Inheritance dispute

[Nic1805]

Hi,

Sadly my dad passed away this year. In his will he left me and my brothers as residuary beneficiaries, all to receive an equal share.

Before my Dad died he lent me some money so that I could re-train. My dad also lent my other 2 brothers money to buy their properties.

When my Dad was diagnosed and new he wouldn't survive, one of the conversations I had with him was to forget about the money he had lent me as was my brothers too.

One of my brothers, an executor of the will has told me that the will has a clause in it which states that any gift over £1000 given by my father to any of us in his lifetime is to be taken into account when dividing and distributing the estate. So my brother is saying that I will not receive anything as once the money my dad lent me is taken into account then that is all of my share and they will split the estate between themselves.

One of my brothers is saying he repaid his loans and the other is saying he repaid half of it, (although the amount he has repaid changes often) and neither have shown any proof of repayments as yet.
I have asked for estate accounts before any money is distributed.

Today I received a letter from the solicitor who wrote the will, advising that because of this clause the money my dad lent me will be taken into account when the executors distribute the estate, but again no mention of what my brothers have received whether that be as gifts or loans.

I have called the solicitors, but the lady who wrote the letter is on holiday now and someone else is going to have to read the file and get back to me.

Just wondered what everyone on here thought about the clause and can I make my brothers show bank statements to show what they have repaid?

Thanks

[CleverClogs]

Re: Inheritance dispute

Your late father must have really loved his solicitor, to have given the firm so much work after his death.

[Amethyst]

Re: Inheritance dispute

have you seen a copy of the will?

what sort of figures are we talking about ?

[Inca]

Re: Inheritance dispute

As per Ames questions,,,have you seen the Will? Who are the Executors and who witnessed it? When is it dated.before or after your loan from your Dad?
How do they all know your Dad loaned you money? Is it recorded anywhere?

[Nic1805]

Re: Inheritance dispute

have you seen a copy of the will?

what sort of figures are we talking about ?

Yes we now have a copy of the will and it says any gift over £1000 in value made before or after the date of this will is to be bought into account against any gift to beneficiary

alot of money, loans/ gifts to each of us were £50000, £36000 and the other £70,000

[Nic1805]

Re: Inheritance dispute

As per Ames questions,,,have you seen the Will? Who are the Executors and who witnessed it? When is it dated.before or after your loan from your Dad?
How do they all know your Dad loaned you money? Is it recorded anywhere?

I was upfront about the loan from the beginning, told each of my brothers that I had borrowed it even though one of them wasn't even speaking to my dad!

the loan for me was, that I would repay once I had finished my studies

thanks

[enquirer]

Re: Inheritance dispute

... loans/ gifts to each of us were £50,000, £36,000 and the other £70,000.

You cannot prove that your father released you from your obligation. Your brothers are saying that they have repaid or substantially repaid their loans, but have yet to prove it.

If they can't prove it, then the same clause in the will will apply to them also. I suspect that you will need to pay very close attention to how the estate is being administered.

[Inca]

Re: Inheritance dispute

Im intrigued as to your use of 'residuary beneficiaries'.....however,,I think you need to make an appointment to meet with the solicitor and your brothers..
As enquirer says,,,you can't prove your Dad 'forgave' the loan to you..they have to prove they repaid their loans.

Death/Wills/Estates/Money brings out the worst in some people.

[MissFM]

Re: Inheritance dispute

Yes we now have a copy of the will and it says any gift over £1000 in value made before or after the date of this will is to be bought into account against any gift to beneficiary

alot of money, loans/ gifts to each of us were £50000, £36000 and the other £70,000

Unless any of you can prove that you repaid all or part of these loans the individual sums should be deducted from each (presumably equal) share of the estate. Whatever your father may have said in private, the Will is the definitive guide.

See Enquirer's post 7 - make sure the executor is impartial and acting according to the law.

[Galahad]

Re: Inheritance dispute

I would suggest that there is at least a conflict of interests here. One of the brothers being an executor of the will, and it appears getting to decide what he does or does not owe sounds like sticky ground to me.

Regardless of what your brothers state, the same clause applies to them as well as you.

If you cannot prove that your father wrote off the loan, then i'm afraid it stands.

However, as they cannot prove that they paid back or half paid back their loans, then they are in exactly the same position as you.

The only fair way to proceed is to divvy up equally as if the loans didn't exist, not just in the name of fairness, so that this doesn't end up ripping your family apart.

But there is a concern here that the brother who is executor of the will, if he too had a loan, its a conflict of interest for him to proceed, as without wanting to sound disrespectful, he could arbitrarily decide that he had 'paid' it all back or simply not declare he ever had a loan, whilst freezing you out, and thats not right.

Goto the solicitor with your concerns.

[MissFM]

Re: Inheritance dispute

I would suggest that there is at least a conflict of interests here. One of the brothers being an executor of the will, and it appears getting to decide what he does or does not owe sounds like sticky ground to me.

Regardless of what your brothers state, the same clause applies to them as well as you.

If you cannot prove that your father wrote off the loan, then i'm afraid it stands.

However, as they cannot prove that they paid back or half paid back their loans, then they are in exactly the same position as you.

The only fair way to proceed is to divvy up equally as if the loans didn't exist, not just in the name of fairness, so that this doesn't end up ripping your family apart.

But there is a concern here that the brother who is executor of the will, if he too had a loan, its a conflict of interest for him to proceed, as without wanting to sound disrespectful, he could arbitrarily decide that he had 'paid' it all back or simply not declare he ever had a loan, whilst freezing you out, and thats not right.

Goto the solicitor with your concerns.

How can that be fair if one of the loans (70K) is almost twice as much as the smallest (36K)? :tinysmile_hmm_t2: Although I agree wholeheartedly that family feuds are to be avoided.

[Galahad]

Re: Inheritance dispute

How can that be fair if one of the loans (70K) is almost twice as much as the smallest (36K)? :tinysmile_hmm_t2: Although I agree wholeheartedly that family feuds are to be avoided.

I missed those amounts! oopsy!

I'd be interested to know who the loan amounts were for? Presumably the OP was the £70,000?

[Nic1805]

Re: Inheritance dispute

I missed those amounts! oopsy!

I'd be interested to know who the loan amounts were for? Presumably the OP was the £70,000?

Hi, mine is the £50 000.
i have said all along that although My dad said not to worry about the money, if everyone shows what they had and what been repaid then there wouldn't be a problem with my share coming out of the inheritance, but for some reason my brothers still haven't shown proof of what was repaid, and it's been about a month.

I then received this solicitors letter which made me think even more so that my brothers are still ignoring my request.

Can I insist they show what they repaid or is it upto the executor?

thanks for all your replies

[MissFM]

Re: Inheritance dispute

Hi, mine is the £50 000.
i have said all along that although My dad said not to worry about the money, if everyone shows what they had and what been repaid then there wouldn't be a problem with my share coming out of the inheritance, but for some reason my brothers still haven't shown proof of what was repaid, and it's been about a month.

I then received this solicitors letter which made me think even more so that my brothers are still ignoring my request.

Can I insist they show what they repaid or is it upto the executor?

thanks for all your replies

It is up to the executor, so the major question is - do you trust the executor to be scrupulously fair?

[Nic1805]

Re: Inheritance dispute

I did until he kept changing how much he owed, now I'm not so sure!