Where's "my" debt gone?

[ThouShallNotPass]

About 10 years ago, when I was relatively young and naive I worked for my stepdad. It was a family run Ltd company. Due to not being paid by a number of ltd companies who closed down with debts and reopened under different names within days our business couldn't pay our contractors. Mum organised extending the overdraft to £10K and getting a loan of £10K. Not a big deal apparently, mum and stepdad owned multiple vehicles, quads, horse trailers and such and said that if they couldn't pay it back they could sell a few things. I begrudgingly signed papers to become the guarantor. They told me if I didn't, the company would have to close and I would lose my job. I had a one month old baby at the time.

Needless to say, they closed the Ltd company anyway and reopened with a new name. (Owing no debts other than the bank. All workers got paid and all clients were happy)

I didn't return to work and unbeknownst to me, they never made a single payment towards the debt.

Two years later a debt collection company got in contact at my new address. Apparently mum had given it to them after pretending to be me and offering £100 a week. She never paid once. (Despite stepdad bringing in at least £70K a year and having come into a £26K inheritance). I explained the situation, that she had pretended to be me and that I couldn't pay a penny as a sahm and he was lovely about it and said he'd return the debt to the bank as unrecoverable. That was about 6 or 7 years ago now. I've had no contact since.

Does anyone know what is likely to be happening with it? I'm in Scotland if that helps.

Back then I of course was naive. I was 25 and had never had so much as a credit card. I'd never owed anything. The only contracts I had were my landline phone and sky tv. Oh and I think I used a catalogue on occasion.
It's not the case any longer. I am married, have three kids, financially fine (minus that debt of course). We have a couple of cars. I don't work more than my part time jobs and to be honest, don't actually need to, even when my youngest hits school age. I run my house and the finances. I'm even insured to the hilt in case of my death. Hubby and the kids would be financially secure for a very long time. I did that so if I did die, they couldn't chase my hubby for that money. He's have plenty.

As for being too trusting? Well I was, it was my own mother. I never for one second thought that she wouldn't do what she said.

I didn't have any legal advice, never met with a solicitor and we were at the bank with the business manager when I signed the papers. I didn't have any assets. I actually don't know how I was a viable guarantor at all. The only thing was that I was full time employed. But that was by the company the loans were trying to keep afloat. Surely this makes it an unsecured loan as I didn't have assets against it?

Now if I start digging into this debt, can anyone tell me if I might end up shooting myself in the foot? The last thing I want is to stand up and remind them that I'm still here, still owing them a sodding fortune. In fact, the only reason I got to thinking about it again was because of replying to similarly post on MN recently.

I don't think it wil disappear if you do nothing and nor does your mother seem likely to pay it. I can see your concern - that if you make them go into you will stir up a hornet's nest and more enforcement against you but it does seem you might well not be liable as you did not have a separate solicitor and arguably were coerced into signing it by your employer.

In English law you do not have to have a separate solicitor to make it valid but the reason the banks prefer that is it makes it much less likely someone later could argue they were coerced into it. It will be similar in Scotland. Here there seems to have been pressure - it was your mother and step father and also your employer.

Eg here is a link to a Scottish firm of solicitors who set out some of the ways to avoid guarantees given by duress
mbmcommercial.co.uk/personal-guarantees.html

However I expect there is not an easy route for you to get off the gurantee. Instead the process is if they later enforce it against you then you bring your defence that it is invalid. So you might just want to keep your arguments up your sleeve for now and bring them out if they try again to enforce - keep as much paper work and emails from that time and documetns as you can and evidence yet again your mother is lying - she signed recently for you to say you agreed £100 a month or something. That will help prove she might also have been lying and abusive when it was taken out.

People should try to avoid personal guarantees if they can. Eg my hildren might ask me when they rent at university and I am not sure I will agree as I don't want to guarantee everyone's rent in the house not just my child's for example.