DEBT! Parents debt :( please help

[timetostartbeingme]

Hi, my father passed away last year. It's been so hard coming to terms with it. Especially since we've found out he had debt.

It probably totals to around 15k over different accounts such as credit cards.

It's being dealt with, most debt companies have written it off after seeing there's not enough money in his account to pay it. I think it's all being consolidated and then obviously everything he has in his bank can go towards them and anything else can be written off.

However, I've just spoke to a very intimidating man at a debt company (I've never had debt so it's so confusing for me!) he said that my dad had a house then asked if there's a Mrs x.
Surely they can't come for the house? I brought it alongside my parents and now I assume it is in mine and my moms name.

I'm so stressed, I've just found out I'm pregnant and just can't cope. My brother has been amazing he's sorting it all I'm just so worried my mum will become involved who's very vulnerable.

Can they come for the house? How would that work? We haven't got the cash to make payments

Sorry for the long post going out of my mind!

You need to go onto Land Registry and get a copy of the deeds, it costs £2
The deeds will say how the house is owned (joint tenants, tenants in common) and by whom.
Down the bottom it will also list any charges against the property eg loans, mortgages or equity release secured on it.

Then you will know more and can speak to Citizens Advice or a solicitor

What do you mean you brought it?

Sorry for your loss.

Colloquialism ( or possibly typo) for “bought” i.e. purchased.

(I’m slightly surprised that you couldn’t ascertain from context)

Sorry just at work, finding it hard to keep up.

Yes, sorry meant we bought the house together. We were all named on the mortgage.

You know what she means.

This exactly! They will try to make you believe you are liable for debt even when you are not.

I had a problem with a previous tenant and the debt collectors tried to enforce hundreds of pounds I wasn’t liable for due to “their bills” - it was about £400. I had just got out of hospital after having a c section with a newborn. They were disgusting. In the end we paid it because it was causing me so much stress on top of a baby (who also needed a further hospital visit), that our health meant more.

The way they act is deplorable and I’m sure in many ways illegal. I would contact a charity or perhaps someone on here can point you in the right direction. Sorry OP - don’t let them intimidate you.

Do you feel a bit bigger now?

Agree 100% with the people who say DO NOT engage with debt collectors on the phone (used to deal with them at exjob). You need first of all to establish whether this debt is even your late father's - these companies will go after anyone with a similar name to a debtor and harass them into paying, because that's all they want.

Plenty of good advice in this thread. Don't let them intimidate you or panic you, either.

If this sum is a debt that stems from a credit card, (i.e. normal CC spending and not a specific loan) it is unlikely that the house was used as collateral.
The debt company is trying the usual despicable tricks to try to get family members to pay up after a death.
Tell them if they think they have a case they will have to try to claim it from the estate. Refer them to your DM's solicitor or whoever is handling your lare DF's affairs.
I had similar when my aunt died leaving very little money but a few debts were outstanding -- to HMRC, her accountant and a CC company.
There was enough money for the accountant and HMRC but the credit company wrote off the debt - there's a 'hierarchy' of debtors after someone has died and HMRC and the funeral directors come above CC lenders, if i remember rightly.

Debt collectors will have bought the debt from the company with whom it was originally incurred. The statute of limitations will also apply here- if you don't acknowledge the debt they can't enforce it after six years... something like that. That's one of the reasons it's best not to acknowledge any of their communications or engage with them at all. Or at least not until you fully understand your own legal standing.

There is some good advice on here but also some terrible advice as well. If there are property (or any other) assets in your Dad's estate then they do have to be used to pay any debts of the estate whether the debt was secured on the house or not.

The key to this is, as pp have said, how the property ownership documents are written, ie joint tenants or tenants in common. You need a solicitor to check the documentation and give you advice specific to your circumstances.

Don't assume this!! It depends how it was was held (tenants in common I presume) and what was in his will.

Not saying this particular debt can come after it but still that is a stupid assumption that could really bite you and your mum on the ass later when you least need the stress ❤️

Prove it letter is needed here. I had a debt collector try to get 000s out of company I was working for. I asked for the proof and apparently it was 'because I have the paperwork here that I can't send to you.' Yeah, good try.

Debt collectors will try any scummy trick, and being recently bereaved won't matter, they'll just assume you're more vulnerable and thus more likely to cave in and pay. The moral equivalent of dung beetles.

Never assume stuff OP. You need legal advice.

My Stepfather died with no will, house was owned by both him and my mother. Credit cards in his name were maxed out. Small amount in his bank account and small life insurance.
First thing paid from his bank was the funeral directors, then she gave a small amount to the CC debt split between 2 cards and called and told them that's all he had in his bank. They asked her to make payments.
She had been told by the solicitor and the bank where the current account was that as it's not her debt she doesn't need to pay it. So she said no to the CC companies. They never asked again and never bothered her. She then owned the house outright.

Thanks for your comments. How could we use the house to pay if my mum is living in it ? :(

you mortgage it. Or you sell it.

see a solicitor.

Hi all, thanks for your replies. Some have been really helpful and reassuring.

We've had it confirmed that the house can't be touched, rightly so anything in his bank can go towards repayment.

Very grateful to my brother who has taken over all of the sorting out. It wasn't as much as I first thought and I was just in blind panic.

Thanks for your replies

Who confirmed it? Are you absolutely certain it was held as joint tenants and not tenants in common?

I know people just want to be helpful but it's only adding to the OP's stress, when those advising clearly have no legal background and are giving out incorrect information, such as @Mumski45

You know fine well what she means. Do you feel nice and superior now?

@WappityWabbit which part of my post is incorrect.