Will Problems

rp951

My late grandad bought a car on credit. He left the car to me but there is £15,000 left to pay on the car. I am being told the dealers want the installments or the dealers will take the car back. Do I have to pay this? Or should the money be paid out of my grandads pot of assets (he has some money in his accounts also). The executor of the will is threatning to send the car back if I dont pay the installments saying he has the power to liquidfy assets to pay off debt and its my responsbility. I didnt even want the car but I am getting a feeling Im being taken for a ride by the executor (also my uncle , who is jealous I got the car in the first place).

daska

If the loan was secured against the car then I believe payment takes priority over even funeral expenses and the estate is liable. Either that or the gift fails as it wasn't the testators property to gift.

Essentially you can't gift a debt and if the executor tries to fob you off you are legally entitled to refuse the bequest

princeofpounds

The estate is liable, not you.

thorsoak

princeofpounds wrote: »

The estate is liable, not you.

But if there is not enough money in the estate to pay back the loan on the car, then it will have to be handed back to the finance company.

Until the estate is fully settled, you cannot own the car.

getmore4less

rp951 wrote: »

My late grandad bought a car on credit. He left the car to me but there is £15,000 left to pay on the car. I am being told the dealers want the installments or the dealers will take the car back. Do I have to pay this? Or should the money be paid out of my grandads pot of assets (he has some money in his accounts also). The executor of the will is threatning to send the car back if I dont pay the installments saying he has the power to liquidfy assets to pay off debt and its my responsbility. I didnt even want the car but I am getting a feeling Im being taken for a ride by the executor (also my uncle , who is jealous I got the car in the first place).

Don't accept it, let the executor sort out the estate.

tyllwyd

I'm not a lawyer, but my take on it would be it depends on the actual wording of the will. If he said "I leave Fred my car" the gift has failed because he didn't own the car so he cant give it away in his will. If he said something more complicated maybe "I leave Fred my car but in the event that the finance is not paid I leave an amount of money equivalent to the market value of the car to Fred" (the wording is rubbish but you get the general idea) then the inheritance might stand. You need to know the exact wording of the will and get a professional opinion.

mountainofdebt

I think the issue will be around the estate settling the finance and the OP having the car is that it may be seen as the OP having two bites of the cherry so to speak.

TonyMMM

If the car was on finance (other than a personal loan) then your grandad did not own the car at the time of his death and so could not leave it in his will. Even if he could, the finance company aren't going to transfer the finance over to you anyway

This is for the executor to sort out as part of his duties to the estate - if he isn't sure how to deal with it he needs to take advice. Whether the estate pays off the finance and you get the car, or the estate hands back the car to the dealer will depend on:

a) how the will is written and b) what other assets the estate has.