My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have any legal concerns we suggest you consult a solicitor.

Legal matters

£4000 found when ripping out kitchen

348 replies

ElizabethDarcy88 · 13/06/2022 18:06

Today after having old kitchen ripped out our fitter found hidden a box and inside was £4000 in cash. ...we have informed solicitor who managed the sale. (It was a probate house sale) what do you think will happen?

OP posts:
Report
gamerchick · 13/06/2022 18:07

You're more honest than me like Grin

Report
IanOsenfrote · 13/06/2022 18:08

You buy a house and everything within it.

If you found toxic waste, it would be up to you to dispose of it.

Honestly, I would have kept my mouth shut and put it towards your kitchen.

Report
FAQs · 13/06/2022 18:09

That was good of you to do so, many wouldn’t and I can’t hand on heart say I’d do the same, are you sure it was left from the last sale and not previous owners?

Report
IglesiasPiggl · 13/06/2022 18:09

Oh gosh, how exciting! I have to say I would have probably kept quiet and hung onto it for a few months to see what happened.

Report
IanOsenfrote · 13/06/2022 18:10

I somehow posted the above without adding 'I am not a lawyer'

Report
ImAvingOops · 13/06/2022 18:10

I think it's yours - you bought the house! Don't know why you'd contact the solicitor

Report
CrispsnDips · 13/06/2022 18:10

Bless you..many people would not have said. It could belong to any previous owner …? The fitter was very honest, too!

Report
SummerHouse · 13/06/2022 18:11

I would guess it's drug money or the owner has died. I think it will come back to you but I am just speculating...

Report
mackthepony · 13/06/2022 18:11

You just created a LOT more work for the solicitor

Report
IglesiasPiggl · 13/06/2022 18:12

But it could have predated the previous owner. How would they prove it was theirs and not the owner before them?

Report
ItsSnowJokes · 13/06/2022 18:12

You should have kept quiet! You buy the house as it is! It's yours now. Now there will be a battle between the old owners about it. Costly mistake.

Report
SummerHouse · 13/06/2022 18:13

mackthepony · 13/06/2022 18:11

You just created a LOT more work for the solicitor

Don't worry thier fee is 4k 😂

Report
ElizabethDarcy88 · 13/06/2022 18:14

I think both husband and I were in shock!!! Kinda hope that because it's probate house the seller would have to declare it so might be easier for her to say let us keep it

OP posts:
Report
theemmadilemma · 13/06/2022 18:15

OP did the correct thing legally from what I can see...

www.sellhousefast.uk/blog/guide-keeping-goods-left-behind-previous-tenants/

Report
GordonBennetttt · 13/06/2022 18:16

I'd have kept it, with no regrets

Report
ivykaty44 · 13/06/2022 18:16

But it could have predated the previous owner. How would they prove it was theirs and not the owner before them?

depending on how long they were in the house and how the notes appear - if their are pound notes it would be dated different from the old twenty pound not and new five pound notes

Report
KisstheTeapot14 · 13/06/2022 18:17

Hope you get to keep it OP. I would have declared it too. Fingers crossed your honesty is repaid in full.

Report
D0lphine · 13/06/2022 18:17

Lol I would have kept it

Report
Hellocatshome · 13/06/2022 18:17

That would have gone straight in my pocket with maybe a couple hundred tip for the kitchen fitter!

Report
ElizabethDarcy88 · 13/06/2022 18:18

Sadly can confirm must be previous owner as they brought the house as new in the 60's....I do wonder at the hiding place makes me concerned as neither parent whilst alive informed their son and daughter-in-law about it otherwise they would have move it I'm guessing

OP posts:
Report
UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername · 13/06/2022 18:18

I'd probably keep it and tip the fitter £500.

Report
OperationRinka · 13/06/2022 18:20

Unfortunately because it's a probate house the executors may have much more restricted discretion in being allowed to give you a reward for your honesty.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Thighdentitycrisis · 13/06/2022 18:24

Wow you are honest - I’m not sure I would have done that!

a friend once found a large sum in notes hidden in a council house she moved into. It was a small place and she knew the family of the previous elderly tenant who had died, so passed it on to their children (through gritted teeth!)

hope you get to keep it though

Report
BowiesJumper · 13/06/2022 18:24

Is it in current notes, or obsolete ones? Might give an indication as to how long it’s been there.

Report
MarshaBradyo · 13/06/2022 18:25

That was nice of you op

Not sure what I would have done maybe post here then decide ;

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.