Donate SIGN UP

Deceased Bank Account

Avatar Image
Gaz36 | 06:18 Sun 12th Aug 2018 | Law
12 Answers
My brother died and he was on benefits and lived in council flat I was left to sort funeral and everything else out his only savings was £300 in his bank ive had to pay £1809 before his funeral would take place so I've took the £300 out of his account to pay towards funeral and also borrowed and sold stuff as I'm on benefits I've been told to claim from benefits the rest of bill which is £1300 but they need a final closed bank statement and I'm worried that cos I took money out after his death but needed to pay funeral directors no I'm worried that I could get prosecuted can anybody help please
Gravatar

Answers

1 to 12 of 12rss feed

Avatar Image
The first claim on a deceased's assets is payment of the funeral bill. What you should have done is go to the bank with a copy of the death certificate and request them to issue a cheque payable to the undertakers for the balance of your brother's account. They would have complied. What you have done was wrong...... but I think that you will get away with it. You...
07:00 Sun 12th Aug 2018
If a person dies with little or no money the council will pay for it

One web site says:

Q. What happens if you can’t afford a funeral?

A.The local council or hospital can arrange a Public Health Funeral if:

There isn’t enough money in the estate to pay for it.
There are no relatives or friends available to arrange the funeral.
This is usually a cremation. You can attend the funeral but the local authority will decide the time and date.

There normally is a short service, but extras such as flowers, cars or notices in the local newspaper are not included.

If you’re getting certain benefits, you can also apply for Funeral Payment from the government to help you pay for the funeral.
You might get away with it as it was a small amount, but wait and see what some of the genuine legals on here think. I know it is usually a big no no.
Question Author
Thought that but I would of got the money anyway and I needed to pay for the funeral also my brother had given me his pin for bank ages ago so if anything ever happened to him I could have it . It was just that I had to pay funeral directors £1809 or they wasn't going to do it and I only had a week this happened about 2 month ago how can they prove I withdrew it not that I'd lie but it's wrong my problem is if I don't claim the £1300 off social fund. They funeral directors will then bill me. Feel like not doing nothing not claiming social fund leaving his bank just empty and ignoring letters off funeral directors and if they take it further I'll just have to pay about a fiver a week out my benefits cos they won't get anymore cos I'm in load of debt . Breaks me I don't think the bank will do anything but it's benefits they would probably sanction me and still give me nothing . Thanks mate
The first claim on a deceased's assets is payment of the funeral bill.
What you should have done is go to the bank with a copy of the death certificate and request them to issue a cheque payable to the undertakers for the balance of your brother's account. They would have complied.

What you have done was wrong...... but I think that you will get away with it. You committed fraud by impersonating your deceased brother. However, who has lost out here?

The person that has lost out is not the Bank, it is your brother's estate (ie you, to all intents and purposes). You would have been entitled to your brother's monies as payer of the funeral bill.

The Bank will not press charges against you...... Will your brother's estate, ie you, press charges against yourself?

Just go to the Bank and now do what you should have done in the first place and request the balance still left in the account for payment of the funeral bill, and the closure of the account.
Question Author
Thing is I was told I needed a death certificate to close his bank and I only have a interim death certificate as they still investigating is death . Only now have I found out a interim death certificate would be enough . Thanks I've had to everything on my own . First time ever organising a funeral and them funeral directors proper took me for a ride it was all done dead fast I now know I could of done it better and cheaper the prices they charge are wrong but they know your greiving
Question Author
Think your right mate thanks. I'll sort it with bank Monday. Thanks alot mate
Awful for you Gaz, you have my sympathies as such a sad time. You are right about the funeral directors. Being that they only deal with grieving relatives they should be better regulates.
Undertakers can be Mercenary.

Before I retired from work, my lunchtimes were spent in a 'downtown' Pub and a regular was an Undertaker who , after a few drinks, would let us into a few trade secrets. One such was that the local Crematorium removed all fixtures to coffins before firing and Brass items were available for a small sum. He said that he would obtain Brass plates which could be re-Inscribed on the reverse side. Also.supposed brass handles (Plastic)were available for re-use.

Hans.
I had to do it all myself as well, luckily we had notice and Dave had emptied his account a few weeks before he died, as he had a pure cremation without ceremony it was enough with a little savings I had. Because neither of us were on means tested benefit there was no help from the state. I did my research on costs etc before he died but it was still difficult getting things sorted.
Question Author
I went to see funeral directors knowing nothing they offered me expensive coffins knowing I was on benefits I thought benefits would pay most as I tried to keep prices down I thought I'd have to pay some I thought probably no more than £500 they just presented me with a leather bound folder and said I could get £1300 from benefits and needed to pay £1809 before his funeral like it was nothing well I ain't claiming no benefit and as I'm on universal credit and in debt when they eventually catch up with me I'll offer them £10 a month which they will have to except . Could of done it loads cheaper but probably better they shouldn't be able to charge prices they do .I didn't get a breakdown as we went along just a final bill it's wrong so they can whistle I didn't know about funeral prices but I'm really good at getting away with debts
you probably could not have done it much cheaper in all honesty. Also if you get £1300 from the govt and the bill was 1809, you will have paid what you estimated
Sorry for your loss

yeah come clean and say that you didnt know
the bank should have been more helpful but ho hum you did your best. and yes you need to try to get as much as poss from the council these things are expensive.

The death certification process ( after shipman a doctor will not go NEAR a dead body - and if they do then the coroner routinely bounces their 'purported' death certificate) is terribly long. We got ours five months 30d after the death and that was because I wrote and said ' the coroners act says ....'

You need to record the death - ( I told the bank to ring up the undertaker as they would find a body with the name of one of their account holders ) byu taking it to an employment centre ( yeah wod do I do wid dis den etc ) and there is a "do once and share" system which works quite well.

1 to 12 of 12rss feed

Do you know the answer?

Deceased Bank Account

Answer Question >>