£4000 found when ripping out kitchen

[ElizabethDarcy88]

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?

Yes, I suggested that people are often happy to buy a house for less money than it’s worth and conceal this from the vendor (often benefiting financially by far more than £4k). But I never suggested that this was illegal, I was just pointing out that the UK house buying process is by nature inherently grasping and morally dubious and that it is socially acceptable for house buyers to routinely benefit financially from the difficult personal circumstances/misfortune of a vendor.

Also as an applied psychologist I know that what people say they would do when faced with a moral/ethical dilemma and how they actually behave when confronted with a real life situation are often very different.

…So I take a lot of the pearl clutching with a pinch of salt. But hey, what’s a Mumsnet thread without the drama and moral outrage?! 😉

This is an interesting point @Luidaeg And I will ask my solicitor friend about it although she practices in Scotland so her response may not apply everywhere. I know I’m being facetious but what if the seller left ALL their belongings in their old house? Would it be the buyer’s responsibility to return everything (except for the lightbulbs, obviously 😆)?

I know I’m being facetious but what if the seller left ALL their belongings in their old house? Would it be the buyer’s responsibility to return everything (except for the lightbulbs, obviously 😆)?

Think I can answer that. In our last move the removal men left everything in our box room behind - just somehow forgot to empty it. We didn’t realise until our buyers’ estate agent contacted us. We got back on to the removal firm the following day and they had to provide a small van to empty the room and deliver to us. The buyers were really good about it, fortunately.

Depends on how they got rich doesn’t it ?

opened a can of worms there oh dear

Bullshit.

Many people who are rich aren't con merchants and thieves FFS. Many rich/well off people have actually worked hard for everything they have. What a spiteful and bitter comment to make. Don't hate them because you ain't them!

@Luidaeg I agree!

Yeah, @Luidaeg you bitter pauper. Rich people are great and need defending. Just look at the royal family or the Cabinet: Hard working, honest, talented, virtuous, each generation pulling themselves up by their boot straps, earning their position on merit alone and paying their dues. Makes me ashamed to be on a middle-incomer whose parents were too lazy to get me a private education 😂

Phillip Green
Elon Musk
Prince Andrew
Trump
Boris
Cherie Blair

There are plenty more, www.ranker.com/list/wealthy-people-who-are-basically-supervillains/jacob-shelton some here

And you have literally no idea how much money I have

Maybe I have millions in the bank, maybe I have 37p....

@Rosscameasdoody

Fuck me you must be a laugh a minute at parties 🙄

Certainly am !!

@Furryfeet
have you commented on the wrong thread/post?🙂

Oh and btw… just read a news item this morning that there are proposals to introduce a law to stop landlords both private & housing associations from banning pets in their rental properties.

Haha! Sorry about that everyone 😬😆

@Tomasinabombadil … and thanks for the heads up. I hadn’t seen the news but gathered something like that had happened based on the ‘allergists v pet owners’ subject on the other thread. Still not sure if it applies to me in Scotland but assume so until I learn otherwise

Soooo. The solicitor phoned and they have claimed the money. Which in all honesty is fine with us. Thanks for all your comments

It may be a little disappointing not to get a little something ElizabethDarcy88 but at least you know you've done the right thing.

You have done the right thing ElizabethDarcy88 and you can sleep with a clear conscience.
I do hope the benefactor will in turn give you a reward for your honesty.

The recipients may yet give the OP some kind of thank you or reward, once they have actually got the money. Sometimes it takes ages to get things via probate/solicitors. I received a final payment from my dads estate last month ...and he died 2.5 years ago!

Did they have to prove that it was their money or just say yes?

Another random thought

They say when you buy a house, if you turn it upside down, what doesnt fall out belongs in the house ( ie fitted kitchen etc) technically as the find was in the fittings and would not have fallen out, is there an argument that it belongs to the new owner?

(I know op has given the money to the sellers etc, I'm just wondering)

Agree. The Loose Women producers have a segment all sorted now 😂

That saying means that the thing itself is attached, not that it happens to be contained in something. The china in the cupboards on the wall doesn't become a fixture if there's a lock on the doors.

This is what I was wondering. The use of the word ‘claiming’ is ambiguous. Are they just saying ‘yeah, we’ll take it’ or ‘We believe there’s a case for us receiving it’?

A few American sites picked it up 😆 here is one www.newsweek.com/debat-soars-woman-returns-money-found-new-home-uk-1715702?amp=1