Death of partner, no will.

[MotherOfGremlins]

Hello,

My DM's partner died this week, and we're all devastated.

He had no living blood relatives, no will, and no assets other than the contents of his flat (his flat was rented, and there is nothing of value other than sentimental things like some books and a teddy bear).

My mum can inform the registrar and get the death certificate as she was with him when he died. The funeral directors are happy for her to organise the funeral, and they seem to think that his bank will issue funds to pay for it (he had

Sorry for your loss
If you are in UK look on www.gov.uk
There should be some information about death, probate, next of kin etc
You will need copies of the death certificate to inform utility companies, who he rents from, banks etc

In the situation you describe there will be no need for letters of administration unless the bank insists. You will need to tell the government he has died - the government has a Tell Us Once online service which will notify all relevant government departments. If, as you suspect, the estate is insufficient to cover the funeral, that really will be it.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Cooperative funerals have good info and free advice line, have you tried them?

www.co-oplegalservices.co.uk/media-centre/articles-may-aug-2018/bank-limits-for-probate/

Good advice already but to add - yes the bank will usually pay the funeral costs (my df's issued a cheque and he had no will) without quibble, we just showed them the death certificate. Sorry for your loss

Is there a property involved?

Ignore me I just re-read your OP. Sorry.

Partner or wife ?

Is there no family at all ?

The gentleman had nothing so there's nothing to be distributed after his death. The law is only really concerned with money. Your dm doesn't need to do anything.

It does seem that it's straightforward - yes, no property or any savings and so on to speak of.

Thank you everyone, and thank you for being lovely, I think my heart needed that.

You need the death cert first. When you get that (can now be done by phone in some cases) you also get the code to use for the "tell us once" service. If assets as you describe and no property owned then you shouldn't need probate. However do check if you need to notify hmrc with an estate value anyway. It doesn't sound like tax payable but think you need to do the notice anyway.

When someone dies without family or a will there could be a requirement to look for living relatives, it's certainly what has happened in my experience though in none of the cases were their friends willing to act as your mum is willing to. Adult social services at the council will be good to talk to about the legal side as they unfortunately have to sort out many funerals for those without family.

Just a suggestion, family run funeral directors tend to be the best, I've organised funerals for 10 years and have had a lot of issues with the chains (don't be fooled by the name, check the ownership, they have bought out traditional firms )

I'm sure you've already considered this but just in case, it's worth checking through any paperwork for any life insurance policies, pensions and funeral pre-payment plans etc

citizens advice is a good place to start, they can tell you want to sort first etc and put you in touch with a solicitor if needed
My DM passed away suddenly last year with no will, it was a hugely distressing situation and we found it really confusing!
You will need letters of administration to be able to deal with anything like utilities/ bank accounts etc

You will need letters of administration to be able to deal with anything like utilities/ bank accounts etc

Only if they insist. For small estates it is often not necessary to get letters of administration.