Mental Health Issues Add Extra Complexity to Sorting a Deceased Estate

Dealing with mental health issues as part of a family death can add a lot of stress. This can add extra complexities and sensitivities right from the moment a family member passes away.

In one case I’ve been involved in, where both parents sadly died in the space of just over one year, special care was required to manage a son with Bipolar disorder. He frequently had a fragile mental state and this required special care from the moment each parent passed.

In each case, I consulted the mental health caseworker who visited the son to inform him of the death of his parent. This was a prudent step to take in case the son needed special care in his reaction to the news. The caseworker also kindly attended the funeral in each case, as it was not clear if the son may require additional support from the specialist mental health professionals at that time also.

The process to sort through the Estate, including clearing out the family home and sorting through the parents’ personal possessions, fell to the son’s brother and I assisted with this. We had to consult the son with mental health, however, to determine if there were any items he wanted from the home. Overall the process to clear the contents of the family home involved filling six very large skips over a period of six months. We then needed to package and deliver the items to the son, which involved hiring a van and getting help loading the large items in and out of the van.

Another challenge that this family faced that I helped them overcome was the way the bequest to the son with mental health issues was set up. The parents had thought they were relieving the other son of any ongoing responsibility, by setting up a trust with the lawyer as the only trustee. But this meant that the remaining son was unable to act on behalf of the son with mental health issues regarding the trust and how it was being administered. Unfortunately, the lawyer ended up not actually managing the trust assets with due care and losing significant value for the trust within one year through poor investments. There was little that the son could do to assist his brother in this case.

Following this experience, Swansong highly recommends in cases like this that parents consult with all siblings on the terms of the Will, in case they have not thought through areas that may have serious consequences after their death.

This was one of the more involved cases I have worked on, however in difficult situations like this my work helping the Executors and family administer a deceased estate can be even more rewarding. As an ‘outsider’ I am able to be less emotionally attached and can be of greater value getting the hard work done.

Note: Story shared with permission of the people involved.