew he was dying. I feel a bit of a bitch as I've not cried. I just think that he's at peace now. Is that wrong?

So sorry about your dad, avenanap - yes, he is at peace now, be glad for him for that.

I think when somebody dies the debt dies with them - until you find out for sure, don't even think about paying anything back.

Hugs.

Thankyou.

I'm very sorry. No, it's not wrong to feel relief now - just very human. People react differently and you'll mourn in your own way. Give yourself a bit of time, if you can, before you start fretting about the loans and nephews issues.

Sorry to hear about your dad, avenanap. No advice about the debt though.

I'm guessing if he took out loans to pay for his funeral, he didn't have an awful lot else, but I'm not sure where paying for a funeral fits into that list. I would ask the CAB for advice.

Sorry to hear about your dad.

when my mum died we found out she was over 25k in debt. My mum had no estate, she lived in council housing and had no savings and no will. Her belongings had to be sold to pay for her funeral (just about covered it with the small insurance policy we found too). If your dad has no estate (house/savings) then the debt dies with him, you have to send all the creditors a copy of the death certificate with a letter stateing he has no estate. If he has savings and a house then it has to be paid from that before it is allocated to family etc.

Sorry i cant advise but wanted to say how sorry i am

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your dad.

You are absolutely not wrong to feel like this. Or not to have cried. I did not cry for months after my mum passed away, and like your dad, she went to a place with no pain, so I was relieved.

Grief is a strong powerful and unpredictable emotion/time and you need to make sure you are not hard on yourself, however you and your emotions choose to deal with things over the next few weeks/months, there is no wrong or right way to feel.

But relief is certainly a valid and normal feeling.

I dont think that you or your family can be chased for a debt that is not yours. You have no obligation to pay, but I cant say for sure. Best to seek legal advice. but not immediately.

Give yourself, and your family some time and space to collect your thoughts, and your strength, before you take any action.

There is no rush.

He has savings, he's been saving for his funeral. I think he had about 5K because he didn't want us to be left paying for his funeral. He'd died by the time I got to the hospital and the nurse didn't tell me he had gone. She told me my brothers were in with him and asked if I'd spoken to my sister. I could tell he had died though but I didn't know what to say to my brothers. He lived in a council flat so there's no property, he was told to ask for a pm by his consultant so do we have to wait for this until we contact the bank etc?

im so sorry you are going through this. It is horrid, i went through this when my mum died 3 years ago.
you need to contatc the bank to tell them he has passed ASAp same with council otherwise you will have to pay the rent. You need to ring to cancel any benefits he was getting too otherwise it will have to be paid back. Normally it is the oldest child who deals with this or they can nominate someone in the event of no will.
Once all the financial people know of your dads passing then you need to take some itme out to grieve as nothing else can be done till you can go and register the death and get the certificate.
You can use the savings to pay for the funeral but will probably find you have to get the bank to make the cheque out to the funeral directors direct, thats what happened with the money my mum had ion her account (was only about £200 though) Any other savings left will have to go to your dads debt im afraid BUT if you go to a funeral director who can also sort out the headstone oyu can just get the CHQ made out to them and pay for it all. The debt will then be wiped out.

Is it possible that as an ill man he could have been persuaded to take this loan out? Do you think he might have been vulnerable/pressured, as you said it was a doorstop loan?

If so, I would seek advice as, even with savings, this debt might not be repayable if he was not in a position health wise to be making this kind of decision under pressure. Especially if he knew he was ill and worried about funeral costs.

Just a thought.

He's done this before. When he knew he was going to lose a job he'd take out a loan with PPI a few weeks before. I think he knew what was going to happen. In the last few weeks he'd stopped eating and was sleeping all day. I have just phoned my sister, she's going to phone the loan companies tomorrow. I think he knew exactly what he was doing, he maxed out the loans he thought would not have to be paid back.

Good luck avenanap, and rest some. Its clearly been a tough day, and you really dont have to do eveything at once.

Some things can be left. These people dont need paying asap.

Look after yourself and talk to us on MN any time you want. As you probably know MNers are very supportive. I first came on when my mum died and I needed some advice about belongings, did not know where to turn, and I never left! I found people very kind and understanding in ways I could not find in RL, even though no-one knew me.

I really wouldnt worry about it. The bank will only write a cheque out for the savings to the funeral directors anyway unless a will has been left. This will ensure that your dads funeral is covered and probably leave a little funds for the head stone. All other debt is wiped out.

Thankyou. I'm going to go and sit for a while. I'll catch up tomorrow. You've all been really kind and I'm very grateful.

avenanap how are you feeling today? I hope you are bearing up alright.

I'm sorry Presumably if the loan was that recent he had the money set aside somewhere so it could be repaid from the estate.

ávenanap i have only just seen this i hope you and j are ok, you know where i am if you need anything. so sorry thinking about you.

Hi. Thankyou for all of your kind words, I really do appreciate it. ds and I are fine. We've been taking it easy, I've had the flu so we have hardly left the house and I've spent the last few days sleeping and off my face through taking flu medicine, which has helped.

The dodgy doorstep lenders have insurance for customers who have died so this is OK, however, he'd taken out a bank loan last year for a few thousand so we're not sure what happens to this. There's enough left to cover the funeral and the loan then that's it. I don't know if he had PPI as there's nothing on the contract. It makes me so angry that he was allowed to have loans considering how ill he was. My mum said he was offered more money from a doorstep lender only last week. It seems silly really. I'm not sure if we have to find a solicitor to sort the loan out though. My sister's collecting the certificate next week and will have to take it to the bank. I don't think there'll be alot left after the loan is repaid so will she be able to get access to whatever is left without going through a solicitor?

Thankyou all though.

My mum passed away 2 years ago and as an only child I had to deal with it all. She had a credit card with an outstanding balance and some money in the Bank. I went along to the Bank with her death certificate and they closed her account there and then and gave me what was left in her account. I had to show id etc but there was absolutely no hassle. Never even heard from them about the credit card. I had to go along to the Council and the quicker you do this the better as u will start to be charged for rent. My mum was disabled and so didnt even pay rent but they did try to hit me with a bill. So sorry for your loss avenanap.

Sorry for your loss avenanap. If the doorstep lenders are biggish companies like Provident then I think the debt dies with the debtor, and they will not pursue it agressively (these companies are gougers but they are not crooks and are sensitive about their reputations so they won't harass a grieving relative in case they end up on Watchdog or something).

So sorry avenanap. No advice on the debt issue, but just wanted to say that grief seems to work very differently in different people, and there's no "right" way to grieve - my only advice would be to simply accept the feelings that come to you, and don't fight them or feel guilty about them, whether they be calmness, rage, or weeping.

sorry to hear for your loss. i myself am waiting to get the news about my last living grandparent. my family members seem to have this uncanny way of passing when i simply cannot make it to the gathering. at least i have never had to deal with the paperwork after. that may be why you haven't had time to grieve. you have a million things on your mind and the flu. it sounds like your father may have been taken advantage of because they recognized that he needed money. hopefully it will all work out for you and your family.