The straw that breaks the camels back (I`m the camel)

I sometimes think organisations employ people specifically to make life harder for those of us who are already finding things difficult, especially if you are trying to reclaim money.

When my DH died I was able to transfer the house into my sole name, change bank accounts to my sole name, cash in the savings account which was in his sole name and cash in his ISA purely by producing a certified copy of the death certificate. When I came to cash in his premium bonds I was told I would have to apply for probate, I had many phone calls and emails arguing that I didn't see why I should have to go to that expense just for a few premium bonds. This went on for several weeks until I finally managed to speak to someone with common sense. He managed to work around their system to enable me to cash in the bonds.

My sister was informed by one of the many catalogue companies that my mum used to order from, that they couldn't and wouldn't stop bombarding the bungalow with catalogues until they had been sent a death certificate!

MissAdventure I can't decide whether that's ridiculous or disgraceful
Oh hang on, of course it's both.

It is both, but it is also very stupid and foolish of them for wasting money on catalogues and postage.

One bank wouldn't close my late Dads account and transfer funds without a letter from him instructing them to do it!! Only problem was that he had died which is why we were trying to close his account!!!

I had terrible problems trying to release the money my mum and I held in a joint account to pay for her funeral. Had to phone Glasgow, and the man there decided I didn't understand all of the legal jargon he was reading from a script.
I'm going to remove all monies I have from that particular building society now that things are finally sorted. They caused me so much upset when I had just lost my mum.

You expect a few problems but it seems to be endless- extremely upsetting if you are recently bereaved but stressful too if, like me, you are trying to sort things out on an elderly person`s behalf
And don`t get me started on legal jargon! I`m convinced it is just to make the rest of us feel stupid

My DH and I are in our late 60's. We are already considering donating Power of Attorney to our three adult children for when one of us 'lacks mental capacity' (our family say it's already too late ). I know that I found it all very straightforward to have Power of Attorney when Mum's alzheimers took hold and it was straightforward to wind up her affairs.

Mind you, I struggled to stop receiving her catalogues for Hotter shoes!