Inheritance During Bankrupt period

strimmerman

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can advise me.

My father died in Aug 09 and I was not discharged until Nov 09 and he died intestate. I realise that this means any inheritance due is treated as acquired property and therefore can be taken from me towards the bankruptcy. However I am I also correct that there is a 42 day rule that means from the first point that "someone" not necessarily myself notifies the OR that there could be/is an inheritance due that the period starts from that point. I was not sure what was going to happen until I was able to obtain a meeting with the solicitor dealing with this, who after our meeting advised me accordingly and contacted the OR and advised them, so as soon as I knew they knew but this was not until prob 8 weeks after death.

Prior to this due to some other dealings I know that my local authority (the instigaters of my bankruptcy) had money due to my Dad and actually rang the OR to try and give it to them assuming that I was the benificary (before that had even been established)and that they should pay it straight to them. The man at the LA actually told us this when we rang him to chase why the money due had not been paid. As I know he did this and therefore the OR was advised by him of my possible inheritance by him does that bring the 42 day rule from that point into play. If so I presume that I would need to prove this in order to contest paying the OR.

Many thanks

skylight

Its 21 days. You have to notify the OR within 21 days of change to circumstances (not 42 or someone else). You signed a legal document agreeing to this at the beginning of your BR.

Sorry about the passing of your father. Of course, at a highly emotional time, you are bound to forget telling things to the OR and anyone else so therefore I don't think they could accuse you of hiding anything with that defence.


I don't understand what you mean by "contest paying the OR" though.

fermi

skylight wrote: »

Its 21 days. You have to notify the OR within 21 days of change to circumstances (not 42 or someone else). You signed a legal document agreeing to this at the beginning of your BR.

True. But once the trustee is informed of the after acquired property (by anyone), the trustee has 42 days to make a decision whether it is to be claimed for the estate.

In the case of a potential inheritance, that means serving a notice to the executor I think?

So I think the OP is trying to work when exactly that 42 day period would have started?

strimmerman

Yes Fermi that is what I mean.

I found this: (this is abridged to the bit I think is relevant)

31.8.16 Notification of after-acquired property – care to be taken

The Act makes no mention that the 42 day time limit for the trustee to claim the property (see paragraph 31.8.12) starts at the day that the bankrupt serves notice on the trustee - it simply states that the 42 days begins “with the day on which it first came to the knowledge of the trustee that the property in question had been acquired by, or had devolved upon, the bankrupt” /I][URL="http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/freedomofinformation/technical/technicalmanual/Ch25-36/Chapter31/part8/part2/part%202%20notes.htm#15#$36765#15#$36765#15#$36765#15"][COLOR=#0066cc][I]note 15[/I][/COLOR][/URL][I. From the point of view of starting the 42 days, valid notification can therefore be made by any means including phone calls and e-mails to the official receiver. Note that this wording does not even require that this knowledge originates from information provided by the bankrupt – the information may come from a third party.

What I am really asking here is when the person from the LA rang the OR basically saying this man (my father) has died we owe him money but I bankrupted this person (me) and therefore I think I should be giving the money to you as it is my belief that she is his beneficary should the OR have taken note of this and contacted me to ascertain if this was true or not. Obviously as you gather from my question they did not contact me and I am trying to find out if the 42 day period can start from the point that the third party namely the LA contacted the OR trying to give them the money owed to my Dad.

Again please note that at this point I did not know what was going to happen with my fathers estate. I did not contact the OR myself at any point as I needed to see a solicitor and put it in their hands to deal with. The solicitor contacted the OR once they were satisfied that I was going to be a beneficary.

The estate has not even been granted probate yet as it was a bit complex so no monies have yet been paid to me or anyone else.

Thanks

fermi

Has the OR/trustee contacted the executor to notify them of the interest then? If so, when?

strimmerman

The solicitor contacted the or on my behalf as they are dealing with my fathers estate. After the first appointment with my solicitor she contacted the or which would have been mid sept. The or then sent a letter to me advising that they would claim whatever necessary from me. As he was intestate there was no executor but I have had to sign the forms for probate so I presume that now makes me the executor. I have heard nothing more from the or since they wrote to me. They have agreed the solicitor can act as agent for the dispersal of the monies to relevant debtors. Probate has been a long process due to probs with my mothers estate which my dad never dealt with.

The contact from the LA made to the OR came before I had managed to get an appt with my solicitor to establish the position and set any balls rolling. Obviously we had to ensure there was no trace of the will my dad did have that disappeared before proceeding with intestacy. Although it made no difference in essence as I was thebeneficary whether the will was found or not.