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Original poster

Can someone give advice on this…Private debt of deceased Dad

29 replies

Elmer83 · 13/07/2021 20:22

I’ll try to keep this brief. Our father has died and his sister has text to say in 2000 she lent him £1000 pounds and wondered if there was money left to give it her back. Silly thing is our father inherited £100k back in 2009 so why didn’t he pay it her back then? There is no record of this loan either? We are assuming she has no leg to stand on…there was no property involved and under £20k in his bank (which has been split between me and his other children)

OP posts:
titchy · 13/07/2021 20:35

Not a lawyer, but if there was enough in his estate to pay any debts then they should have been paid before the estate was distributed. She can now come after you and your siblings to get that money back.

However... did he really still owe her or is she trying it on? Or have memory issues of her own?

Thanks
Original poster
Elmer83 · 13/07/2021 20:48

Thanks for responding. Yeah that’s exactly our issue…no evidence of any loan in the paper work and to be honest it was over 20 years ago it supposedly happened! We hardly know her so no idea if she’s trying it on. All official debts and money owed has been paid out his estate but this just feels a bit strange to us.

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LindaEllen · 13/07/2021 20:55

If there was evidence he owed her I wouldn't want to leave her out of pocket. But nor would I trust her word alone.

Mintjulia · 13/07/2021 21:00

Can she show a bank transaction for £1,000? And even then, there's no evidence that it was a loan.

I don't see how she can make a claim without paperwork.

GintyMcGinty · 13/07/2021 21:07

Pass the info on to the solicitor who is dealing with the estate and ask him or her to deal with it.

bewilderedhedgehog · 13/07/2021 21:11

I think she should go through the executor of the will, but if there is no evidence of any such loan then I don't think you are under any obligation - odd that it has been raised after the monies have been settled?

dementedpixie · 13/07/2021 21:11

With no paperwork there is no proof any loan was made

SpindleWhorl · 13/07/2021 21:15

When my father died my siblings and I had to set up a Rule, because we had all our (already deceased) step-mother's relatives crawling out the woodwork.

  1. Is it in the will?
  1. Is it in a letter of wishes, or was it otherwise expressed as his wishes anywhere, including in conversations over the last year of his life?
  1. Do the beneficiaries and executors agree, as a matter of honour, that the 'legacy', gift or gratitude should be paid?

This turned out to a very fair and legally tight system.

A relative coming up with a 'debt' after his death, that no-one had ever heard of, would have been sent a copy of the will. Fin.

Original poster
Elmer83 · 14/07/2021 16:15

Thanks everyone. Well my Dad wasn’t the most responsible of people and he left no will…we’ve not needed a solicitor as no estate as such and no wife so money left in his bank account just spilt between his adult children.
I also wouldn’t want to leave her out of pocket and if we had evidence of the loan I would pay out. Just can’t get my head around why she didn’t ask for it back when he (and her and his other siblings) inherited the £100k each in 2009?! Makes no sense to me!!

OP posts:
Cheesypea · 17/07/2021 06:36

Were you aware of the loan at the time, is there another person who can back up her story?

GloriousGoosebumps · 17/07/2021 08:24

The short answer is that if she can't prove the loan then she can't make a claim on your father's estate, however, the fact that she's your aunt brings an emotional aspect to the issue. You need to discuss your approach with your siblings but I'd point out to her that there's no will and ask the aunt the questions you've raised here i.e. what evidence does she have of the loan, why has she waited 21 years to claim repayment, why didn't she ask for the money when your father, the aunt and other siblings each inherited £100k so she knew he was in an excellent position to repay her money. I can't think of any believable reason why she wouldn't ask for the return of her money when she knew he had £100k sitting in the bank.

123ZYX · 17/07/2021 08:39

Technically, debts older than 6 years, with no intervening contact regarding the debt or repayments, aren't recoverable. (I'm not a lawyer though, so if you're wanting to rely on this, getting some legal advice would be a good idea)

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/help-with-debt/dealing-with-your-debts/check-if-you-have-to-pay-a-debt/

Also, if she has no evidence of it being a loan it seems unlikely that a small claims court would find against the estate.

However, it's made harder by not knowing your DFs side of what happened. You presumably want to keep a good relationship with your aunt, but equally you don't want to give her such a large part of your inheritance if your DF didn't owe it.

I'd probably ask for evidence, but the decision of whether to pay it is going to be tough.

thecognoscenti · 17/07/2021 08:45

I think if I were you I would pay it. It may not be documented but £1000 is a lot of money and I wouldn't want it on my conscience with the potential that it sours future relations with this person. It seems more likely to have been a loan than a gift from the sounds of it.

Original poster
Elmer83 · 17/07/2021 12:24

No we were not aware of the loan at the time but we have little contact (in fact really no contact) with my dads side of the family. We don’t know them well at all! Makes it harder to trust her word to be honest!

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Original poster
Elmer83 · 17/07/2021 12:24

Thank you everyone for your replies. They are all appreciated xx

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Roundlampshade · 17/07/2021 13:52

My stepfather died and he had previously said to me (verbally) that he wanted his blood daughters to receive £50k each after his death. His will left every to my mother and she refused to give them any money. I spoke to my DSF’s solicitors who told me that if there was no mention of this in the will, nor any provision for the money then sadly the DSS were not entitled to any money.

So no, you are not legally bound to honour this loan.

Roundlampshade · 17/07/2021 13:54

And also what @GloriousGoosebumps said.

Mulletsaremisunderstood · 17/07/2021 18:51

Sounds like she is trying it on OP. You could say to her that the solicitor dealing with the estate has asked for proof - i.e. evidence of a bank transfer.

Or you could ask directly why she hasn't tried to claim it before now? If you are not close with her maybe just ignore and hope she goes away. She wouldn't have a leg to stand on legally.

HalzTangz · 17/07/2021 19:17

I would ask her why she didn't chase the repayment from your dad 9ver the last 20 years.
It doesn't make sense he inherited 100k but didn't pay off a 1k loan with it.
The owness is on her to prove she loaned the money and also prove none was repaid back.

After 20 years you'd think she would have written it off as money long gone

MrsTerryPratchett · 17/07/2021 19:20

She's sat on it too long.

Doctrine of latches. I'm not a lawyer though.

soooooooG · 17/07/2021 19:25
  1. Does she legally have proof of the debt
  2. The statute of limitations for debt recovery is 7 years.

You can pay her back as a gesture of goodwill but she will have no legal right of recovery.

Cheesypea · 17/07/2021 20:14

Unless shes on skid row its actually very harsh to bring this up now.

Weebleweeble · 17/07/2021 20:17

Can you or anyone else think of a reason he would need such a loan - car repairs, roof repairs??

ivykaty44 · 18/07/2021 19:19

id write and ask for a cheque book stub, bank statement or written agreement about the loan and what was the reason for the loan?. include in the letter a question, can I ask why this matter was not resolved when you both inherited a large sum of money that would have easily meant the money would have been returned?

send this out and see what she comes back with

Original poster
Elmer83 · 18/07/2021 21:38

No reasons as to why but we weren’t very close so I would t know anyway.
Yes I agree with PP about it all being harsh…she’s most definitely not on skid row (6 bedroom house, country estate, swimming pool etc)
Yes we’ve asked for evidence from her and so far she’s come up with nothing. In fact we haven’t heard anything from her since we asked. All very strange behaviour!

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