Threatening my dead sister with court action.....

That is awful gilly- but in Switzerland you can only give notice 4 times a year at official dates. My dad died just after 1 of the dates, so we had to pay, by law, for the next 3 months rent. As it happened, we found someone to take over the lease at the end of the first month- so only had to pay for 4 weeks.

Ask them to send that confirmation to you in an email queenM

Sefton council are not so quick off the mark when they owe money, despite notifying them of my husbands death in October, they have still not reduced my payments by the 25% reduction I am now entitled to. I queried this yesterday, and was told they would take it off next years bill in April, 5 months afer his death!

That's terrible Gilly

My advice would be to anyone in our position, don't give out you personal details, such as name, address, relationship to the deceased. Just inform of death and nothing else.

It's different if there's a genuine 'estate' involved of course.

If your grandmother had not had someone to clear her house they would have had to pay someone to do it.

I can totally sympathise with this dreadful situation Anya . When my grandma died last year I immediately informed the local authority as she lived in one of their rented bungalows. A month after I cleared her little house I received a bill for 4 weeks full rent amounting to over £400 ! When I rang up to query it I was told that my grandmas housing benefit stopped the day she died and therefore full rent was payable for the 2 weeks it took me to clear the house, which was rounded up to the nearest month ! I was horrified. My grandma was a proud lady who never owed anyone anything in her lifetime so there was no way I was going to let her memory be blighted for £400 ( a lot of money to me) . My parents and I split the bill between us although I have since learned ( strangely they did not tell me at the time) that I could have signed a declaration that she effectively "died a pauper " without assets. Something that I probably wouldn't have done anyway. and

Anya that is good to hear but a lot more stress and faffing about involved for you.

Just to wind this up.

Yesterday afternoon had a response from Sefton's Council Tax department with an acknowledgment that this should never have got this far and an apology.

Thanks for all the advice and it was the email to an elected councillor who got this sorted in the end. Worth noting for future.

Thank you Iaincam

I promised nothing. I made it very clear that there Was No Money.

I always like to have an Act of Parliament to quote, so I'll include The Administration of Insolvent Estates Order 1986 in my next email should the need arise.

Anya, if you promised to pay any debts you may become personally liable for them, but should not otherwise even though you are the de facto personal representative.
With an insolvent estate there is a strict order in which debts must be paid, until the money runs out; secured creditors (usually a mortgage) then funeral expenses then five other defined categories in descending order of priority. Problems can arise if you pay out an "inferior" debt without enough to pay one with a better claim as you may then be personally liable.
You say there was not even enough in the estate to pay for the funeral sop presumably you did not pay off any debts? In which case inform the council you paid the debts according to The Administration of Insolvent Estates Order 1986, there is no money left for them and they can go whistle.

When my husband died I was told I was not responsible for any bills in his name only - apart from those which were for utilities .

Not even an acknowledgement of my email, typical of too many Local Council Officers. As it was sent yesterday morning, and all these jumped up Corporate types have secretaries, it had doubtless been assigned to the 'don't bother me box'! Those who have worked in LAs will know they often appoint staff using the Peter Principle

So Plan B, email my sister's local councillor and sure enough, a reply almost immediately, a request for more information and a promise to 'sort this out' along with an apology.

So hopefully a result .... hopefully.....

It doesn't matter what your relationship with the deceased is. You are not responsible for her debts.

I think, that as with so much else, local councils will always try to get the money from someone and hope they do not realise that they have no obligation to pay.

What a load of stressful nonsense Anya, like you don't have enough to manage currently. You did the right thing by your sister in many ways and it seems so unfair that you find yourself in the mids of beurocracy gone off the wall.
Yes, a proper written letter with copies to your local councillor and MP seems the way to go. I'm sure you aren't responsible for any debts left by your sister but that's little consolation isn't it.

As far as I know, relatives aren't responsible for the debts of other relatives (I think it is different for spouses). I think the debt has to be claimed against the deceased person's estate rather than a living person.

I think that usually relatively small debts like this are waived because it probably costs more than the amount of the debt to try and retrieve it.

We had a similar situation with OH's sister. She had no estate to leave, not even funeral money, so the family paid for the funeral. We phoned her local council to explain and they just cancelled her debt. We didn't even have to sign any forms! (That was ten years ago, so perhaps it's not as simple these days, but worth a try.)

Good luck

Isn't council tax paid in advance? If so, you should get a refund.

No. Like an idiot, when I rang up Sefton Council to tell them my sister has died, they asked for my name, address and 'relationship to the deceased'.

So if anyone is in the same position, I'd advise, don't even bother to try to do ' the right thing' just leave the 'powers that be' unnotified.

I have to add, I gave the same information to the utilities, carers, housing association, etc and they've never dunned me like this.

I hope this is not a stupid question, but how did they get your address Anya?
Has someone breached confidentiality?

Try CAB if you are getting nowhere.

What ever the circumstances, this is NOT your debt. If there is no money in your sister's estate to pay the council, then they will have to do without. They have no right of any kind to expect you to pay.

You and your sister did not share any aspects of your life, beyond that you CHOSE to pay the funeral bill (and that has saved them money, burials for those without the means to fund their own are paid for by the council). So they cannot make any claim on you.

No estate, not enough to cover funeral expenses. No probate, I didn't want anything to do with it, but because there was no-one else I did the 'right' thing and buried her and notified those who needed to know of her death.

Jura the only thing I 'inherited' was a lot of fuss and paperwork.

This demand incidentally was for council tax. She was paying that through direct debit anyway.

Have a word with a local councillor to put pressure on the officers responsible.

You don't have to apply for probate if the estate is very small, or non-existent.

But they can't do that The bill was in your sister's name and would have had to have been settled out of her estate so should have been made known before probate was granted as Alea's said. It's not your responsibility to settle any debts she may have left.

I'd tell them this and that if they contact you again and/or send enforcement officers to your house you'll contact your solicitor.

This is horrible so hope it gets sorted soon.

But here where I live, if you inherit from someone you have to decide whether to accept or not- and if you accept- take on any debts outstanding. I have a friend who thought her father was well off, accepted the will and then got stick with large debts.

But in this case, I suppose you didn't inherit anything, did you?