Directory Index
Death & Dying
Dealing with a terminal illness or with a partners death can be confusing as well as upsetting.
In Wolverhampton the City Council provides a really good One Stop Shop for matters relating to death and bereavement.
The Bereavement support service is in the accessible Bereavement Centre on the ground floor of the Civic Centre, next to the Registrar for Births, Deaths and Marriages.
The centre is open on weekdays from 09.00am-4.00pm
The centre can help you with registering a death, burials and cremations, benefits and tax issues, and housing and other council services.
The aim is to allow you to sort out all the things relating to a person’s death in one place, including helping you to send back things like the driving license of the person who died.
Bereavement Centre, Wolverhampton City Council, Civic Centre,
St. Peter's Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1RU
Telephone: 01902 555777
Fax: 01902 554987
Textphone: 01902 555770
bereavement.centre@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Making a Will
Anyone over 18 can make a will.
You can write a will yourself, but it is best to have someone else look at it, such as a solicitor or someone at Citizen’s Advice Bureau. more>>
Inheritance tax
Inheritance Tax must be paid on assets and gifts, if the assets or gifts are valued at over £325,000.
The tax is payable at 40 per cent on the amount over this threshold.
You do not usually have to pay inheritance tax if you give things away to your spouse or civil partner (if you both live in the UK), charities, political parties, and some national institutions like the National Portrait Gallery, universities etc.
These rules apply whether you give this gift in your lifetime or via a Will.
Maintenance payments to someone who is “old or infirm” are also exempt.
If at least 7 years before your death, you set up a trust fund for someone who is disabled, this counts as a ‘potentially exempt transfer’. Inheritance Tax will not be paid.
Funerals - Accessible undertakers
Co-op undertakers have premises that are wheelchair accessible at the following locations:
59a High Street, Bilston, Wolverhampton, WV14 0EZ
Telephone: 01902 408208
Fax: 01902 492587
St Marks Road, Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton, WV3 0TT
Telephone: 01902 712 686
Bereavement Benefits
If you cannot afford to pay for the funeral of someone close to you, you may be able to get help from the Social Fund with a Funeral Payment. You may also be eligible for a bereavement payment or allowance.
Terminal Illness Benefits
The rules for claiming Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance (AA), and Incapacity Benefit (IB) may be different if you have a terminal illness.The ‘Special Rules’ apply if you have a terminal illness and, according to your doctor, you are not expected to live for more than 6months.
For DLA and AA you do not have to meet a qualifying period, and you are assumed to meet the requirements of the care component, and your application will be prioritised.
If you have a terminal illness you will get IB at the high long-term rate at the time you would normally be eligible for the short-term rate (usually 28 weeks)
Motability Contracts and the deceased
If the person with the Motobility contrat is terminally ill and wants to get out of the contract, there is a thing called a settlement agreement – you must to have paid 50% of the total payment, then you request in writing for the agreement to be terminated. Motobility gets the car back.IF you haven’t yet paid 50% of the agreement you can ask Motobility to generate a settlement figure which has to be paid in order to settle the agreement and return the car.
If the 50% has been paid and you successfully settle and cancel the contract with Motobility, they will write to the DLA Beenfits administrator to get them to start sending the mobility element of the DLA to the disabled individual.
Compton Hospice
Compton Hospice provides care and services for people with cancer and other terminal illnesses and their families.
Free services include respite and in-patient care, social workers, physiotherapy, day care, home care nursing, and bereavement support.
To access the services you must be diagnosed as having a life-limiting or terminal illness, and be live in their catchment area.
Their staff will come and do an assessment with you to see what you need and what they can offer.
Phone: 01902 774500
Email: admin@compton-hospice.org.uk
Website: http://www.compton-hospice.org.uk