Acquaintance named me next of kin; died intestate.

[oopslateagain]

An elderly chap "Alan" I have known for a few years died this week. We weren't particularly close friends, I looked after his cat when he was on holiday and I've given him a lift to the hospital when he couldn't get a taxi. Our social interactions were limited to saying hello if I saw him on the street, and texts about his holiday dates when he needed me to cat-sit. He was taken ill a few weeks ago and has been in hospital, so I've been at his flat every day to feed/care for his cat. It was a complete surprise when the hospital called over the weekend saying that as I was next of kin (!) they were notifying me that he was deteriorating and would keep me updated. I've since discovered that he also notified his assisted living facility that I was both next of kin and his emergency contact. He passed away on Monday.

The assisted living facility manager "Mandy" assumed that I was fully aware that Alan had nominated me as next of kin, and also thought that it was likely I was named as executor on his will. We looked (briefly) for a will but couldn't find one. We did however find an insurance policy to cover funeral costs. As the hospital already had me listed as his contact, I spoke to the hospital bereavement service and they have made an appointment for me to register the death next week. I've also spoken to the insurance regarding the funeral, they have put me in touch with the funeral director who will be dealing with it. Mandy is assuming that I will be the person dealing with everything from this point forward, though I did say several times that I'm not actually family and that we need to find his will.

I discovered from his neighbour that he used a will writing company a couple of months ago. I have contacted them, and the will has only just been prepared, it has not yet been sent to him and has not been signed or witnessed, so it's not valid. But they did tell me that I was, indeed, named as executor along with my husband.

I'm not sure where this leaves me, both legally and morally. He has absolutely no family. He lived alone. It's quite possible he died intestate. I'm intending to go to his flat tomorrow and do a proper search to see if I can find an older will, but it's quite possible it doesn't exist. And (legally) is it even ok for me to search his flat?

If there is no will, I don't know if I can do anything at all. Can I still be the one to register the death? Who arranges the funeral - the policy is paid up so the funeral plan is active and will cover the funeral costs.

I have taken his cat home with me as there was nobody else who wanted her, she's settled in nicely with my other cats so that's one problem solved.

I'm not sure what my next steps should be. Any advice at all would be very helpful.

Nope. You don’t need to do that. Ring the caremprovider or local authority. Explain. Say you didn’t accept or know about him saying you were next of kin and you aren’t. Don’t do anything. You do not need to feel obligated, guilty or anything. Sadly the man is dead and doesn’t know or care what happens now. As I said, if he was that bothered he’d have sorted it properly or at least discussed and got your agreeement to the whole next of kin thing.
people who are alone, scared etc in hospital say all sorts of things, he’s got a nurse etc asking him who his next of kin is, and he probably plucked first name he could think of for a person that showed him some help. You did more than enough for him in life, and you’ve fostered his cats - go to his funeral , that’s it. You’ve done your part and are very kind. But don’t do more now or you’ll get sucked into something that could well bite you back and give you months of stress.

I'm not sure it's such a lovely thing. He's basically given the OP loads of hassle.and not made her a beneficiary. I mean, it's nice of you to do it OP.

Totally, 100% agree with this.

Thank you so much for taking in the cat. They will be grieving their owner and at least they have landed with someone familiar and get along with your other cats.
When I die, my only concern is what happens to my pets and I've made provisions for this. Very important you make your wishes known.

But don’t do more now or you’ll get sucked into something that could well bite you back and give you months of stress.

Exactly this. Don't do anything, apart from looking after the cat. That is the best way you can honour his memory.

This ❤️

I don't think this is true. My friend's partner died and she had no say in funeral arrangements, got kicked out of his house where they lived together for 10 years and when it was sold she didn't get a penny. Because they weren't married she wasn't his next of kin (legally - so laws do apply) so his sister was NOK and she did all of the above to my df.

No you weren’t appointed a “next of kin”. It has no legal meaning and it’s not language an English or Scottish court would use. There’s no harm in registering the death but as you are not a relative you have no rights to his property. You should try to get in touch with his actual family to arrange the funeral.

next of kin has no legal meaning in England. Op is the same as your friend- she has no legal relationship with the elderly gentleman. Next of kin is often see as an informal term for the closest relative legally but it isn’t a term a court would use (nor for example does it allow you to make medical decisions for a person as per mn myth).

The hospital/ local authority have a statutory duty to ensure funeral arrangements are carried out if there is no one else to do it. You do not have to do it. It may be easier for you to make that clear to Mandy and or the bereavement service. It's not uncommon and you can provide any information you feel able and willing to do so. If no valid will is found then LA/ hospital should refer to treasury solicitor though some do use heir hunter type companies. The unsigned will can be passed on. TSOL have been known to make small discretionary gifts based on known wishes of the deceased.

Sorry I can't help. I just want to say what a wonderful thing you've done for him by taking in his cat. That was so good of you and I'm sure the most important thing to him.

How on earth did you locate the will writing company (is your neighbourhood privy to all this stuff? How did the neighbour know, and if they were that close why can't they do this stuff?) and what is the will company doing, sharing a load of info with a random person without a death certificate or proof of acting for this guy?

Social Services have a team whose job this is - going into the property, securing the valuables and attempting to find relatives. They will arrange the funeral, wind up the estate and pass the balance to whichever bit of the Crown takes it these days. They do it week in, week out.

This is a heap of work for someone who you barely know. You don't have to do any of it, let Mandy sort it out with Social Services. Both of them are paid to do their jobs, you would be doing this on top of your job. Don't look for a will, clear the fridge or register the death - back away and let it be someone else's problem. It's easier to not start than to try to hand it back later.

You've rescued the cat and that's enough. Alan should have discussed this with you before naming you as his emergency contact and before having his will drafted.

It’s possible that she means she was advocating for a living relative detained under the Mental Health Act. That’s one of the few occasions when a kinship relationship (nearest relation, rather than NOK) has legal relevance under U.K. law.

Look after the cat, and circulate the details of the funeral to his friends. Those are the living beings who you can help.

If I were you, and I had enough spare time then I personally would also ask Mandy if she'd like me to organise the funeral - it's a manageable task, not that big a burden, and clearly was important to him if he took out a policy to pay for it. You'd probably do a good job of making appropriate decisions.

I'm an ex funeral director and friends can arrange a funeral it's just that if someone else who was related could come and takeover and have

😤 phone played up then.
If you don't want to arrange his funeral you can't register his death. Pass it back onto the hospital bereavement service who can do that.

The only thing with a local authority arranged funeral is some areas I've heard don't let anyone know when the funeral is. The officer I knew didn't do this and was brilliant for trying to deliver a dignified send off but I've been told some don't bother.

To cover all bases if make sure the hospital bereavement service know about his funeral an as well.

Sorry for your loss.

Most people you’ll come across will be more than kind and understanding, though it sounds as if Mandy isn’t one of them. Do what you feel is right for you and no more explain to hospital/funeral directors or whatever that you can’t or don’t feel you should do more. They do this as a day job and they get that most of us only have to organise one or two funerals in our life times and it’s not a general topic of conversation. If the cat is happy that’s more than enough. There is no right or wrong here just what feels right to you

OP there is a book "Ashes to Admin", about a local authority employee who sorts things out when people die with no-one to deal with the aftermath. The author says it varies widely between LAs how far they go beyond their statutory public health obligations.

As I think has already been extracted by other posters I don't think being entered as NoK on hospital or Care Home admission forms means much more than a name to be contacted.

If Alan had a will then (hopefully) it appointed executors to do the legwork of administering his wishes. If no will then his estate is distributed amongst surviving relatives according to the Law/Rules of intestacy,

If no relatives then the estate passes to the Crown - the Government Legal Dept/Treasury Solicitor has a bona vacantia section who deal with this.

ISTR if it passes to people who cannot be traced it's paid into Court in case they turn up.

no - that is to do with i) the law on intestacy, and ii) lack of rights for unmarried partners. Nothing to do with not being 'next of kin', a largely meaningless term for someone who can be a friend, relative, partner, random emergency Co tact

Yes, very puzzling

@OneFrenchEgg @MyrtlethePurpleTurtle he was in an assisted living facility, a will writing company visited and several people including Alan and his neighbour decided to use them. I emailed the company, they asked me to verify Alan's DOB and address, and as I was named as executor on the unsigned will they were willing to tell me a few things - nothing at all specific about his money, just confirming that I was indeed named as executor and they gave me the details of the solicitor who was preparing the will. The solicitor confirmed to me only that the will had been prepared but had not been signed yet.

I too thought it was strange that they didn't ask for a death certificate or any proof he was dead.

I don't think it's that surprising. If the draft will contains the OP's name and address, she is entitled under the DPA 2018/GDPR to know what data the will-writing company holds about her. She was not, of course, entitled know other information about the will's contents, but it sounds as if this was not disclosed.

Information about her husband was also disc,osed - so I don't think the will writing company gave the info out of a passion for data protection compliance