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Good evening to you all,
I'll try to keep this as brief as I can. But as with such matters they can be lengthy!
My nan died nearly 20 years ago. Until recently I had always believed that nobody in my immediate family received any type of inheritance. It all went to a distant relative who lives abroad.
My father and only brother do not and have never had a good relationship with me. My brother and father do. In the last few months I gave up trying to build a relationship with them and told them I had, had enough and it was best we had no further contact. In the fall out my brother mentioned money he had received from our nan in her will. At the time I thought it was accidental. Now I suspect it might be have been deliberate.
As I said, I've always thought nobody in my family received any inheritance. I have always said this and it has always been confirmed back to me by family members. After the WhatsApp message from my brother I obtained a copy of the will. In it my brother and I had both been given £5000 each.
As you can imagine this has just poured more fuel on the fire. My brother is telling me I have received the money and forgotten. My dad is telling me he always thought nobody got anything. Even now I'm hoping I've forgotten because it's the easiest option to deal with. But I know I haven't for many reasons I won't bore you with.
I've obviously contacted the solicitor who dealt with the will. I have spoken with him twice. He's making all the right noises in sympathetic terms but is clearly miss leading me. In the first conversation I explained the situation. He's said after all this time all he has is a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet lists a payment to me, my brother and the main beneficiary. He can't tell me definitely but it is likely me and my brother were paid by cheque. The main beneficiary was most likely paid by bank transfer. He can't say whether the cheques were cashed or not. But suspects they were because they had systems in place. He said nothing more can be done because his accounts only go back 6 years as do banks. I have since found out from a bank employee that they hold records over 6 years.
In the second conversation he said very similar. But changed tact to say that a statute of limitations comes into effect on any claims after 6 years. I've since learnt this applies from the time it is reasonable for the claimant to have learnt of the fraud. So, again he is misleading me.
I'm assuming he has just sent the cheques to the address on the will. IF my cheque wasn't cashed the follow up procedure would have been to send further letters to the same address. At the time of my nan's death I did not live at that address. My dad and brother still did. So any mail I should have received could have very easily been hidden from me. If the only communication was by letter and they were being kept from me how would I have known?
At the time my mother and I were not speaking. We didn't for 14 years. But do now. At the time my mother and father were recently divorced and not on good terms. Without doubt my brother has hidden the inheritance from me. It is highly likely my dad is involved. I also have very good reason to suspect my dad cashed my inheritance cheque through a joint account he had with my mum. We both have the same first initial and obviously the same surname.
As you can imagine this stings a little bit. I knew my relationship with my brother and father wasn't great. But I would have never suspected this. Basically I'm asking how best to proceed? It's not a lot of money but as I'm sure you can appreciate this isn't about the money. I'm assuming the solicitor hasn't followed his 'due diligence' Therefore there might be repercussions for him there? As well as having to pay back £5000 with 20 years of interest. So he will resist all the way. I'm under no illusions about how difficult this will make things. Ideally I'd like to see some form of criminal proceedings against my dad and brother but from my research I understand this is highly unlikely.
First and foremost is tracing if the cheque was cashed and into which account. Can I make a complaint against the solicitor with some form of regulatory body to force him into that? Can I start any form of criminal or civil proceedings against my dad and brother if it was cashed and not to me? Any advice in how best to proceed will be greatly received.
I'll try to keep this as brief as I can. But as with such matters they can be lengthy!
My nan died nearly 20 years ago. Until recently I had always believed that nobody in my immediate family received any type of inheritance. It all went to a distant relative who lives abroad.
My father and only brother do not and have never had a good relationship with me. My brother and father do. In the last few months I gave up trying to build a relationship with them and told them I had, had enough and it was best we had no further contact. In the fall out my brother mentioned money he had received from our nan in her will. At the time I thought it was accidental. Now I suspect it might be have been deliberate.
As I said, I've always thought nobody in my family received any inheritance. I have always said this and it has always been confirmed back to me by family members. After the WhatsApp message from my brother I obtained a copy of the will. In it my brother and I had both been given £5000 each.
As you can imagine this has just poured more fuel on the fire. My brother is telling me I have received the money and forgotten. My dad is telling me he always thought nobody got anything. Even now I'm hoping I've forgotten because it's the easiest option to deal with. But I know I haven't for many reasons I won't bore you with.
I've obviously contacted the solicitor who dealt with the will. I have spoken with him twice. He's making all the right noises in sympathetic terms but is clearly miss leading me. In the first conversation I explained the situation. He's said after all this time all he has is a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet lists a payment to me, my brother and the main beneficiary. He can't tell me definitely but it is likely me and my brother were paid by cheque. The main beneficiary was most likely paid by bank transfer. He can't say whether the cheques were cashed or not. But suspects they were because they had systems in place. He said nothing more can be done because his accounts only go back 6 years as do banks. I have since found out from a bank employee that they hold records over 6 years.
In the second conversation he said very similar. But changed tact to say that a statute of limitations comes into effect on any claims after 6 years. I've since learnt this applies from the time it is reasonable for the claimant to have learnt of the fraud. So, again he is misleading me.
I'm assuming he has just sent the cheques to the address on the will. IF my cheque wasn't cashed the follow up procedure would have been to send further letters to the same address. At the time of my nan's death I did not live at that address. My dad and brother still did. So any mail I should have received could have very easily been hidden from me. If the only communication was by letter and they were being kept from me how would I have known?
At the time my mother and I were not speaking. We didn't for 14 years. But do now. At the time my mother and father were recently divorced and not on good terms. Without doubt my brother has hidden the inheritance from me. It is highly likely my dad is involved. I also have very good reason to suspect my dad cashed my inheritance cheque through a joint account he had with my mum. We both have the same first initial and obviously the same surname.
As you can imagine this stings a little bit. I knew my relationship with my brother and father wasn't great. But I would have never suspected this. Basically I'm asking how best to proceed? It's not a lot of money but as I'm sure you can appreciate this isn't about the money. I'm assuming the solicitor hasn't followed his 'due diligence' Therefore there might be repercussions for him there? As well as having to pay back £5000 with 20 years of interest. So he will resist all the way. I'm under no illusions about how difficult this will make things. Ideally I'd like to see some form of criminal proceedings against my dad and brother but from my research I understand this is highly unlikely.
First and foremost is tracing if the cheque was cashed and into which account. Can I make a complaint against the solicitor with some form of regulatory body to force him into that? Can I start any form of criminal or civil proceedings against my dad and brother if it was cashed and not to me? Any advice in how best to proceed will be greatly received.
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