Will executor (my dad) refusing to pay me my inheritance. What can I do?

[jamesfrnco]

Hi all,

I have an ongoing issue where I am owed £20,000 that I was supposed to inherit when I turned 18 from my grandmothers passing as per her will, but my dad who is acting as the will executor is refusing to pay me the money and without it I am likely to be homeless soon. What can I do?

Story behind this:

My mother died when I was 11 years old and my dad worked in Georgia as a government diplomat. When she died he stayed there, left me any my brothers at home and got a young girlfriend and hired a Romanian nanny until I was 16 years old then my brothers were old enough to look after me legally.

I lived in our family house until I was 17 until my dad decided he wanted to sell the house and buy me and my brother a smaller property to live in. It was agreed the money from selling the house would be used to buy me and my brother this smaller place and then the left over money would be split between the three of us equally. After no communication my dad then sold the house, gave me and my brother a day we had to be out by, took all the money (£850k) and never bought us a new house so me and my brother had to start renting a place together at cost otherwise we would be homeless.

After renting for a couple of years, my brother became problematic with paying the rent as he was sustaining a considerable drug addiction on a low laborer salary which left us unable to pay rent and therefore we had to move. I had to move into a friends spare room (which I have been now for roughly a year) and my brother went to live with a friend.

When having to move out as being unable to meet the rent, I was in communication with my dad begging him to honor our agreement to use the money from the house sale to buy a new house so I would not be homeless at 20 but he said he was not willing to do this as he has a new family now and saying I am old enough to pay my own way. So I accepted I was never going to see the money from the house but I asked if I could have my £20,000 I am owed from my nans death to use to pay rent and he said no even though I am rightfully entitled to it.

After some digging it turns out he bought a house after the first house sale just round the corner from our old house for £270k and has been secretly renting it for £1000 a month, after confronting him about this he told me he used my owed £20k to buy this house that I have no ownership rights to at all and therefore wont be paying me my money as he spent it on that purchase. He said maybe when he sells the house in the future he might pay me the £20k but I haven't spoken to him in months as I am so upset by all of this with my own father abandoning me and stealing my inheritance money.

Any suggestions or advice on what I can do potentially get this money? or is it over?

I have WhatsApp messages with him admitting all of this saying he used my money for something I did not agree to and will not give it to me. I have sent him formal requests and emails asking for the money which have all been ignored. He lives in Georgia (near Russia) but the property he secretly bought is in his name as I did a land registry check on it.

Many Thanks

[des8]

Sorry to hear of your problems.

From your account it seems your father has misappropriated your trust property, which besides being a civil matter may be classed as theft, ie criminal.
If any profit was made from use of your money, you are due that profit
If any tax is due from use of the trust assets to make a profit, HMRC may also be interested. If any tax is due, your father would have to pay it from his own funds

As he lives abroad it won't be straightforward, and you need to secure the assets he has in this country so he cannot dispose of them.

I would suggest a preliminary consultation with a solicitor who is comfortable dealing with this type of situation.
Finding one might not be easy
As you are not in a position to fund this sort of work, you should ask them for a free initial limited consultation to see if there is a way forward, and some way of funding it


The following example (mirrors your situation) lifted from https://www.limesolicitors.co.uk/inh...f-assets-taken

(This is not an endorsement of this firm) Breach of trust by family member

Miss B receives a gift of £50,000 under her grandmother’s Will which she is entitled to when she reaches the age of 21. Miss B is only 11 years old when her grandmother dies and so her share of the estate is put into trust for her until she reaches 21

Miss B’s uncle is named as the trustee under the Will and so he is responsible for looking after the £50,000 and investing it on behalf of Miss B. When Miss B turns 21, she contacts her uncle to ask for her share of the estate. However, her uncle ignores her calls and emails for some time and when he finally responds he is vague about what has happened to her share of the estate. He finally admits that he spent the £50,000 on a property many years ago, which is in his sole name. He rents out that property and it is now worth £100,000.

We can assist Miss B with a claim against her uncle to get the money – he wrongly spent her money and so her uncle is obliged to repay it to her. Also, we can advise Miss B about bringing a claim for breach of trust against her uncle. As he was acting as a trustee, he is not allowed to profit from his position as trustee. Miss B will have a claim against the property that her uncle bought using her trust money, and even though the property is in her uncle’s sole name, we can help Miss B get a declaration from the court that her uncle is holding the property on trust for her.

Therefore, Miss B is not only entitled to all the rents from the property since it was bought (which her uncle will have to account for and repay to her), but she is also entitled to all the equity in the property – the full £100,000.

[jamesfrnco]

Thank you for your reply. I will get in contact with them and see what they say