Need Help With Debts Tied Up in Deceased Estates?

Image: sutirta budiman/sutirtab/Unsplash
Image: sutirta budiman/sutirtab/Unsplash

Recovery of debts from the estates of deceased debtors is not always a straightforward process.

We have the experience to help you to navigate the usual problems, and resolve the accounts, usually with payment.

Typical situations include:

  • unpaid and/or deferred residential accommodation and care charges invoiced under the Care Act 2014
  • unpaid council tax and NNDR
  • funeral expenses
  • environmental/waste intervention costs

Problems can often occur where the deceased failed to create a will in their lifetime appointing executors to administer their affairs. Particularly where family members cannot be traced or are unwilling or unable to act. This will usually lead to a delay in the administration of the deceased’s estate which may compound problems with recovery.

Situations can sometimes arise where the relatives of the deceased have distributed assets in the debtor’s lifetime or posthumously, to the extent that the council is deprived of the debt that is due.

Cases of this kind cause a headache, with a council often left waiting for the deceased’s family to act or facing the prospect of enforcing a debt against an estate which no longer as the means to pay.

However reluctant the deceased’s family immediate family, or appointed executors may be, they will ultimately take priority when it comes to apply for a grant to administer the estate but this is not the end of the line when it comes to recovery of outstanding debt.

We can assist you with establishing if the estate is solvent, tracing and establishing contact with relatives. We work with another firm of solicitors who are able to represent the estate if no relatives can be found, or if the family remain unwilling. In the rare cases, where there has been a dissipation of assets, it is sometimes possible to look to those responsible for reimbursement of the funds erroneously gifted away and we can assist you with evaluating the merits of such claims.

We are experienced in dealing with the most common issues encountered in debt recovery from deceased estates including matters with unregistered land and beyond. We appreciate that not every case is the same and offer a flexible fixed fee advice service.

If you are having difficulty with a particular matter, please do not hesitate to contact Richard or Nicky for a further assistance.

richard.kerr@greenhalghkerr.com

nicky.kinnear@greenhalghkerr.com

Nicky Kinnear October 2020

Greenhalgh Kerr
Olympic House, Beecham Court,
Smithy Brook Rd,
Wigan WN3 6PR

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+44 (0)333 200 5200

We are confident in our work and we know that recoveries is a key part of a lender or creditor’s business

We are confident in our work and we know that recoveries is a key part of a lender or creditor’s business. We have designed our pilot projects to give lenders and creditors the comfort and confidence in our service before formally and fully switching recoveries providers. This time also allows new clients to benchmark our service levers and results against existing providers and others.

How it works

01

You choose 10 recoveries cases

You choose 10 recoveries cases to get us started. We’ll deliver our usual onboarding protocol where we’ll get to know you and your systems, culture, methods, preferences, and requirements.

02

We get started

We assess each case by setting a strategy then grading and reporting on the case in terms of prospects and timescales and cost. We make immediate contact with debtors, and pursue a recovery in our tried and tested ways.

03

We review

We deliver ongoing, structured, tailored reports as per your needs and carry out a full 3-month review on these 20 cases. There we’ll discuss how we have worked together, patterns we have seen in your borrowers, your systems, your documents, your pre-legal conduct, outcomes, highs and lows, legal costs (and costs borne by debtors), and possible improvements in all of these.

04

No strings

We carry on working in this way until all cases have been concluded. You are then free to carry on your discussions with us or to use the experience and market intelligence gained by working with us in the future.

Lenders and creditors have nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by engaging with us on a pilot project.