Summary: Mr X complained the Council would not investigate a complaint he made about money and property relating to his late relative. He also complained about the Council’s failure to respond to a request for information relating to his relative’s death. We will not investigate these complaints. For the first complaint it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council’s actions. For the second complaint there is not enough injustice to justify investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council would not investigate a complaint he made about money and property relating to a late relative of his. He also complained the Council failed to respond to a hospital’s request for information after his relative died which caused problems relating to the funeral. He said both failures caused him stress and distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement or it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered Mr X’s complaint and spoke to him. I also considered information about his complaints provided by the Council.
5. Mr X had an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

6. Mr X’s relative, Ms Y, died in 2020. Before her death the Council’s Court of Protection team managed Ms Y’s finances.
7. Mr X is the son of Ms Y’s next of kin. He applied for the legal right to deal with
   Ms Y’s estate, ie he applied for probate. His probate application is still in progress.

Request for information

8. Ms Y died in hospital. Mr X said the hospital did not know if she had any family so it asked the Council if it could provide any information about her family. Mr X said the Council should have been aware of him and his mother but did not reply to the hospital’s request. The hospital then arranged a cremation for Ms Y.
9. The hospital found out about Mr X and his mother by other means. The hospital contacted them to tell them of Ms Y’s cremation, only a few days before it was to take place. Mr X knew Ms Y had bought a burial plot and managed to ensure she was buried according to her wishes. Mr X said, had the Council responded to the hospital and so ensured the hospital contacted him earlier, he could have prevented a stressful weekend arranging for Ms Y to be buried in the plot she bought.
10. I appreciate Mr X was put to some trouble to ensure Ms Y was buried in her plot as she wanted. But, as he managed to ensure this, I do not consider there is enough outstanding injustice to warrant investigation of this complaint.

Investigation of Mr X’s complaint about Ms X’s money and property

11. Ms Y’s next of kin asked Mr X to find Ms Y’s personal belongings. Mr X was concerned some of Ms Y’s belongings had gone missing after she went into a care home. He believed this may have been due to fault by the Council and he complained to the Council about it. The Council told him it would not investigate the complaint until he provided proof from the Probate Registry that he was authorised to deal with Ms Y’s estate. As the probate application is still in progress Mr Y cannot yet provide this. He was unhappy with the Council’s decision and complained to us.
12. The Council also told Mr X it would need a copy of a probate grant before it could release any of Ms Y’s correspondence or money to him.
13. As Mr X does not yet have the legal right to deal with Ms Y’s estate, it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council’s decision not to investigate his complaints at the moment. Once Mr X has a probate grant he can provide a copy to the Council. If he still wants to pursue a complaint at that point we would then expect the Council to handle any complaints through its complaints procedure.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate these complaints. There is not enough outstanding injustice to warrant investigation of his complaint about a failure to reply to the hospital. It is unlikely we would find fault with the Council’s decision not to investigate his complaint about his relative’s money and property.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman