My NDN's son (NDNS) separated from his wife about a year ago partly due to her mental problems, but they were still in amicable contact regularly. She was living in some form of sheltered housing, again I gather due to her problems, and he moved in with his mum.
She died very suddenly a few days ago (which he only found out when he tried to phone her mobile!), and he is trying to sort out her affairs including things like her funeral. He isn't the most educated person and is pretty much in pieces, so I went round to try to help him sort things out. Turns out that to do anything he needs her death certificate, which he can't collect until he takes in their marriage certificate and her birth certificate. All fine and as I'd expect - except that Social Services are refusing to let him have any access to her sheltered flat (only her name on it), even if escorted, and that's where her birth certificate is.
So on the one hand he is being told he is responsible for sorting everything out including her funeral (which he can't even get help for as they weren't living together when she died), and on the other he's being told he can't have access to her papers that he needs to get things sorted out.
He tried telling the social services that surely as her next of kin he should have access to the papers, they are refusing but at the same time refusing to tell him even whether she had nominated anyone else to be her next of kin rather than him, though they have admitted that nobody else has come forwards to fill that role. She did have a boyfriend at the time, but he has vanished off the face of the earth and not been seen in town since she died.
I'm at a loss what his next move is; tomorrow he is supposed to be picking up her death certificate but they probably won't release it to him as they asked for her birth certificate, and nothing else can be done without that.
So any advice, experiences of this kind of problem would be much appreciated!