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Executor miscalculated distribution & wants to claw back thousands from beneficiaries

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  • Executor miscalculated distribution & wants to claw back thousands from beneficiaries

    Hello - this is my first post on this forum.

    During Sep 2014 our dear friend passed away. She left a will with two types of beneficiaries - i.e. Charities (8) and non-charities (23). She divided her assets in percentages to make it easier, so some received, say, 5% and others 2%.

    The company she appointed as executors of her will were quite appalling from the beginning, but finally in Dec 2015 they paid out a major share to each of us, with the excuse that they were still waiting final agreement with HMRC IHT. Another interim payment was distributed July 2016, yet another Sep 2017 and the final beneficiary share payment was received by us all Aug 2018.

    Today we have all received a letter telling us that they (IP Company) had miscalculated the net balances due to the non-charitable residue beneficiaries resulting in an overpayment to us.

    In effect, and cutting their letter short, they "forgot" that charities were exempt from IT and therefore no deduction should have been made for this tax from their share. The charities need to be repaid this (over £33k) and the money must come from us! For me, that is £1400.00 they are asking of me - money I cant afford to repay within 21 days, and probably never!

    My question is, can they do this to us, or are they ultimately liable for their own error and incompetence? Even I know that charities do not pay Inheritance Tax!!

    Thank you in advance
    Last edited by Waterlily; 19th January 2019, 15:08:PM.
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Hi and welcome
    Whilst the executor is liable to the underpaid beneficiary they can try and recover any overpayment made to another beneficiary.
    However the overpaid beneficiary might be able to refuse if they have spent the overpayment.
    This refusal to repay because of a " change of position" could be cited by an overpaid beneficiary who has incurred extraordinary expenditure in reliance on their receipt of the legacy: i.e. because having received the benefit, they have decided to spend their money in ways that they would not otherwise have contemplated.

    Comment


    • #3
      Thank you for your reply. We have not got any further atm, but I just though I would copy here an email received 28/08/18 from the company closing the estate accounts.

      "I am pleased to confirm that all inheritance and income tax outstanding issues have now finally been settled in this estate and xxxx’s accounts have been finalised.

      I can confirm that this matter has now come to an end and I therefore have pleasure in attaching a copy of the Estate Accounts. I confirm that the final balance due to you in the sum of £xx has today been transferred to your nominated bank.

      Thank you once again for your continued patience throughout this matter and I can confirm that xx’s file can now be closed.

      Kind regards

      Tracey Brett
      Manager "

      Comment


      • #4
        Did the solicitors send you their updated calculations ?

        #staysafestayhome

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