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Original poster

Inheritance when a sibling owes money to deceased parent

304 replies

JustSaltPlease · 30/07/2024 16:27

Hi

My dad has sadly passed away a few weeks ago. He had around 20k in the bank which is being shared between the 4 children. No will.

However, one brother owed him 9k, and the other 2.5k.

What is the best way here. Surely what they owe should be considered dad's estate, and the whole amounts divided by 4. Siblings will still owe the other recipients then but this does mean the 2 brothers walk away without any cash. Am I making sense?

OP posts:
Kessian · 19/01/2026 19:02

am i right in stating

XelaM · 19/01/2026 23:07

Kessian · 19/01/2026 18:47

It's the will that counts not those owing debts, even family debts. the will says everything regardless os who owes this and that. if it Vacates family debt then so be it

There is no will. It's in the OP

SweetnsourNZ · 20/01/2026 03:36

Belladone · 30/07/2024 16:39

When MIL passed away the solicitor asked if anyone owed anything or was owing money from the estate. My BIL had borrowed her about £15000 money she had leant him for work on his house. This deducted from his half. It did cause a bit of upset at the time my SIL said that the debt died with her, but the solicitor and BIL agreed this was the honest way to do it and legally he had to pay the money to the estate. This was over 25 years ago now so things might have changed, but I would check into it if I was you.

it did cause a family upset though, and my DH said it really wasn’t worth all the upset, but it was out of our hands. I would consider how much you’ve talking about, and the upset it might cause

A lot of people think this but it is the other way round. If there is not enough money in the estate to cover a debt like a credit card then that debt dies. Problem is parents very rarely log money owed by children anyway so can be hard to prove it wasn't a gift.

HoppingPavlova · 21/01/2026 07:49

There is no executor, but as it happens my brother (the one being difficult) is a wills and probate solicitor

They will be using this to their advantage. Was this loan recorded anywhere as a loan? Was there evidence it was a loan such as routine repayments? If not he could claim it was a gift. The it becomes he said/she said. The rest of you could say, ‘dad told us it was a loan’, he could say ‘no idea why, when he told me it was a gift’, and you gave the burden of proof.

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