Money owed to deceased ex partner

[Indespair666]

Hi. My children’s father died in April, he had no Will, probate us being done by Co-op Legal, they don’t chase this.

His mother owes him £25,780 which is the outstanding balance of his £50,000 inheritance from his father.

The full amount should have been paid at the end of 2009 but £24,220 was paid in 2018.

He had a legal agreement that she would pay him and she didn’t pay the rest. She always fobbed him of with reasons she couldn’t pay it etc or she was looking at raising it.

Now he is deceased and his 3 children are his next of kin they want the money, we have asked at least 4 times about the money but they just go quiet like they used to with him. They have not come up with any proposal on when they will pay and we worry that if she was to die the two siblings dealing with her estate won’t pay it.
She had 7 children, 3 she doesn’t talk to as they took her to Court for their money and they got paid out in 2009.

I don’t have money to go through a Solicitor in case it costs more than a couple of hundred.

We have just asked for the amount outstanding, no interest on the money and I’m wondering how much with inflation as well if that would increase it.

Its so frustrating as in 2008 when it was in court the property was valued at £775,000 and last year she had it up for sale for £2.5 million.

Had anyone else been in a similar situation and what can we do to get this money.

Thanks for any replies.

Sorry, how much does she owe them now?

The reason I ask is because you say she owed about 25,000, and then she paid about 25,000.

I took it to mean he inherited £50k & has thus far only been given half.

You have to see a solicitor. The executor of a will should pay the beneficiaries within a year (unless property is to be sold). Any longer than this they then have to pay you interest too.

I'm sure that any legal fees can be paid out of the £25k + that is due.

Hi Yes this is correct.

She owed £50k (he had a legal agreement for this which I have and all the court document/solicitors letters 9 of which say she will pay him £50,000 in respect of his share of the inheritance). He kept all the paperwork from the court case. His younger brother tried to fob us off by saying he wasn’t owed any money until I told them I had all the paperwork.

It was meant to be paid by 31/12/2009 it wasn’t paid, she took equity release out on one of her two properties in 2018 and he was told he would get the money then but she only paid £24,220. So the £25,780 is outstanding. This is the amount we asked for we didn’t ask for interest or anything as she would always fob him off and we just wanted the money to finally let him rest in peace.

One of his sil’s had a go at him on the phone a month or two before he died shouting that he wouldn’t get any money as it was being eaten up by the equity release. He was destitute and couldn’t afford heating or much food and needed the money.

His Mum owns two properties in London worth over £2mill each. One has equity release the other has a mortgage. She is a very weird person to explain to people.

@Indespair666 What an awful mother your dh had!! how could she do that to him and subsequently to her grandchildren! Definitely needs a solicitor onto this. they often will give free advice or even go to CAB!!!! that is a lot of money which could make a vast difference to the childrens' lives! it is tantamount to theft and it would not surprise me if your dh's siblings have been accessing mil's bank account. at the very least an inhibition (scots law dont know what it is called in english law) needs to be served on her to prevent the sale of the two properties without guaranteeing the debt be paid out first.

Thanks. Yes she has fobbed him off for years saying she didn’t have the money and was trying to raise it. The youngest brother is the favourite and she favours his two kids out of the 18 grandchildren she has. 3 of her kids took her to court for their money and 4 stood by her. She doesn’t speak to the three and they dont talk to her.

When my two youngest saw her in 2021 she said hello to her other grandchildren who were there, my daughter who was sitting with them said hello to her and she blanked her.

One of their cousins told my youngest after her dad died that Nan was giving them money, when her Mum found out she shouted at her for saying anything and tried to make out it was £5 as the only one of them I speak to regularly was on the phone to her at the time. He tells me all the gossip as he gets it from his sister.

I did speak to a Solicitor yesterday so might email him the Deed for the money and ask how much it would cost to take it further.

Hopefully the solicitor will let you pay their fee out of the £25k when it's paid back. Presumably it will have to be your DC who engage the solicitor though? Unless you were still NOK or married to him at the time of his death?

If you had a legal agreement and she hasn't paid just sue her and get a lien on the property. I actually don't think this will be very expensive for you if the paperwork is already in place. Let me know if you want a recommendation for a reasonably priced solicitor who could help (it's not me btw.)

@Indespair666 it will entail fees but the interest rate of normally 8% for debts on that large amount for that length of time will certainly cover any bills. remember she will be charged for all the court costs! btw the interest alone for 25k over 15 years is actually around the 30k mark!!!! that is more than double what is owed for the original debt! and it goes up every day it is not paid!! interest in this case must be charge!!!!! this brings the sum she is liable to pay to your children up to £55,000!!!! not a kick in the teeth!! go for it! what country are you in OP? That is just simple interest, not compound interest!!

sorry scrap that/ That would only have been the case if you had raised it in court all those years ago. interest will only accrue after it has been raised in court but the longer she leaves it the more interest will be added per day

This but if you go to court you can ask for costs to be added as she should have paid.

Do you have home insurance with legal expenses included? Or are your in a union that gives legal assistance part of the membership?