Money found in the loft

breadlinebetty

hethmar wrote: »

I dont think that you can say the new owner is legally entitled to the money as the sellers would not be aware it was there. When you sell a house you list the items included in the sale and Im pretty sure "£8k in two coffee tins in loft" wasnt included in the list

If the "friend" hands the money over to the solicitors handling the sale I take it there are eligible persons to inherit the money, who got the proceeds of the house sale? If not it will go to the Treasury and hence any heir hunters that pick up on it being intestate will start tracking down beneficiaries- you can check out Bona Vacantia site for any intestate monies - my OH inherited a very decent amount of money through a check on the site and found a cousin had died without issue.

Forgot to add..........when you sell a property, yes, you do list the items included in the sale. But people don't HAVE to list every solitary item - and it would be too time consuming. I'm sure many a person has left behind items from as little as loo rolls to chandeliers...........

Fact remains that if a person leaves goods behind it's their own loss. Anyway, the OP hasn't mentioned the inheritors coming round asking for the coffee tins!

Personally, I'm doubtful the story is true, anyway. I think the OP was bored and had too much cooking sherry when he posted.

G_M

G_M wrote: »

44 posts. 44 opinions.



Not one definitive answer to the OP's question!

Any lawyers out there??

92 posts. 92 opinions.

Not one definitive answer to the OP's question!

Any lawyers out there??

(Yawn!)

hothothot_3

havent read the whole thread, but I have heard that any single transaction over £3000 deposited automatically gets flagged for review.

clutton_2

what does "flagged for a review" actually mean ?

i was once asked what i wanted £6k in cash for - i told the cashier to mind her own business.....

kunekune

Whether it is criminal comes down to whether the occupant (whether OP or his friend) has dishonestly appropriated property belonging to another. Appropriated is easy - taking it out of the loft is an appropriation. Property belonging to another is a tricky one: but I doubt that the money had been abandoned. It's possible the original owner forgot about it, unlikely they intended to actually abandon it since they put it in the loft of their own house. When they died and probate was granted, the title to their property passed to the executors, and I would imagine that included the money in the loft.It wasn't included specifically in the sale, because the executors were unaware of it, but that isn't the same as having no claim to it. It is therefore property belonging to another. Dishonesty? Well, there's a difference of opinion there. There is no dishonesty if the appropriator thinks they have a right in law to the property, but if that's the case, would they have asked? It isn't enough to think it's ok for you to do it personally, if you know that others would think it dishonest. This thread is instructive there.

I wouldn't do it, if I was the OP/OP's friend. At least, not while this thread exists!!!!!

And yes, I guess I am the mythical lawyer someone wanted. Unfortunately, the answer isn't perhaps as cut and dried as you might think, because it all depends on the state of mind of the appropriator.

Errata

All anyone has to do if they find themselves in the circumstances described by the OP is consult their consciences. And live with the consequences.

Mips

I couldn't sleep at night if I deposited the money in my own bank - however, I wouldn't be too quick to hand it in to someone who may just keep it for themselves either

G_M

Well, you started so well Kunekune, but then tailed off...

"There is no dishonesty if the appropriator thinks they have a right in law to the property"

I have to disagree here, esp as you started by saying:

"Whether it is criminal comes down to whether the occupant has dishonestly appropriated property belonging to another. "

Just because you THINK you have a right in law does not mean you DO!

I believe you'd have had a stronger arguement if your original statement had been
"...has appropriated property belonging to another with intent to permenantly deprive."

But then I'm not a lawyer.....
And you're a mythical lawyer.

What we need is an actual lawyer, preferably a specialist in the relevant area - not a libel lawyer, a tax lawyer, a ....

456789

a community cohesion lawyer

blue_haddock

ceridwen wrote: »

Nobody - whether dead or alive - is going to have forgotten putting that money there. But if they had dementia prior to dying then it would have slipped their mind for that period of time.

And...actually....now they are definitely "in their right mind" again (ie because they're now dead) then I'm guessing they are watching proceedings and hoping that their money goes to whatever people or charity they themselves decided it will go - ie not the subsequent owner of their house.

Well.....your "friend" will know why if he notices any odd goings-on in his house. Personally - I wouldnt want to take the risk of the deceased owner of the house deciding to find out what ways they could to "get their own back" - ie poltergeist type activity.....and nope I'm not joking....as its exactly what I would do myself if I were the deceased person concerned....until the money got handed over to the owner/s I had decided on.

....just got these visions now of sitting there in "heaven" thinking "oh...nearly forgot ...its my 5pm appointment time for today.....time to go and smash up a few lightbulbs/move heavy furniture around/etc back at my old house...as they still havent handed over my money yet...."grin....

What a load of superstitious claptrap!

Surely the best way of deciding this is to speak to the bank of england and ask them if they can tell you the approximate date of issue of the notes based on the serial numbers on a sample of them.

If this correlates with the date of the last owners period of living there then contact the executors of her will to arrange giving it back as it clearly had something to do with her.

And if it doesn't i suggest a week in the south of france and several thousand pounds put in the bank.