Dying at Home Alone

Yesterday the police broke into my brother's neighbour's flat. He'd been dead for a week or two and was attracting flies. The man downstairs died in similar circumstances three years ago. Towards the end he had mobility issues and so just threw his old books and newspapers in a giant pile in the corner of the room. There wasn't even any evidence that he'd ever had relatives that they could find. He died intestate so a load of officials had to waste two years trying to find a living relative. In the end they found he had an estranged son living in Australia who he hadn't seen in 30 years. Sadly this is how many people go. And the moral of the this story is write a will or the state will get it.

A regular correspondent informed me... "I had a summer job in social services. We found someone who died at least two years earlier. The xmas tree lights were still on as was the TV. Direct debits meant his bills were paid. He lived on the top corner flat of a block. He had a second internal door for security which masked the smell."