The matter in summary Death is not only difficult to talk about – it is also complicated. Financial adviser Andrea Madelen Mosvold Hogga recommends that everyone have their own accounts to protect themselves in all phases of life, including in the event of death. In the event of death, accounts where the deceased is the owner are blocked, which can lead to survivors losing access to money. Senior lawyer Helle C. Lineikro recommends communicating openly about your wishes and plans before serious illness or death. This can reduce stress for the relatives and prevent conflicts. Lineikro recommends creating a power of attorney for the future, a document where you can decide who will take care of you if you are no longer able to do it yourself. It is important to ensure that both the will and future power of attorney meet legal requirements, otherwise the document will be invalid. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – Death is often a painful and difficult topic, but important to talk about, says Andrea Madelen Mosvold Hogga. She works as a financial adviser at DNB in Kristiansand, where she helps clients with all financial issues throughout life, from cradle to grave. And it is a problem that often presents itself after a death, which she hopes more people will take up before it is too late. – A pitfall I often see is joint accounts, says Mosvold Hogga. Photo: Victoria Marie Nordahl / news Losing access to their money According to the financial advisor, many people are shocked when they suddenly do not have access to money, because everything they own is in the deceased’s account. It is blocked when the person in question dies. – Being a manager and owner of an account are not the same. Therefore, have your own customer relationship, account and some funds in your own name, says Mosvold Hogga. The money does not disappear, but the account is locked until the transfer certificate is received, which can take a long time. So you should have money in your own account. But are there other things you should be aware of if the worst were to happen? The legal side – We generally recommend communicating openly with your wishes and your plans, says senior lawyer Helle C. Lineikro. She works with inheritance and family law and says there are many advantages to having practical things thought through in advance before serious illness or death. It reduces stress for the relatives. Clear instructions from the deceased reduce disagreements and prevent conflicts. Lineikro with inheritance and family law for Advokatfirma Tofte Hald AS in Kristiansand. From a legal point of view, it is important to distinguish between measures taken to be insured in the event of serious illness and in the event of death, according to Lineikro. For the first, she recommends creating a power of attorney for the future. A document where you can decide who will take care of you if you can no longer manage it yourself. Last year, news wrote about an enormous increase in future powers of attorney registered with the State Administrator in Norway. So far this year, there has been a national increase of 25 per cent which has been registered with the State Administrator. What is a power of attorney? With a power of attorney for the future, you can decide who will take care of you if you are no longer able to do it yourself. A power of attorney that you give to one or more people to represent themselves if, for example, you become seriously ill. You decide yourself what the power of attorney should entail. It could be who is responsible for your health, financial interests, inheritance and so on. Future power of attorney is a private law alternative to a regular guardian appointed by the State Trustee. Sources: sivilrett.no, Statsforvalteren Valid will So there was a will. Lineikro recommends that you check the Inheritance Act if you do not have a will to see if the distribution looks reasonable to you. – We see that a will is particularly relevant for the childless, cohabitants and people with “mine, yours and our children”, she says. She emphasizes that both wills and powers of attorney for the future have formal requirements, meaning that there are conditions that must be met for an agreement to be valid. – Among other things, this means that they must be signed by witnesses. If the form requirement is not followed, the document will be invalid. It is important to ensure that powers of attorney and wills meet legal requirements, otherwise the document will be invalid. Photo: Espen Bierud Lineikro says it might be a good idea to make an overview of where you have subscriptions, telephone bills, streaming services, social media and so on. – It can contribute to unnecessary costs and make it easier for survivors to terminate or transfer services. She nevertheless emphasizes that this information should be in a safe place, for example a protected file that is easy to update. Can ease the grief of those left behind In Norway, we live on average until we are well over 80 years old, according to Statistics Norway. It depends on where you are in life when you read this, but most likely you have a long time to go. Nevertheless, it is wise to talk about death well in advance, says psychologist specialist Janette Røseth. Røseth works as a psychologist specialist in Stavanger and has published three books, two about grief and one about joy. Photo: Studio Hjelm She has over 18 years of experience in helping people through their grief processes. – My experience is that if we talk about the difficult, the grieving process becomes less painful later, says Røseth. She says that many people are surprised by how extremely complicated death is, how much practical work has to be arranged and paid for. – The more that is arranged in advance, the easier it is afterwards, says Røseth. Death – now what? If your loved one were to die, financial adviser Andrea Madelen Mosvold Hogga recommends that you start by contacting a funeral home. – They help you with practical tasks after the death and notify the district court. It is the district court that prepares and sends out the probate certificate, the document that gives an overview of who inherits the estate and who is responsible for the deceased’s debts. – You can also contact the bank, which needs a copy of the probate certificate, a copy of powers of attorney if there are several heirs and valid identification. Mosvold Hogga recommends that you start by contacting a funeral home after a death. Photo: Victoria Marie Nordahl / news When the death is registered in the national register, information about the deceased’s life insurance is sent to the deceased’s address, according to Mosvold Hogga. – Many have accounts, loans and funds in different banks. Contact the Swedish Tax Agency to get a simplified overview by knowing the asset power of attorney from the District Court. When someone dies, the heirs must choose how they want to transfer the estate after the deceased, i.e. how to settle and distribute the inheritance. Are you unsure what to do in relation to the unmoved or moved house? At the bottom of the article, you get the different forms of change explained. Digital estate Death is complicated, and there is a lot of paperwork. Among other things, the Norwegian Tax Administration receives around 50,000 inquiries annually in connection with matters relating to death and inheritance. But soon there will be a new solution to make the process somewhat easier for survivors. At the beginning of next year, the first version of “Digitalt dødsbo” will be available to the public. There, information about the deceased’s financial circumstances will be automatically collected from various sources. Among other things from banks, the Mapping Authority and the Norwegian Tax Agency. It can be assets and debts, tax information, vehicles, property, insurances, pensions and whether there is a prenuptial agreement or will. The Directorate of Digitalisation estimates that the solution with digital estates will save the public more than NOK 600 million over five years when the solution becomes operational. Undivided estate The surviving spouse or cohabitant can choose to postpone the settlement and distribution of the estate. This is called immutability. In the case of intestate succession, the spouse basically has free disposal over both what he owns and what the deceased owned. This includes, among other things, the right to use the assets without the consent of children or other relatives, to sell assets, to give away gifts (except gifts where the value is disproportionate to the assets). so that it is significantly reduced or is in danger of becoming so. Conditions for sitting in the undivided estate A spouse must himself request to sit in the undivided estate. These conditions must be met: The spouse must take over responsibility for the deceased’s debts. If the deceased had special children, they must consent. Alternatively, it can be switched with the children of special litters, while switching with common children is postponed until later. If the deceased had separate property, the spouse and children must agree whether this is to be part of the intestate estate. Non-inheritance for cohabitants who had common children A cohabitant has the right to be in non-inheritance with common children. Children with special needs must consent to non-inheritance. Alternatively, cohabitants can take turns with the special litter children and sit in unaltered shifts with the joint children. Cohabitants have fewer rights in an uninherited estate than spouses. According to the law, only these values are covered: shared home with contents that are used jointly car and holiday home with contents that are used jointly The extent can be increased or decreased in a will. If it is reduced, the cohabitant must have become aware of the will. Non-inheritance for cohabitants without common children Cohabitants without common children cannot sit in non-inheritance. Nor is it possible to determine this in a will. (Source: Norway Courts) Private probate In a private probate, one or more of the heirs must assume responsibility for the debts of the deceased. The heirs usually choose this form of inheritance. In order to carry out a private probate, at least one of the heirs of legal age must take full responsibility for the debts of the deceased. Exemption from full debt responsibility: If the deceased leaves less than 3G (NOK 372,084 as of November 2024), the heirs do not have to pay more debt than the values the deceased left behind after the funeral has been paid. If you inherit a certain amount or an object of small value (in both cases less than the basic amount in the national insurance), you cannot assume the liability for the debt. When an heir is under 18 or deprived of legal capacity, liability for the deceased’s debts is limited to the value of what the heir has received as an inheritance. The heir’s guardian must consent to private probate. Deadline for private probate In order to take over an estate with private probate, it must take place within 60 days of the death, but the District Court can postpone the deadline. Heirs who do not want to take over responsibility for the deceased’s debts can consent to the district court issuing a probate certificate before 60 days have passed. (Source: Norske Domstoler) Public probate Public probate means that the transfer is made by the district court. They appoint an administrator to manage the estate. Public probate requires: that one of the heirs requests (it is not a condition that everyone agrees) satisfactory security to cover the costs of, among other things, the executor that any private probate that has begun has not been completed that no more than three years have passed since the death The estate covers the costs of the estate administration. Public probate decided by the district court If none of the heirs takes over the estate for private probate, the district court can decide public probate. If doubts arise as to who is the rightful heir, the district court can order public probate until the question of inheritance is settled. This also applies after the estate has been taken over for private probate. In both cases, there must be enough funds in the estate to cover the funeral expenses and probate costs. Creditors can also claim publicly if the debt is not paid and the estate has not been taken over for private probate. (Source: Norske Domstoler) Hello! Do you have thoughts about the case you have read or suggestions for other things we should check out? Feel free to send me an email! Published 24.11.2024, at 09.29 Updated 24.11.2024, at 11.11
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