Mum passed away this morning, advice needed re Death Certificate etc please

[Donny462]

As the title says, my Mum passed away this morning. I am the Executor of Mum`s Will, my older Sister thinks she is, but Mum made a new Will 3 years ago. My Two older Sisters are very money orientated and are basically trying to push me out of things, for example, I`d been at Mum`s bedside all night up until 7am this morning when my Niece was coming to sit with Mum whilst I had a couple of hours rest as I`m absolutely exhausted. Sadly Mum passed away at 8.54am. I received a text from my older Sister saying Mum had passed, I asked if my Niece had been with her and she said yes, plus one of my other Nieces, but that her and my other Sister were now also at the hospital, so clearly they`d been told Mum had passed before I had as they`d had time to make the journey to the hospital and were all there when I was notified of Mum`s passing.

I hate confrontation especially at a time like this, so I`m trying to keep the peace but would like to ask a couple of questions please. Who issues the Death Certificate and how long does it take? I understand nothing can be done with reference to the Estate until a Death Certificate is available to show to the various people, bank, utility companies etc . I have just been told by a friend that when his Dad passed, the Death Certificate was issued on the hospital Ward on the day he passed, could this be true? Also, am I right in thinking that the Funeral Undertaker would also need to see the Death Certificate before he can act ?

I`m sorry if it seems a bit early to be asking these things, believe me when I say that I am absolutely heartbroken, but it is also very important for me to carry out Mums Wishes as she wanted them to be, and I know my Sisters will be stripping the house bare and everything if I don`t act quickly.

Thanking you in anticipation.

[PallasAthena]

Sorry to hear of your loss. The hospital will issue a form signed by a doctor confirming cause of death. That form isn't the death certificate but is needed to get the death certificate. They may already have given that to one of your family. The person registering the death takes it to the local Registrar of Deaths. Check your local council website for details. An appointment will be needed. The Registrar issues the Death Certificate there and then. Get at least 6 copies of it as it needs to be sent to quite a few organisations. The funeral director is one of those

You need to discuss this with your siblings. One of them might already be doing this. There are rules about who can register a death. Look at the Registrar's website.

[des8]

Condolences on your mother's passing

You might be well advised to notify your mother's bank immediately of her passing, and that you have a current will dated dd/mm/yy naming you as executor.
They should then freeze her account while things are sorted and it will prevent anyone else obtaining her funds

[JustAThought]

I am sorry for your loss.

Unfortunately, you may find that little details and gelp comes your way automatically...

Hospital info and the 'green form' Certificate for burial or cremation can be emailed to you. Contact the hospital mortuary and register your details as the Executor (next of kin). You should be able to put a password on your contact details and they will take details from you as to where, funeral directors, to release your mum's remains and personal property to. You can go to the hospital and collect items.

If your mum lived and died in the same single council area then the council Registrar (births, deaths and marriages) will get details of her death from the hospital. You can contact the local Registrar in the morning and book the appointment for yourself to register the death, within 5 days of death, or as soon as the hospital paperwork goes through. But regardless make the call tomorrow. Please bear in mind that anyone, within reason e.g. a relative, can notify your mum's death. Don't worry yourself if someone else has done it. It just means their personal info is on the death certificate and the public register. If someone else has booked to registered the death, just go ddirectly in the next week or so to buy directly from the Registra (probably via online form) and order and pay for the 6 death certificates you'll need. They'll post originals to you...

If your mum had a car don't use the Tell Us Once Service because the road tax gets cancelled very quickly and you'll need tome to sort out the vehicle and insurance. DVLA acton is pretty quick under that service.

If you didn't have the assets and paperwork in place before, you can start to google all the services for their procedures/online forms; banks, utilities, insurances, benefits and pension, care bills, shares so that you can notify.

It's not easy being an Executor and if you don't think you can manage, especially the contention or HMRC forms (if applicable) you can always buy in help. Keep receipts and paperwork.

If your mum lived alone, you may need to change the locks on the house.

Importantly, follow the details of your mum's Will and stick to it. If there are disagreements now or lack of consuderation (i.e. death newsby text) you need to rake a deep breath and look after yourself. Just ve faur in your dealings and do abd say less. The Will shall speak for itself in due course...

Theee are lots of other steps and guidance in different places on this forum. I have found the help on this website very prompt and extremely useful, hope you will too...

All the best

[Donny462]

Hi PallasAthena , des8 and JustAThought , apologies that it's taken me so long to get back to you but Mum's death has hit me even harder than I thought it would, .

I would just like to thank you all so much for your advice , it has proved invaluable and I am so very grateful, you really are a wonderful bunch of people

Dealing with Mum's Will is being made very difficult by my Sister's they are constantly messaging me with questions about the Will, have accused me of alsorts of awful things and then tonight have sent me a photo of the bill for Mum's funeral with the message "You best deal with that then!"

Now Mum had £10,000 in my eldest Sisters Safe which it was in Mum's Will that it had to be used to pay for her funeral, and anything left was to be split between her three Daughters, but it is clear from my Sisters message tonight that she has no intention of using the money in her safe to pay for Mum's funeral as she wished, and I wondered what you ģood people could advise me to do about this situation? They are attacking me about Mum's Will when I had nothing to do with her writing of it!
Please can anyone advise?

Thanking you in anticipation.

[PallasAthena]

Are you the sole executor?

Is there money in the estate elsewhere that can use to pay the funeral director's bill? Banks usually release money from otherwise frozen accounts for funeral bills. If so pay the bill from there.

It doesn't matter where the cash actually comes from because you can adjust the amount you eventually pay out to your sisters to take into account that they are already holding £10,000 of the estate. I assume they are due more from the estate than just the £10,000.

[Donny462]

Hi PallasAthena

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, I am the sole executor.. No, there isn't enough money elsewhere to pay the funeral bill, there's just over £1000 in Mum's bank account, and the rest of the Estate is her house, which I understand can't be sold until Probate is granted. However, my Partner has kindly offered to pay the bills there is that option, which is probably what I will let him do, I just wasn't sure if legally I could then pay him back from the Estate once the house is sold .

Yes, my Sister is due more from the Estate than the £10,000.

Thank you again for your advice, I really appreciate it.

[PallasAthena]

However, my Partner has kindly offered to pay the bills there is that option, which is probably what I will let him do, I just wasn't sure if legally I could then pay him back from the Estate once the house is sold .

No problem at all with that. Funeral expenses are a primary charge on the estate and it doesn't matter whether the estate pays directly to the funeral director or whether it reimburses someone else who has paid the FD bill. You just need to keep the Invoice and the FD's confirmation it has been paid to support the reimbursement from the Estate.

[Donny462]

No problem at all with that. Funeral expenses are a primary charge on the estate and it doesn't matter whether the estate pays directly to the funeral director or whether it reimburses someone else who has paid the FD bill. You just need to keep the Invoice and the FD's confirmation it has been paid to support the reimbursement from the Estate.

Thank you so much for your response PallasAthena

Things have moved on somewhat today as I have received an email from the probate Office informing me that my Grant of Probate has been stopped by a caveat. It then states that they have received an application from ******* (my Sisters name) of ******* Solicitors, then gives the Solicitors name and address, so it reads like my Sister works for the Solicitors? Is it normal to word it in such a way?

I have a few questions now if you or anyone else is able to advise me please.

Firstly, the Solicitor who is now acting for my Sister previously drew two Wills up for Mum, isn`t there a conflict of interest here, as they acted for Mum up drawing up of previous Will`s, but are now acting against her last Will and Testament? I must state though that they didn`t write up her current Will.

Also, as named Executor, I have been paying the direct debits etc for the upkeep of Mother`s house, e.g electricity, water, insurance etc, also maintenance of her garden, do I carry on paying those bills now as basically now my Grant of Representation has been stopped by a caveat, I have no rights as an Executor do I ?

Lastly, my Sisters have keys to Mum`s house, I am pretty sure that they will have taken everything that they want from the house by now....probably before she even died if I`m honest, as they were helping themselves to things whilst Mum was still living in the house, is there anything I can do legally to stop them helping themselves further to Mum`s possessions and stop them going into the house?

I must say that I don`t want any physical confrontations with my Family, in fact after the despicable things they have done and said to me since Mum`s death, I want no contact with them at all, and now it would appear the swords are drawn as they have instructed Solicitors. Mum knew this would happen with my Sisters as she knows they are money mad and power crazy, and put in place various other things to try and protect me after her death, including her Last Will and Testament.

If you feel I should make a new post to cover this post now , please let me know.as I realise the situation is more complex now than it was when I first posted.

Thank you very much for any help you can give me as I`m feeling very alone and upset right now, and am still grieving for my Mother.

[Donny462]

Further to my post yesterday, my Partner and I have just driven by my Mum's house and My Sisters and their Daughters are there loading Mum's possessions into their cars. Please can anyone tell me if there is anything I can do to stop them? There are belongings of mine and my Late Husband's at Mum's too which were to be returned to me when anything happened to Mum , e.g My Late Husband's jewellery is there and it would break my heart if they were to take that.

[Neet Lurker]

It is distressing in the immediate aftermath of the death of a family member when another beneficiary of The Deceased's Estate can barely contain their glee as clearly all they can think about is the money they'll be receiving

[Pezza54]

Under the Administration of Estates Act 1925, the personal representative (executor) has legal title of the deceased's estate vested in him or her upon the deceased's death.
The executor has the duty to maintain the property. If you are the named executor in your mother's latest will, as you state you are, you have this responsibility before and after probate.
If no one is living at the house you should change the locks to protect the property and possessions (if your sister has left any)

[Donny462]

It is distressing in the immediate aftermath of the death of a family member when another beneficiary of The Deceased's Estate can barely contain their glee as clearly all they can think about is the money they'll be receiving

Thank you Neet Lurker for your comment, yes, it is very distressing. I haven`t even been able to bring myself to go in my Mum`s house yet since her death...she hadn`t even been buried two weeks and my Sister`s and their Daughter`s were in the house looting it of everything they wanted, then they changed the locks and drew the curtains so I can`t even see in the windows to see what they have taken , it`s very upsetting and the last thing Mum would have wanted.

[Donny462]

Under the Administration of Estates Act 1925, the personal representative (executor) has legal title of the deceased's estate vested in him or her upon the deceased's death.
The executor has the duty to maintain the property. If you are the named executor in your mother's latest will, as you state you are, you have this responsibility before and after probate.
If no one is living at the house you should change the locks to protect the property and possessions (if your sister has left any)

Thank you Pezza54 for your comment and advice. I didn`t realise that I still acted as Executor when the probate had been stopped by a caveat, so thank you for that. I will now be getting the locks to the property changed this week, though I doubt very much that they have left anything worth anyone stealing now the six of them have been in there rooting through everything, it`s a very sad state of affairs and the last thing Mum wanted was people rifling through her possessions before she was even cold!