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Original poster

Late father's huge council tax arrears

19 replies

Egggontoast · 13/05/2022 12:22

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.

OP posts:
Flopisfatteningbingforchristmas · 13/05/2022 12:27

Don’t pay off the council tax yourself. It will come out of the estate when you sell the house. There are companies who do hoarder house clearance, I would get them
to it and put the property on the market ASAP as a project (in case the property market does drop). Then when the house is sold you can pay off the council tax.

BarbaraofSeville · 13/05/2022 12:33

Sorry for your loss.

I agree there's nothing wrong with paying a house clearance company and professional cleaners to clear and clean it and then put it on the market ASAP as a doer upper.

If the market starts to stagnate/fall over the coming months any benefit you gain by getting it done up for sale could be lost with a lower sale price. Use the situation where people are currently fighting over houses to your advantage because it might not last.

It also sounds like you don't have the time to do much anyway, living far apart and having at least 2 young children.

iklboo · 13/05/2022 12:38

Let the council know, send them a copy of the death certificate and ask them to hold the account until the estate pays out. You're not liable yourself, the estate is.

tealandteal · 13/05/2022 12:44

Sorry for your loss. You are not responsible for the debt. Let the council know and they can be paid from the proceeds of the house sale. Ultimately if your father had left no estate they would not get their money.

standoctor · 13/05/2022 12:44

Ignore it
It is not your debt

KangFang · 13/05/2022 12:46

DO NOT PAY A CENT.
It will have to come out of his estate.

queenie2016 · 13/05/2022 12:46

Notify the council they put the account on hold until probate

Flopisfatteningbingforchristmas · 13/05/2022 12:52

standoctor · 13/05/2022 12:44

Ignore it
It is not your debt

But it’s the estate debt and the OP wants the rest of the estate she needs to deal with it.

rnsaslkih · 13/05/2022 12:56

Don’t pay the council tax. That can come out of the proceeds of the house sale - tell council and solicitor.

again re clearance, the solicitor will know who to pay to do this - charge it to the estate and it’ll be deducted from the eventual proceeds.

cupofdecaf · 13/05/2022 13:13

Double check he should have been liable for council tax. Certain disabilities get a 100% discount.

Mosaic123 · 13/05/2022 14:32

I wonder if you could take what you want and have the rest cleared by a house clearance company.

Maybe auction it afterwards? The Council will get their money quickly that way.

If you watch Homes Under the Hammer (TV programme), it sounds like the kind of property that would be suitable.

Mindymomo · 13/05/2022 14:50

The debt will come out of the estate funds, but make sure Council knows when he died, so Council Tax will stop from that date. I don’t know if he qualified for single persons allowance whilst living there alone, perhaps ask about that, usually single people get 25% discount. I’m sorry for your loss. My neighbour died and his house sounds similar to your father’s. He had empty milk bottles all the way up the stairs, his dining table was covered in bottles, he had no family so friends rallied round and got a skip to dispose of everything. Don’t go spending money doing up the property, you will find it sells quicker if it needs doing up as buyers like houses like this. We sold my father in laws house in 2020 and asked the Estate Agent if we should do any modernising, he said no, people like houses where they can take their time doing up a property. He was right, it sold to the first couple who saw it for the asking price.

BMWqueen · 13/05/2022 19:41

Agree ignore it it’s not your debt and council get enough money off us

Comedycook · 13/05/2022 19:45

I'm not a expert but I'm from what I understand any debts once you've died come out of your estate...your surviving relatives don't have to pay it themselves. I wouldn't pay them a penny. I think they will have to wait for probate and the estate to be dealt with formally.

ivykaty44 · 16/05/2022 21:42

you will become liable for the council tax on this property moving forward (not the arrears) but not until probate is completed - from that date you’ll be charged, possibly more as the property is empty

so think if you want it ready to sell when that happens

the council could put a charge in the property to enable them to get the tax when it’s sold

soery for your liss

endofthelinefinally · 16/05/2022 21:45

Your debts die with you. His debts are not your responsibility. Go and see an advisor at his bank. Take a copy of his death certificate. They will help you and confirm that you are not responsible. The council will put a court order against his name, which will expire eventually. Don't let the council bully you.

ivykaty44 · 16/05/2022 21:49

Your debts die with you

this is tax and unfortunately tax is still payable on death

if the council put a charge on the property it will make life more difficult for op

endofthelinefinally · 18/05/2022 22:21

Ah. Yes, of course. Tax is different. We got a phone call from the Taxman several months after my son died, demanding to know why we hadn't filled in a tax return for him. That was grim.
Sorry, OP. I had forgotten about the tax rules.
I guess you had better contact the council and see what you need to do.

bellac11 · 18/05/2022 22:25

Theres nothing to worry about OP

Once you get probate (beware it can take time), you can then instruct people to deal with the house, clear it, get it on the market, once its sold then any debts come out of the estate.

If there is IHT to pay, that will have to be paid first before you can get probate, sometimes HMRC are happy with something on account but there are also products you can get which are a loan for this purpose.

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