Death debt
Question
As an administrator for an estate that is intestate do I become liable for council tax debt? The local council are saying I have to pay out of my own pocket, rather than wait for the estate to be settled.
Answer
If someone dies, the local authority may write off the debt. There's no specific legislation that covers this process, but local authorities have the right to modify their own standing orders or financial regulations to enable amounts of council tax arrears to be written off, if they aren't recoverable, or if it's uneconomical to pursue the arrears. If someone dies with a small council tax debt, you could try to argue that it would be uneconomical to collect the arrears. You should check the local authority's standing orders to see if they have the power to do this.
If someone has died and the local authority has not agreed to write off the debt and there is no one else in the property who would also be responsible for the bills, the executor or administrator is liable for the debt. The executor or administrator may have to pay the what's owed from the assets and goods of the person who's died. If there's insufficient money in the estate to pay the amount owed, the local authority must write off the debt. The executor is not liable until a notice has been served on her/him. Although the debt is enforceable as part of the administration of the estate and the local authority does not need to obtain a liability order against the executor or administrator.
Therefore the council can ask you as the administrator to pay the arrears but only when the assets are realised. At this time they would have a priority call on the estate in the same way as the revenue would for inheritance tax. This means that you aren't personally liable for the debt, but it may need to be paid out of the estate, if the council doesn't write off the debt.
Updated: 27/07/2005
Question answered by CAB
