Credit card debts/overdraft after death?

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A relative has died and we have discovered some debts we were unaware of-totalling to about £10,000.

He still lived at home so had no ‘estate’ as such (and no will) but had an old car, mobile and pc (not to the value of the debt) plus some hobby related collectibles which probably wouldn’t amount to much. We are in the process of contacting solicitors etc but has anyone been in a similar position?

Will the credit card company presumably take the car, mobile phone and pc, even if they are pretty old and not worth much? What about their clothes/DVD’s etc? Or would those things be sold to cover the cost of the funeral itself?

It’s horrible thinking about it all really but can the relative they live with start to clear out their clothes etc or might they be ‘seized’ as part of their estate to pay debts? I presume all this will take a while to sort legally.

Be careful about getting involved with the estate of someone with no will and no assets. If you get letters of administration you will become liable for the debts.

The credit card company will just write off the debts, they will not be interested in repossessing assets with little value, it would cost more than the goods are worth. Just inform the companies of the death and there is no will and no assets.

I think social services pays for a basic funeral, this is not uncommon

If you get letters of administration you will become liable for the debts.

I am not really sure what you mean by this-can you expand?

I am not particularly personally involved but the parents of the person who have died are my relatives too and are trying to sort it all out. I live elsewhere.

You won't become liable for the debts, please don't worry about that. You can also get help with the cost of a basic funeral if the deceased and their relatives cannot afford to pay for one.

A full guide on what you need to do can be found here:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/what-to-do-when-someone-dies

Sorry for your loss .

When my Nanna died last year she had no will or assets. All she had was a funeral plan that totalled 1500. She had a bank loan with 3000 outstanding an Argos card a credit card a studio catalogue account a little woods account alsorts. EVERYTHING was wiped off. She had 1600 in her bank account which they could have kept for the loan, however, my mum showed them the funeral bill and the bank made a cheque payable to the funeral company for the amount in her account.

You WILL NOT become liable for any debts at all. If there is no estate they can’t touch anyone else for the debt. In total my Nanna owed around 8000 in debt and it was all wiped. We just had to send death certificates. All the bills in her name were also wiped off. Phone contract was just cut off.

The person up thread that said you will be liable is wrong so don’t worry about that. Get death Certs - as many as you need and a few more as you will need to send originals not copies.

I’m very sorry for your loss it can be very hard when there is no will or anything in place

Debts cannot be inherited.

If you were officially responsible for this then any money you could get from sale of assets of value should be divided fairly among creditors but it is reasonable to deduct from those proceeds fair expenses for the faff of sorting out the sale - so eg if you spend 10 hours sorting out stuff to take to a car boot sale and make £200 it would be reasonable to charge £100 for your time and only pass on £100 to creditors.

That being the case it is more likely that the creditors won't be interested in the personal effects that might be saleable - they are unlikely to get much for them after such legitimate expenses.