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Original poster

Do I get more money?

304 replies

bridgetjonesmassivepants · 14/01/2018 10:31

Can't work this out. I've changed a few details so it's not very identifiable and posting here for traffic.

Recently my mum died and my sister and I were left with £150,000 between us. (Bungalow had already been sold as mum had just moved into a nursing home) Will says everything is split between us two. But, my sister had a loan for £8000 from mum when she sold the bungalow to buy a car, she had only paid back £1000 of this when mum died.

Question is, how is the £150,000 split taking into account that sister has got an extra £7000?

OP posts:
Peppapogstillonaloop · 14/01/2018 11:40

It’s really petty to be whining that your sister got a free car. Do you have a good relationship? It would never cross my mind to begrudge my sister something like this. In your shoes I would get on with dividing up the estate and ignore the loan which you might not even have known about had they kept it between them (which it sounds, given your attitude they probably should have done)

MrsFezziwig · 14/01/2018 11:40

If I was the person who had had the loan, then I would be the one saying that the money needed to be paid back, not waiting for someone to ask me about it and hoping I would get away with it.

OldTroutQuintet · 14/01/2018 11:40

Just leave it. I am sure your sister will bring it up, anyway, and far better to come from her. I can't believe you can be so grabby at this time, don't you want to prioritise your relationship with your sister? Money does funny things to people, that's for sure.

Bearbehind · 14/01/2018 11:40

Where is the figure of £6k coming from? The car loan was originally £8k and she paid back £1k so there's £7k still outstanding.

Anditstartsagain · 14/01/2018 11:41

I would just say what do you want to do about the loan I can take it from the amount before or you can hand it back once you have your half. Don't give a choice in it.

CandleWithHair · 14/01/2018 11:42

I hope some of you on this thread don’t have jobs that involve numbers! 😂

Bearbehind · 14/01/2018 11:45

I would just say what do you want to do about the loan I can take it from the amount before or you can hand it back once you have your half. Don't give a choice in it.

I agree. I wouldn't fall out with my sibling over this but I would make sure the money was evenly split.

Chrys2017 · 14/01/2018 11:48

Correction You receive 7000 more than your sister in the final calculation but 3500 in real terms.

The other way to do the calculation is that your sister pays the estate the 7000 she owes first and then you split the figure equally (157000 divided by 2 = 785000 each) but either way your sister ends up with 71500 in real terms.

I can see why people find this confusing.

mishfish · 14/01/2018 11:55

My only suggestion would be to see what your sister says money wise- has she mentioned it? If not she probably has no intention of accounting for the loan in the split. Is it worth a potential big falling out? If not, then don’t mention it. Though to me, the fact that she wouldn’t bring it up herself would slightly taint my view a bit

Pearlsaringer · 14/01/2018 11:57

It’s completely appropriate that you discuss the outstanding debt. Your sister had a repayment plan with your mother that she was adhering to, so obviously her intentions were to repay it.

You could say “as executor I’m supposed to call in all debts to the estate but it doesn’t seem fair to ask you to repay a lump sum when you had this instalment arrangement with Mum. I thought it would be more sensible just to deduct the outstanding amount from your 50% share of the inheritance. Would you be happy with that?”

If she isn’t because she expected the debt to be written off then I agree with other posters, it might be better to write off the loss in the interests of keeping on good terms with your DS.

Tricky one, OP. Good luck.

Grilledaubergines · 14/01/2018 11:59

Sorry not 7k more - she's just had an advance on 7k so has already had it. Of the 150 that's left she gets another 68k and you get 82k.

No that's not right. It means the op is getting £7,000 more than her sister, even when the car is taken into account.

Op should get £3,500 more than her sister.

drquin · 14/01/2018 12:02

Notwithstanding you've said you've changed a few details to make your post less identifiable ..... Chances are it's not "£150,000" which has been left to you and your sister, to be split 50/50.

As executor, you are responsible for ascertaining the assets and liabilities of the estate. late DM may have had a pension payment made in error to be returned, or tax due to / from HMRC, or a minor credit card debt needs settled ..... all of these get added up, and added to or deducted from the total estate. So, any loans get added in to this sum too .... so it'll be 150 plus a tax refund minus credit card plus (maybe) this loan.

Simplistically, you just need to ask your sister to confirm the terms of the loan for finalising the figures for settling the estate. If she's as nice as you think she is, she'll say "£8k loan, I've repaid 1k, so estate is due 7k back from me". In which case, you can then decide whether she physically repays, so you actually split 50/50 or the sum is deducted from her payout.

If she doesn't come forth with the figures and / or makes out it was a gift, and you've no paperwork to back it up either way, then you've just to decide how much you push it if you believe it's a loan.

Violletta · 14/01/2018 12:04

TeenTimesTwo is correct.

Money owed to a deceased person is legally part of their estate. (Why does everyone assume the sisters would fall out about this?)

You get half each (75000), but your sister then owes you half of the value of the loan from her share. (She reinherits the other half herself.)

So you should receive 3500 more than your sister.

You should receive 78500 and your sister should receive 71500.
Total 150000

^^this

I owe the estate 9k, not my siblings,
for example - the estate (without my debt) is £30k
i owe £9k
this makes the estate £39k - we divide by 3, so we all get £13k
my siblings get £13k each
i then pay back my 9 so i get 4
and they get 13 each

people 3
estate 30
my debt 9
total estate 39
equal share 13
mine - 9 4
total siblings 26
total estate minus my debt 30

if we shared out the 30k we would get 10 each, and then you would expect me to pay 9k to my siblings (4.5 each)
i would get 1k and they would get 14.5k each - this would be incorrect

Violletta · 14/01/2018 12:05

sorry the spacing didnt work

people 3
estate 30
my debt 9
total estate 39
equal share 13
mine -9 = 4
total siblings 26
total estate minus my debt 30

HolyShet · 14/01/2018 12:15

whilst personally I would write off £3.5k as executor it's possibly more more problematic

might there also be tax implications to writing it off?

Puzzledandpissedoff · 14/01/2018 12:16

If I was the person who had had the loan, then I would be the one saying that the money needed to be paid back, not waiting for someone to ask me about it and hoping I would get away with it

This ^^

But OP knows her sister and we don't, so unless there's a back story I'd be inclined - if sis doesn't mention it - to ask what she wants to do about the loan and go from there

I imagine the reply to this question would say a lot ...

ivenoideawhatimdoing · 14/01/2018 12:17

OP, you've just lost your Mum.

You sound like you have a good relationship with your sister.

Is it really worth tarnishing for £6000 when you're inheriting £80k?

alotalotalot · 14/01/2018 12:17

i have a loan from my mum - similar amount, and i will say to my siblings, that the amount i owe (say 9k) goes back in to the pot, and then i will get 3k less than my siblings

Violets so if you receive 4k then you are not getting 3k less than your siblings although it obviously evens out in the end.

MrsBartlettforthewin · 14/01/2018 12:19

Just talk to your sister. You might find your mum had said that she would need to sort out the loan with you on the event of her death. I have this agreement with my parents, they have lent me a substantial amount towards a house deposit. If they both were to die before I've paid it back I would be making sure that I settle up properly with my siblings as my parents would want.

SheGotBetteDavisEyes · 14/01/2018 12:29

I'd just leave it, to be honest. You both just lost your mum. You need to be there for each other, not arguing over money.

There is no way ON EARTH I would bring this up. Split it 50/50 and that's it.

I couldn't agree more. It wouldn't cross my mind to mention it. There is so, so little to be gained from making it into a 'thing', and quite a lot to potentially lose.

Sorry for your loss, OP.

Original poster
bridgetjonesmassivepants · 14/01/2018 12:30

Thank you for all your replies. It's more the figures that I was having trouble with and all your replies have confirmed this! I couldn't work out if I was due £7000 extra or £3500 and it kept going round in my head and I couldn't work it out.

I'm sure sister will be fine but I want to go to her with the correct figure, don't want her to think that I'm scamming her. Also, as some of you have mentioned, I have to fill in the HMRC form to get Probate and I really don't want to get that wrong.

OP posts:
ferntwist · 14/01/2018 12:31

Of course your sister should pay back the £7K into the estate. Do you expect that she will offer? What’s her usual approach to money? I can’t see in any of your posts that there is anything in writing?

Situp · 14/01/2018 12:31

Why don't you contact her and run through the process to give her a chance to offer. If she doesn't then let it go and if she offers then problem solved

YearOfYouRemember · 14/01/2018 12:36

The fair thing would be for you to get an extra £7000 rather than the faff of your sister paying the estate £7k then redistribution.

When family were left money, one person had X amount less given as they had had a loan and that was taken off so in fact they got nothing now irc as the bequest happened to be the same amount as the loan for that generation.

ssd · 14/01/2018 12:36

agree with others, you have both lost your mum and stand to inherit an awful lot of money, worrying about a small load your sister had isn't really important just now.