You come across as callous.

I fully understand. But on the other hand, I really don’t like the, please pardon the word, sob-story approach chosen by the Guardian here. Not because it isn’t sad what happened to her, just to make that clear. But because the whole angle seems designed to deviate from the fact that they simply did not sort out their affairs for years. In a prolonged careless manner that wouldn’t be acceptable for neither you nor me or anyone else.

do you mean like her husband who was dying of cancer?

I.a. her son, who according to the article also lives in Sweden with his family. Or the other son who lives in the UK and hence at least should be very much aware on what was happening since 2016. We’re not talking about a situation that suddenly surfaced in 2023, when her husband was gravely ill, but about a situation that developed since 2016.

Grief does strange things to people, particularly so for long term partners. If you still can’t grasp how administrative formalities can feel like a Sisyphean task to some I recommend watching this

Trust me, no need to tell me. Lost a very close family member some months ago and I know only too well how you’re suddenly supposed to handle grief and overwhelming administrative formalities at the same time, with the latter not showing any sign of consideration for the special situation you’re suddenly in. On the other hand, at the risk of again coming across as callous, Brexit was ten years ago. It honestly is beyond me how no-one in that family (not even the sons) at one point thought of the inevitable consequences.