Bereavement advice - Pharmacy / House Deeds etc

Batty24

Not all meds will be accepted at pharmacies. Some have to be delivered back to the district nurse and or the hospice team. (Recent bereavement).
However! A local Ukrainian charity was very happy to accept all meds in their respective boxes. They do reuse/redistribute them back in Ukraine.
As for the rest, a solicitor is probably going to be the least hassle for you. Some will literally (for a price) walk in and do everything for you banks/utilities/house any paperwork. They can employ a financial investigator on your behalf for financial institutions which may get around the laptop/password issue. But even then they can advise on your best course of action.

Salutary lesson in needing a safe with “oops I’ve died” book filled in.

Our district nurses took nothing back, not pad, conveens. So I tipped them off at the local hospice & care home. Who were grateful for them.
Also certain equipment they didn’t want back so now in mums garage in case she needs it further down the line.

Not all meds will be accepted at pharmacies. Some have to be delivered back to the district nurse and or the hospice team. (Recent bereavement).
However! A local Ukrainian charity was very happy to accept all meds in their respective boxes. They do reuse/redistribute them back in Ukraine.
As for the rest, a solicitor is probably going to be the least hassle for you. Some will literally (for a price) walk in and do everything for you banks/utilities/house any paperwork. They can employ a financial investigator on your behalf for financial institutions which may get around the laptop/password issue. But even then they can advise on your best course of action.

Salutary lesson in needing a safe with “oops I’ve died” book filled in.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/what-to-do-when-someone-dies/
I have just written a long answer but lost it.
The link above is very useful.

Synchroswimmer
If it’s an iPhone you need unlocking you must for your own health allow a solicitor to deal with that.
It’s not easy.

I’ve never had a problem with tipping off old meds at any chemist.
If in doubt ring the chemist before you plan to set off.

Sincere thanks to everyone who has kindly replied, this is all hugely helpful to me, much appreciated.

Jane43

Re house deeds, there are no paper copies now, everything is computerized by The Land Registry.

Not all properties are on the land registry. If a property isn't registered the paper deeds and/or solicitor will be a necessity

You can check if a property is on the land registry here

HM Land Registry - GOV.UK share.google/EybeRfwOD9CHXegqE

Re medication, be aware that some pharmacies will not take medication that they did not issue. I would call them to check before going there.
Was your family member on social media? I was able to contact most people via Facebook. I posted on both mine and my family members Facebook page and got a lot of response. I already had phone numbers of some people.

I was unable to find any way into the phone or laptop, There was paperwork to tell me where he had accounts so used that to contact banks etc.
When I moved I had no deeds as they had been retained by the mortgage company, even though it had been paid off. As said above, it is all online now.

Re house deeds, there are no paper copies now, everything is computerized by The Land Registry.

NotSpaghetti The OP is on her own and feeling overwhelmed. In her case the best thing for her own well being, apart from anything else, especially as she started this thread because she was struggling, is to use a solicitor.

I have done probate myself for simple estates, but once house sales are included and the possibility of inheritance tax. It is much better to let a solicitor handle it.

We had a solicitor handle probate for my mother-in-law.

I would not use one again, unless desperate! The paperwork is straightforward if you follow it carefully.

The problem as I see it is access to documents, contacts etc.

Just remembered we used this alongside the charity tick-list- it links to "tell us once" which (mostly) worked:

www.gov.uk/after-a-death/organisations-you-need-to-contact-and-tell-us-once

Firstly get a solicitor who deals in wills and probate. You will find them an invaluable help with almost every question you ask. I assume from what you say there was no will. They will know all about dealing with intestacy(not having a will)

Go to a firm of solicitors who also have partners who specialise in conveyancing (sales/purchase of property) so that both administering the estate and selling the house are dealt with in the one company.

You should not need any deeds for the house unless the house has not been on the market since 1990 and in many parts of the country well before then.

It is best to return the medications, but they can be returned to any chemist, not just the chemist that issued the prescription.

AI can indeed be very helpful, but it is not infallible and I would not want rely on it. The people who will know most and can take much of the burden of dealing with this estate off your shoulders are solicitors who specialise in Wills & Probate. So appoint one as soon as possible.

sorry for repeated last sentence!

As regards the technology, ready to read?

*You need to google he following and you will get a very full AI answer, but basically, it looks like, "not without certain types of permission".

so google:

I have to deal with a deceased person's sorting out.I cannot gain access to their mobile, or their lap"to. Can an IT expert help me UK

As regards the property, unless we have a solicitor or similar on here, I imagine you will need to find a good solicitor Are you sure there was no solicitor involvement at all in this persons life?

the quick answer is no unless you have passwords etc. But you can get in with court orders and so on.

Just read the answers, and if they do not answer exactly what you want, ask AI any further details. Keep asking till you get what you want.

As for property, unless you dig out any papers, you'll have to go to a good solicitor?

I'm really sorry that you are in this position. Please be kind to yourself and take things one step at a time.

I wouldn't rush to return the medication as they can't re-use them but you could pack them up together until you yourself need to go to a pharmacy.

I got a list from (I think) Age UK saying what to do in what order.
Thinking of you..

MT62

Any local chemist will accept meds.
If there is a tel number on the bottle, ring that. Explain there is a lot & they may come & collect if you aren’t mobile enough to return.
I’ll be in the same boat one day & not looking forward to it.

Meant to say make sure you take breaks as it’s quite stressful sorting someone’s property, etc. especially if there was no instructions in place. Good luck with it all.

Any local chemist will accept meds.
If there is a tel number on the bottle, ring that. Explain there is a lot & they may come & collect if you aren’t mobile enough to return.
I’ll be in the same boat one day & not looking forward to it.

As Aveline says do return the meds to a chemist, out of the packaging.

They won’t be reused, the most obvious reason is the risk of tampering, but it’s the safest way of getting rid of large quantities of unwanted medication as they will be disposed of safely.

Please don’t just put them in the ordinary household rubbish.

Return the meds without the labelled packaging. Boot took back a lot of stuff.
Good luck with it all.