Order of payments from deceased's assets

[ftmdave]

Hi everyone,

newbie here, and like a lot of newbies I'm on the scrounge for information!

My brother died a couple of months ago, in a pretty horrible way, with the body undiscovered for several days and the funeral organised by the local council.

When they eventually tracked me down (I live out of the UK) I discovered he was around £20,000 in debt (including money owed to the Department of Work and Pensions), and his total assets came to £280 in a savings account.

My question is - who should I pay the £280 to, the local council for the funeral, or the DWP?

If anyone knows the order of payments from estates and can advise me it would be most welcome. Thanks in advance.

[enaid]

Re: Order of payments from deceased's assets

I am not too sure about this although I do know the council do have a duty to arrange a funeral for someone found dead and there is no one else to arrange it. They can also recover any costs from the deceased estate (should there be any).
I would imagine that the DWP overpaid your brother at some stage and that is why he is in debt to them. If this is the case I would think the DWP would come first as it would be money your brother wasn't actually entitled to, although he was entitled to a burial.

[ftmdave]

Re: Order of payments from deceased's assets

Thanks enaid for the advice!