Question about bank account following death

[robfosters]

Something came up in a chat between me and my dad yesterday.

I do all the internet banking for my dad, so have full acecess to his accounts. He doesn’t have a will, but in the event of his death, if I transferred all his money in the account (about £10k) to my account via online payment and then notified the bank of his death, would I be open to prosecution or have I legally done nothing wrong?

Could be a bit of a grey area.

 

[Randomface74]

Afaik you're meant to wait until the executor is named, which presumably will be you anyway.

 

[robfosters]

Afaik you're meant to wait until the executor is named, which presumably will be you anyway.

I thought executors were only if you had a will?

 

[Maccy]

It would be subject to inheritance tax depending on the size of your Dad's estate.

 

[robfosters]

It would be subject to inheritance tax depending on the size of your Dad's estate.

Not a problem, it’s well under the threshold.

 

[Maccy]

More info here - https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts

 

[shine]

If there is no will you do not immediately have rights to the deceased's estate, have a read of this.

 

[sigma]

Write a will?

 

[Ayahuasca]

Get it in a will to make it simple.

 

[robfosters]

Surely you’d have to wait until probate’s granted and do it properly. Any siblings? Does he have a partner? Any dependants?

No siblings and no partner. Both kids are adults.

It was him who brought it up. He just said he can’t be bothered to write a will for the small amount he has and finds it too morbid, so just told me to clear his bank account if anything happens to him.

 

[robfosters]

Get it in a will to make it simple.

He won’t write one. He won’t even take out funeral cover as he finds it all too morbid.

 

[robfosters]

I meant if you have siblings. So two other kids? ‘Cause obviously they’d each be entitled to a third of the estate.

No, two kids, me and my brother. But we’re very close, so I’d split it with him 50/50 after funeral costs.

 

[robfosters]

You make it sound like you’d be doing him a favour! But anyway, like I said in the edit and earlier post, I’d do it properly because there is a procedure to follow.

No I didn’t mean it like that. There you again, jumping on everything I say.

My dads final wish is for me to take the money from his account after his death, pay for his funeral and split the rest with my brother. That’s more important to me than a procedure.

 

[andicole0]

Without a will the courts will take control of the estate and that will delay processing of any assets. I don't thnk you will automatically become the executor and hence will have no control.
It is debatable if you move money now that a) anyone will notice or b) care.
Andi.
PS your dads last wish will only be valid if written down and signed by a witness.

 

[NoobCannon]

After paying for the funeral you be lucky to have much of that 10k left anyway

 

[Chris Wilson]

Get him to have a solicitor write a basic damned will, the circuitous routes one can find oneself in when someone dies intestate don't bear thinking about.

 

[booyaka]

Get it in a will to make it simple.

This - get a will for him. I refer people to a local solicitor who does free wills and the only thing they ask for is a donation to a local charity they support.

 

[Ayahuasca]

If it’s his final wish then he should do it properly. Yes, it is a bit morbid but it really isn’t a lot of work and surely it’s causing more anguish knowing it may not be settled the way he wants it to be?

 

[Oxide™]

You need to persuade him to get a will even if it just says that all his bank money needs to be quickly transferred to you

It might be a morbid thing to do but he needs to adult and deal - death is part of life

If he doesn't it could make getting the money to you a real ballache - something I'm sure he doesn't want to burden you with in his passing by adding financial stress during a sad time

 

[Syla5]

I do all the internet banking for my dad, so have full acecess to his accounts.

Are you a registered power of attorney on your Dads accounts? If not, and you are not a joint account holder, your Dad is in breach of the terms of his accounts and he is at risk of not being protected in the event of fraud.

As for your actions to enact your Dad's final wish, without the proper authority to act, you would be committing fraud, sounds extreme but you are accessing your fathers accounts, against the terms and conditions of the account, so for all intense and purposes you are pretending to be your farther.

Now, to wrap it all up, if you have power of attorney on the account, why do you even need to take the money out? You can carry out the final wish without having to do any underhanded actions such as remove the money before informing the bank of the death.