Late father's huge council tax arrears

[Egggontoast]

My dad sadly died very suddenly a month ago. My dad had chronic depression most of his adult life and when I had my first child 7 years ago I was unable to go and stay with him anymore to visit (we live about 130 miles apart) due to the state of his house and smoking in the house. Since then he has always visited me. I was aware he had issues in the past with council tax arrears but a few years ago he inherited some money and told me he cleared them but looks like he spent most of the money.

Since he died it has come to light he actually didn't sort the council tax out and owes 12k. My dad has let the condition of the house deteriorate considerably since and had started hoarding complete rubbis. His house is full to the brim of empty beer bottles and empty wine boxes (he also had a drink problem which I didn't realise was quite so severe in amounts consumed). The house is also now infested with rodents and will need a considerable amount of work and money put into it. He owned his house outright and I am his only child (no will so having to apply to be administrator and go through probate)

What are the options here? I could pay a chunk of the money owed to the council but more like 8k than 12k. If I paid the 8k I would have nothing left myself to clear the property and do goodness knows what else to it to get it in a saleable safe condition. Would the council let me pay the arrears once sold? The council are due to be in touch with me but just wondering if there is any help available regarding clearing the property or otherwise as my dad had a lot of MH issues although never informed the council of this.

Wish I could just focus on grieving my dad rather than having to gut his entire house out and now pay unsettled debts.

Sorry for your loss

Is his estate still going through probate?

Can you just get the house cleared and sell as is? A developer will buy it

Explain the situation to the council and ask them to agree to have the payment from the house proceeds

Any of his debts should come from his estate, so you need to get probable sorted, the debt would then be paid from any funds in bank accounts or the sale of assets.

There's loads of really useful information on the Age U.K. website or they have a helpline

www.ageuk.org.uk/services/information-advice/guides-and-factsheets/guides-about-death-and-dying/

Just inform the council that he has died and let them come forward with a plan. They might write it off (doubtful), might accept half if paid within so many days, may wait until probate has been granted. Whatever happens it is your father's debt and therefore can only be paid from his estate. Its not your debt.

Also make sure you take plenty of photos before clearing it, also any problems in flooring or walls afterwards as you don't want to be accused of making anything up. It shouldn't happen but it could. I know that's going to be so hard for you to do though. So sorry for your loss

I am not a lawyer.

But you are not responsible for paying your father's debts out of your own pocket. The money will come from his estate.

Speak to the council. They will have seen this before - all of it - and will have procedures. Ask to speak to their bereavement department - most big public facing places have one - and tell them everything you have said here.

Contact the council tax collections dept, tell them what has happened. Tell them they will need to wait and the debt will be paid out of the proceedings of the house. I don't think they will mind that much as the debt is not increasing, there is a clear reason why it is not being paid, there is a way for them to get their money in the end. Don't worry. They will have seen it all before.

It's not your debt, you shouldn't pay.

Sorry for your loss

Well I suppose it might be increasing but the other things are still true.

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this as well as the loss of your father 💐

Do NOT pay it yourself. Contact the council and let them know he's passed away and see what they say.

You are not liable for his debts. The council will have to wait for the house to be sold, and I'm sure they won't ask you to pay.

Are you the executor under his will? Talk to whoever is dealing with probate, but I suspect it would be legitimate to get a contractor in to clear the house and to charge that debt to the estate also.

The contractor might not agree to that. They have bills to pay snd wages so if everyone did that it would be difficult to trade.

Pay for the clearance and charge it against the estate. Who is the executor? Who are the beneficiaries of a will?

I am really sorry to hear about this. It must be so hard to cope with. Do you have any help?

Debt is not inherited, this is not your responsibility to pay.

Debts are recovered from the deceased estate in a priority order and written off if no funds to cover.

Do not use your own money to pay this off.

It will up to the Council to claim the debt from your late father's estate. I would inform them of his death and put them in touch with the lawyer doing the Probate. You do not need to be involved in this.

If he didn't pay the Council tax, there's a very strong possibility that there are other debts, so keep a look out for letters.

I've seen a Council put a charge against someone's property so the Council Tax debt was paid when it sold.

As PP, do not pay this yourself.

@JamMakingWannaBe
Theyx fair enough. It’s a debt. The estate pays debts before beneficiaries. It’s how it normally works.

Plus makes sure that a single person allowance was applied and that he would not have been eligible for help due to a low income. Go through with the council what is owed.

Also odd to have no money. Check there isnt cash in the house- hoarders often keep cash.

It's not odd, plenty of people have no money.

It is - most people either have some money in the bank or some in the house.

Find out if he was buying the wine boxes in cash or card