Executor of will and car finance

[Notsurehowtofeel2025]

I'm looking for some advice. I was the executor of my dad's will, he died in 2024. His finances were a mess and after funeral expenses etc there was no estate left. He had a car on finance that he had given to his gf. When he died there was still outstanding payments to be made. The finance company asked for the payments or the car back. I told them I'd never had possession of the car and gave them the details of who had it so they could collect. She initially agreed to me that she'd return the car but has since gone off the radar and hasn't returned the car, the finance company have been unable to collect it. They now want to issue me with a seizure notice to go down a legal route despite them acknowledging that I've never had the car.
what do I do here? Report the gf to the police for theft?

Yes that’s the good practice way but you can still argue 2 years have elapsed

I think the key question here is, and I’m sorry if I missed this point, is whether or not your father legally transferred the car to his GF before he died. If yes, the estate is insolvent and there’s nothing in the estate to pay the debt, and the executor can’t be pursued personally to pay the debt. However, if the car is still registered in your father’s name and the GF is just driving round in it then there are assets in the estate to pay the debt and you DO have a duty to gather in that asset.

Ultimately OP s father gave away something that didn’t belong to him. It belonged to the finance company. OP is not personally responsible for this.

as executor they should have informed the g/f that the car needed to be returned or the finance paid off but after that it’s up to the finance company to take steps to recover the car.

I’m not sure where you got this from but it’s not correct. You are perhaps confusing it with claims under the Inheritance (Provision for family and dependents) Act where claimants have 6 months from the issuing of the Grant of probate to make a claim.

Nope no confusion

I got it from experience working with a solicitor to administer estate

Yes he does - up to what’s reasonable

he’s not personally liable which is what is being suggested

It depends how you define "personally liable". From the perspective of the finance company, the estate has benefitted from a car which has not been paid for. The executor is responsible for securing the chattels of the estate, and has not done so with the car. So it would be reasonable for the finance company to file a seizure order against the executor for the car. The executor will then have to go after the current keeper, who has no legal claim to the car. The executor can't just shrug and say "I can't get hold of the car so tough"....

I didn't say just shrug - read it back

I said do what’s reasonable and show that - he has contacted and requested car be returned - he would need to show he has acted reasonably

you can’t blame the executor for faults of the deceased

Perfect example of why you don’t believe random people on the internet. This poster is wrong, but still confident bordering on aggressive