Payment of utilities for deceased's empty property

My mother recently passed away. We are 4 siblings with equal shares in her estate. We intend on selling the property in the future but need some time to get it ready for this. My question is who is responsible for the utility bills on the property in the meantime. I had expected they could be paid out of the executor account but our mother's solicitor has told us that utilities must be paid by the family (as the bank must freeze the accounts as of date of death) and will be reimbursed upon conclusion of the administration of the estate. Is this correct? What if someone does not have the means to pay these?

Who paid for the funeral?

Utility providers don't want the hassle of dealing with an executor's account.

Standing charges and minimal consumption should be manageable to share between four adults about to inherit a house. If not, call up the utility providers to see if they can work out an arrangement.

Whatever you do don't forget to keep the house insured - you all have a big interest in this.

Brendan Burgess said:

Who paid for the funeral?

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still waiting on the invoice but we have been advised by the solicitor that this can be paid from the bank account of the deceased

NoRegretsCoyote said:

Utility providers don't want the hassle of dealing with an executor's account.

Standing charges and minimal consumption should be manageable to share between four adults about to inherit a house. If not, call up the utility providers to see if they can work out an arrangement.

Whatever you do don't forget to keep the house insured - you all have a big interest in this.

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Would the cost of 1 years insurance fall on the beneficiary’s also ?

Ditto on the insurance...make sure it does not lapse until the contracts are signed and the keys are handed over. The renewal was taken out in the name "Executors of XXX Estate" and paid by executor(also a beneficiary). Take note of any clauses relating to maximum vacant periods/water off etc....

Once the house goes to market you need to make sure someone keeps a regular eye on the house if no one is currently residing in it. We experienced quite a few "unwanted" visitors viewing the house at irregular hours..... Presumably they could see the house location & contents etc from the pictures online....

On the ESB: we were with Flogas. While someone was residing at the house as a caretaker(executor) the bills where transferred into the name of the executor and they paid them. Once caretaking was no longer required, Flogas allowed us to rack up a bill and pay it directly from the estate....Don't know if other companies offer something similar.

Telephone: We had long drawn issues trying to close this account...eircom. They closed the account no problem but they kept billing us for line rental. Apparently closing the line rental is a different process?

Just keep all your receipts and submit them to the solicitor at the end.....be transparent with other beneficiaries on cost. From experience we had one beneficiary who was quite shocked at the cost associated with keeping a house safe, warm, mold free etc. Best nip it in the bud early to avoid any heated debates near the end when everyone is tired, stressed and upset from the sales process....

And the LPT has to be paid

Pinoy adventure said:

Would the cost of 1 years insurance fall on the beneficiary’s also ?

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I don't know if legally it's the executor's or the beneficiaries' role. If the cost is prohibitive you can play with the excess or reduce cover on contents.

Scoobydoobydoo said:

From experience we had one beneficiary who was quite shocked at the cost associated with keeping a house safe, warm, mold free etc. Best nip it in the bud early to avoid any heated debates near the end when everyone is tired, stressed and upset from the sales process....

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I found the low usage charge on the electricity was ridiculous, often felt it would be cheaper to leave the lights on all the time to overcome it.

Ask your siblings to give €50 or €100 a month each to service the incidentals if you feel it would be burdomsome. Whatever you do, take heed of the advice above. and keep everyome in the loop with expenses are they arrive.

NoRegretsCoyote said:

I don't know if legally it's the executor's or the beneficiaries' role. If the cost is prohibitive you can play with the excess or reduce cover on contents.

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The executor's, whose job is to gather and protect the assets of the deceased, pay the bills, including taxes, and distribute the estate as per the wishes expressed in the will.

Confused2022 said:

My question is who is responsible for the utility bills on the property in the meantime. What if someone does not have the means to pay these?

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Apart from utilities and possibly house insurance which in our case was over €800 as the house was also unoccupied you will likely have other expenses before probate is even applied for.

In our case anyway when everything was ready to be submitted to the probate office the solicitor requested an interim payment of part of their legal fee plus outlays to date which were mainly the probate office fee which could be several hundred depending on the estate value and the town agent fee of I think €75. Death certs costing €20 each were also needed.

If the executor does not have the funds to pay and reclaim then as has already been suggested I think the beneficiary siblings need to come together and sort this between them.

If the executor is not in a position to carry the cost of house, one of other beneficiaries or even anyone prepared to do so could pay and just a matter of submitting the amount to the estate for payment at the end. But these days probate can take a long time and until done the house cannot be sold tho interin arrangements can be made.