Threat of a Money Claim

[CleverClogs]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

I don't think 'she would have had to get a locksmith anyway' is a viable standpoint/argument...the fact is you got the locks changed on HER house without HER consent

That was your assumption of what happened; for all we knew, the locksmith might have been competent and able to open locks non-destructively.

Apparently though, he wasn't sufficiently skilful to do that - or he just wanted more money so he wrecked the lock.

I'm neither a locksmith nor a burglar, but I do know how it could be done. If a key is still in a mortice lock, it may be possible to use a hooked torsion bar to force the key round to unlock the door; if that fails, then the solution is to push the key round until it can be wriggled out of the lock, which can then be picked in the usual way.

[Inca]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

Thanks for that

Clogs,,,my front door is of the type if there is a key in the lock on the inside (and the door is locked) I can't get in cos my key won't go in on the outside. and that's the sum total of my knowledge of locks :rofl:

[powerchord]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

Well, the dreaded letter backlash has happened.Just on break and found 4 missed calls and 4 answerphone messages on my phone. These vary from "I want that ticket you bought for me" to "You owe me for this this and this" but no mention whatsoever of the 'missing' £6000. She obviously realised that she'd spent it.To be honest, after that I feel more confident with the whole thing. The £6000 was the bit I was nervous about as that would have been harder to prove that she had spent it as we sometimes just withdrew it in cash. I think that the other things she wants paying for (dress, car deposit etc) will be easy to prove as gifts as I have a receipt and/or credit/bank statement as proof. Very very very glad that I sent that letter.If she does make a money claim for these amounts, how long do they take to come through usually, from filing to arrival at the defendant's door? The research I've done shows it as a long, drawn-out process.No idea why but the formatting keeps getting lost when I post. Sorry if this is hard to read without paragraphs!

[Inca]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

So..did the locksmith change the lock or just get you into the house ??
How does having receipts prove things are gifts?

Hopefully ,your Mum making contact with you may open a dialogue up and you can 'meet in the middle' as it were. I do hope so because so many people live with regrets when relationships break down

[powerchord]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

The locksmith changed the lock to the front door as he broke it to get me in. The back door lock remains untouched.Having receipts on their own doesn't prove that things are gifts, however I think I mentioned somewhere that my credit card company have been able to tell which card (mine or my mum's) a transaction was made on when I've phoned up for other things in the past, so they would hopefully be able to send me a print out of the transactions made on her card (ie, bought by her, given to me = gifts). Or am I wrong there?

[PlanB]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

the dreaded letter backlash has happened.Just on break and found 4 missed calls and 4 answerphone messages on my phone.

Yep, that sounds exactly like me. I've been known to hit the redial button 40 times to no avail. My daughter usually waits until I've run out of steam before she replies. I always do run out of steam eventually.

[PlanB]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

receipts on their own doesn't prove that things are gifts . . .

. . . . . ie, bought by her, given to me = gifts). Or am I wrong there?

Not necessarily unless they were gift-wrapped with a gift card or a letter saying "with love from me to you". You could have been busy at work so asked her to do the shopping for you. The fact that you had joint use of an account suggests you were both happy to see each others transactions. This is turns means you would see exactly what she paid for these so-called "gifts". Most gift-givers prefer to be discreet about these things.

[PlanB]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

The £6000 was the bit I was nervous about as that would have been harder to prove that she had spent it as we sometimes just withdrew it in cash.

. . . . .If she does make a money claim for these amounts, how long do they take to come through usually, from filing to arrival at the defendant's door?

What your mother would need to prove to the judge is that the money she placed in your account was a gift not a loan which she expected to be paid back. Or she would have to prove it was only placed in your account for safe-keeping. The onus is on her to prove everything she claims

Here's an example of how the 'gift vs. loan' argument works. You need to start to lay a paper trail now with letters not phone calls. You need to somehow get it in writing from her that those goodies were gifts:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/e...-000-loan.html

Once she enters a claim online it takes two to three days to arrive according to your postman's workload. You then get 14 days to acknowledge you've received it and intend to defend. You then get another 14 days to file your defence. Once that happens the court will inform the claimant (your mother) that you intend to defend. The court will offer you mediation at this stage. I would advise you to accept that offer of mediation.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

What your mother would need to prove to the judge is that the money she placed in your account was a loan rather than a gift which she did not expect to be paid back. Or she would have to prove it was only placed in your account for safe-keeping. The onus is on her to prove everything she claims

I've fixed your post for you.

If mumsy were to get judgement in her favour, could it be enforced if the defendant was already in the American colonies?

[CleverClogs]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

The locksmith changed the lock to the front door as he broke it to get me in.

That really ought not to have been necessary, but that's what some so-called locksmiths do - they stretch a simple five or ten minute job to an hour or more, plus materials / new locks.

[MissFM]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

That really ought not to have been necessary, but that's what some so-called locksmiths do - they stretch a simple five or ten minute job to an hour or more, plus materials / new locks.

.....and if it was a Yale a credit card works wonders..

[MissFM]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

Re-reading this thread, there is another thing that "screams" misunderstanding to me:

as your brother clearly has his own transport, your Mum may well have driven off thinking you wanted to spend time with him and that he would bring you back the next day. She may also have been overcome with emotion on seeing her chick leaving home.

No evil intention - just crossed wires.

Then - misunderstanding compounded - you break into the house, send back some of the money....etc., etc..

Do you see what I mean? x

[PlanB]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

I do know how it could be done. If a key is still in a mortice lock, it may be possible to use a hooked torsion bar to force the key round to unlock the door; if that fails, then the solution is to push the key round until it can be wriggled out of the lock, which can then be picked in the usual way.

.....and if it was a Yale a credit card works wonders..

I'm so not giving either you or Cloggy my home address :scared: :scared:

[MissFM]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

I'm so not giving either you or Cloggy my home address :scared: :scared:

arty:arty:arty:

[powerchord]

Re: Threat of a Money Claim

Re-reading this thread, there is another thing that "screams" misunderstanding to me:

as your brother clearly has his own transport, your Mum may well have driven off thinking you wanted to spend time with him and that he would bring you back the next day. She may also have been overcome with emotion on seeing her chick leaving home.

No evil intention - just crossed wires.

Then - misunderstanding compounded - you break into the house, send back some of the money....etc., etc..

Do you see what I mean? x

A nice thought but definitely not the case. Both my brother and I were ringing her from about 10mins after she drove off and we realised she wasn't coming back. We then spent an hour outside the house knocking, ringing both the landline and her mobile trying to speak to her/get in. My brother then had that horrible "don't contact me, I don't care anymore and that's it" answerphone message the next day BEFORE any locksmithery/money nonsense happened. My brother officially left for uni last September, this was just dropping him off after he came home for the weekend.

I also think gift is a problematic word. Obviously I don't mean that she gift-wrapped my wedding dress and gave it to me as a literal present, but I do mean that she bought it for me without the intention of having it back or ever being paid for it. Funnily enough the research I did today came up with the same info- that the onus is on her to prove that she always wanted to be paid for the dress (et al) rather than the onus being on me to prove that she never wanted to be paid for it until we fell out. However it won't hurt to have the transactions to hand should this go further I'm guessing...whilst it's not a video recording of her handing me the goods saying "here you go, I've bought these for you and I don't want to be paid back", it does go some way towards showing that SHE purchased the items as opposed to me just taking the money and spending it myself.

What a headache!