Advice required regarding family death.

[Ollie D]

I'll try to keep this as concise as possible and then provide any additional information if it's required.

In a nutshell, I need to know how to go about obtaining any and all information relating to my father's passing.

With that said, I suppose I should provide a bit of background.

I grew in the NW of England, an only-child, and moved to Scotland due to my work, where I've lived for 20-odd years.
My mother passed away 5 years ago but my father dealt with that and so I had no experience of what was involved.

My work takes me abroad for extended periods, during which I phone my wife and father a couple of times a week.
It's not unusual if I can't get in touch regularly due to the nature of the places where I work.
I arrived back in the UK in mid-March and a school-friend phoned me (ironically, to wish me a happy birthday) and offered condolences over my father's passing.
Which came as a complete shock to me.
My friend told me that, after meeting some of my dad's friends in a pub' they'd mentioned that he'd passed but didn't know any details.

Obviously, this resulted in me frantically trying to phone my dad, both at home and on his mobile, with no answer.
I also have an uncle, although I haven't been in touch with him for years due to some "family issues".
I do have the phone number for a cousin, though, so I phoned her and she confirmed that my father had passed at the end of JANUARY but didn't have more details.

I headed down to England and found that my key no longer fits the lock of my dad's house alhough, looking through the windows, it seems that most of his furniture was still inside apart from several ornaments, TV, hifi etc.
Also, I noticed that there were no cars in the driveway (which is kind of important for reasons I will explain later).

At a loss for what to do next, I spoke to the neighbours but they could only confirm what I already knew; that my dad had probably passed away around the end of January.

I attempted to contact the CAB for advice about what I should be able to find out about this but the entire experience was absurd.
I phoned to book appointments, which weren't confirmed.
When I did get an appointment, it turned out that my local CAB (in Scotland) couldn't help as my issues relate to English law.

I know that my dad had a life-insurance policy (because he regularly made a fuss about how important it was) which, I assume, might have covered any costs but I find it incredible that the entire process could proceed without ANY contact with me.

After my mum passed away, my dad told me that my mum had left some items of great sentimental value to me but we agreed that my dad should look after them because they were very important to him.
Also, my dad used to regularly talk about how "all this will be worth something to you one day" and used to make jokes about his life-insurance policy so it seems like he had made plans for the future.
Lastly, there's an issue with a car.
My dad always admired the Porsche 911 so, when I came into a bit of money, I bought a damaged Porsche 911 and my dad and I rebuilt it.
Afterwards, I left the car at my dad's house (since I couldn't use it often while working abroad) for him to drive.
The point is, my dad KNEW the Porsche belonged to me and so he wouldn't have disposed of it because he knew it wasn't his.
Which is why it's concerning that it was missing from my dad's house.

The changed locks, the missing ornaments and electrical appliances, along with the missing car, make me think that somebody has been going through my dad's assets.

I'm not especially concerned about the missing car, per-se, but I feel like it's a blatant sign that there's something going on that I need to find out about.

While I've been waiting for (non-existent) assistance from the CAB I've been coming up with all sorts of ideas about what might have happened.
Did my dad have financial problems which he felt that he couldn't share with me?
Did my dad have some reason to deliberately leave me out of this process?
Was there some other person who my dad relied on for this?
Has something dubious happened?

At the moment I don't know how my dad died, I don't know what's happening with his will, I don't know where MY property, from his house, is and I don't even know where to go so that I might pay my respects.

All incredibly frustrating, especially with the CAB constantly telling me they'll "get in touch next week" which has led to weeks becoming months and I'm still none the wiser and have no idea what to do.

So, any advice would be massively appreciated.

[des8]

Hi and welcome

Sorry to hear of your loss.
It must have been a shock learning about your father's passing in that manner.

You might like to start your searching by obtaining a copy of the death certificate (this will tell you who registered the death.
https://www.gov.uk/research-family-history

You could also search the probate records https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate


Regarding the car you could check to see if it is still MOT'd https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
and contact DVLA to see who is currently listed as registered keeper https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla


They are the places I would start

[Ollie D]

Hi and welcome

Sorry to hear of your loss.
It must have been a shock learning about your father's passing in that manner.

You might like to start your searching by obtaining a copy of the death certificate (this will tell you who registered the death.
https://www.gov.uk/research-family-history

You could also search the probate records https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate


Regarding the car you could check to see if it is still MOT'd https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
and contact DVLA to see who is currently listed as registered keeper https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla


They are the places I would start

Thanks.

I'll give those things a go.

As I said, I'm not especially fussed about the car, in the grand scheme of things, but it's just a glaring indicator that something might be amiss.

I did think about just reporting it stolen but, for all I know, maybe my dad lent it to somebody or even sold it (even though he shouldn't have) so I don't want to provoke something which might not be an issue.

Also, I kind of want to keep that "up my sleeve" in case I need it.
If I draw attention to the missing car now, it might end up at the bottom of a river and I'm no further forward but if there IS something dubious going on it might prove useful later.

[des8]

Good luck
If you make enquiries of DVLA, they do not inform the current registered keeper

[Ollie D]

Hi again folks.

I'm in need of some more advice with regard to this subject.

It's taken a while (as you can tell from the dates) to dig up information about this from a variety of "2nd hand" sources.

To cut a long story short, it appears that shortly before his death my father sold the family home to an Equity Release company, sold off all his valuable possessions - disposing of my Porsche, a racing motorbike and several other items at the same time - and then most of the money he raised has disappeared.

I had to phone around funeral directors until I found the one who dealt with my father's funeral, discovered that my uncle had been responsible for making my father's funeral arrangements and got his contact details from the funeral director.

I contacted my uncle yesterday and, in the course of the conversation, he told me that my father didn't leave a will and that, as part of the arrangements he made, he'd closed my father's bank account and transfered around £15,000 into his own account, as my father's "next of kin".

I hope this doesn't sound callous but right now I'm most concerned about the will, or lack thereof.
My father's actions suggest he wasn't particularly concerned about providing any kind of inheritance for me and if he DID leave a will which specifies that I am to receive nothing then that's something I'll have to accept.
If, on the other hand, he DIDN'T leave a will then I feel justified in claiming some kind of compensation for my property which my father apparently sold.

I am, obviously, grateful to my uncle for dealing with my father's funeral arrangements (setting aside past issues) but, in the absence of a will, I'm going to need to talk to him again about the £15,000.

I've already spoken to a solicitor, some weeks ago, and have been advised that if my father didn't leave a will then, as his only child, I should inherit his entire estate.

As I said before, I was led to believe that my father had a life-insurance policy which was to cover the cost of his funeral and possibly more.
Given his other actions prior to his death, I probably shouldn't assume that he maintained the policy though.
In that case, I guess I'd need to ask my uncle about any expenses he incurred and then talk about the remainder of the £15,000.

So, would anybody care to offer any advice on how I should discuss this issue with my uncle?