Dad Passed Away, No Will, Few Questions

A question about : Dad Passed Away, No Will, Few Questions

My Father passed away this week and has left no will.

He had moved into a sheltered housing complex so I had just started the process of selling his flat as per his wishes (I had Power of Attorney)

I told the estate agent of my sad news and they said We won't be able to market the property until your dads estate is finalised and the property is transferred in accordance with his Will

Obviously as there is no will what do we need to do, do we need to change the name on the deeds to mine? (I believe my mum and dad's names are both on the deeds, currently held by the lender)
I have spoken to the solicitor who drew up the POA and we will be seeing her soon and she said it was a fairly quick and easy process. The estate agent we were using suggested it could take a few months?

I would be the only beneficiary of the estate and we are in Scotland.

Quick question re the bank. I will be contacting my Dad's bank next week to inform them, I know they will freeze the accounts. He had his utility bills paid by DD from his main account, do i need to keep the gas and electricity going in the flat and if so then can i just transfer the supply to my name and have the DD set up on my accounts?

Finally, as we have to clear the sheltered flat we rented for him I thought that rather than return the furniture etc to the old flat I thought we could just sell it but I would imagine that legally I cannot do that at the moment?

Best answers:

• If he hasn't left a will then his estate must be divided in line with intestacy rules. Were your parents married as she will inherit if they were?
• You need to apply for letters of administration.
• As you've the PoA and are the only beneficiary of no will .... and if there's nobody that'll leap out of the woodwork at you, then you can dispose of the furniture, just keep receipts/records.... and you won't need them as you'd only need to prove what you did with stuff if it's worth a lot and there's inheritance tax involved and/or if somebody leapt out of the woodwork and said "Oi, that's for me, half of everything's for me, you've been cheating me, I'm getting legal advice".
  But, if it's a regular situation, without a huge fortune of an estate involved, then you can get on clearing things up etc as you see fit.
  But - you can't sell the flat until the probate's all sorted, which can take months, depending how complex all the financial etc side of things is. You're not trying to rob the taxman, or rob anybody else of their inheritance, so just do what's right and what you need to do.
• I'm sorry for your loss.
  In England you would apply to the Probate Office for Letters of Administration, quite simple to do yourself without any need to pay for a solicitor. Presumably there is something similar in Scotland.
  I don't think it is mandatory to keep the gas and electricity on but it might be best in case the weather turns really cold and you need to have the heating on very low to prevent burst pipes etc. I'm sure you could transfer the utilities to your name and set up DDs. Don't forget household insurance will need to be kept going too, especially as it is a flat and will have responsibilities to adjoining flats, although buildings insurance may be the responsibility of a management company or similar.
  If you are the only beneficiary who is likely to challenge you over the furniture, especially as it isn't in his flat anyway? Dealing with all this sort of thing is stressful enough, so why make it worse for yourself by having to move everything twice.
• Insurance can be a pain though - they often insist that if nobody's living there then the water/gas have to be turned off. I had this trouble when I was looking after a house (visiting it daily) and leaving the heating on as it was winter.
• being a sheltered housing complex, the OP may not be eligible to own the property anyway as there may be age restrictions
• https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y
  Covers Scotland as well as the rest of UK
• Hi Beancounter. I'm sorry for your loss.
  The law is different here in Scotland.
  If your father was unmarried/widowed when he died and you are his only child, you should be entitled to inherit his whole estate under the rules of intestacy (a person who dies without leaving a valid Will is "intestate").
  Before you can sell the flat, you will have to apply to the Sheriff Court for appointment as Executor-Dative. The Executor is the person with authority to deal with the estate. You will then need to prepare an Inventory of all his assets and liabilities (this will involve finding out the date of death values for the flat, bank accounts, investments etc), apply for a Bond of Caution (pronounced cay-shun - this is an insurance policy which protects the estate) and apply to the Court for Confirmation (the Scottish equivalent of Probate). The whole process usually takes a few months but your solicitor should be able to give you an estimate of timescales. If inheritance tax is payable, or you need to submit an inheritance tax account for any reason, it will be more complicated.
  Unfortunately, until Confirmation has been granted, you do not have authority to sell the flat. The Power of Attorney ends automatically on your father's death so can no longer be used. The title would not normally be put into your name - Confirmation acts as the "link" in title between your father and you as Executor, and you would usually exhibit it to the purchaser to prove that you have the right to make the sale.
  I would recommend contacting the utility companies and asking if a hold can be placed on the accounts while you apply for Confirmation. Often you can have a hold placed on the account until the estate is in funds and some companies will even leave it until the property sells and you can provide them with a final meter reading. However it does depend on the supplier.
  As far as the household contents are concerned, I would recommend that you speak to your solicitor before taking any action. On the basis that you are going to be the executor and sole beneficiary you would probably be OK to just clear the flat and sell/keep the items now, but you should take legal advice first.
  I hope this helps.