My DH passed away in September. He had no assets or estate of his own, no will in place because of this, all money (v. small amount of savings) were in joint accounts so transferred to me. He had no life insurance. He had some pension funds which I have applied to receive and I understand these do not form part of his estate.
It all seemed relatively simple. I was clear that I became liable for any joint debts and any individual debts in his name would be wiped by the debtor due to the lack of an estate. There were just 3 and one has wiped their debt already.
I have now been told that he overpaid income tax this year and a small amount (under £2k) will be refunded to me. From the HMRC letter it reads that this forms part of his estate and I have to distribute it. I am looking for any legal knowledge on:
a) the money won't cover even 1 of his remaining debts in full. Do I just distribute it evenly amongst debtors?
b) do I have to go back to the debtor who has already wiped their debtor and pay their debt?
c) am I correct that because of the low amount and me being his legal spouse, I do not need to go through probate?
Thanks in advance for any advice received.