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HSBC Badly Drafted Will Resulting in wrong person paid out

hsbc138
Posts: 8 Forumite
My Mother had her Will written by HSBC in 1993. They were also the executors. She died in October 2007, and the will was written in a highly unorthodox way, and was not written in percentages, or fractions, and was distributed by main assets, e.g. bonds, accounts, etc. HSBC created a nightmare scenario where a residuary beneficary was assigned £300,000, where as, if professionally and properly drafted he would have received nothing. We have been told in writing by HSBC that he should have received nothing. We as a family had to endure two years of utter hell in Court, and had to pay him out £82,000 for tax reasons, and lost in total £138,000, including costs.
The problem resulted from the fact that in 2000 my Mum bought 2 Abbey National Bonds with money from an Abbey account. She put these 2 Life Insurance Bonds in both her sons names, one for 100k and one for 200k. Unbeknownst to her, because the money was no longer in the Abbey account named in the Will, and because the Will wasn't written in percentages, this £300,000 fell into the residuary pot, and was assigned to a distant relative.
We are precluded from taking any action in court against HSBC because we have already been to court to settle with the residuary beneficiary. We were not aware at that time there had been any professional negligence, and had we have been we would have taken action against them. They now have a "Get Out of Court Free" card, and we have been left out of pocket and with no justice.
We would like to find out if anyone has had similar problems with HSBC or any other banks. We have had no justice for this situation, and don't understand why when my Mother paid £15,000 for this service from HSBC, that we have had to foot the bill for their mistakes.
HSBC have also claimed that they lost the will preparation file which would also have shown what my mother's intentions were.
Stranger than fiction is the fact that my Dad spent all his working life at HSBC, and was actually shot during an armed robbery, for which he was decorated by the Queen. He was back at work the on the monday. Sadly this didn't seem to sway HSBC's intransigence to their failure.
We have written to two national newspaper who are interested in the story via their money pages.
We would be very grateful for any information or advice that anyone can give us.
The problem resulted from the fact that in 2000 my Mum bought 2 Abbey National Bonds with money from an Abbey account. She put these 2 Life Insurance Bonds in both her sons names, one for 100k and one for 200k. Unbeknownst to her, because the money was no longer in the Abbey account named in the Will, and because the Will wasn't written in percentages, this £300,000 fell into the residuary pot, and was assigned to a distant relative.
We are precluded from taking any action in court against HSBC because we have already been to court to settle with the residuary beneficiary. We were not aware at that time there had been any professional negligence, and had we have been we would have taken action against them. They now have a "Get Out of Court Free" card, and we have been left out of pocket and with no justice.
We would like to find out if anyone has had similar problems with HSBC or any other banks. We have had no justice for this situation, and don't understand why when my Mother paid £15,000 for this service from HSBC, that we have had to foot the bill for their mistakes.
HSBC have also claimed that they lost the will preparation file which would also have shown what my mother's intentions were.
Stranger than fiction is the fact that my Dad spent all his working life at HSBC, and was actually shot during an armed robbery, for which he was decorated by the Queen. He was back at work the on the monday. Sadly this didn't seem to sway HSBC's intransigence to their failure.
We have written to two national newspaper who are interested in the story via their money pages.
We would be very grateful for any information or advice that anyone can give us.
0
Comments
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I think you are going to have to explain a bit more about what the issue is and what advice you are after. What was the actual problem with the Will?
As you say you have already been to court, presumably you have already taken proper legal advice on the Will and whether or not there is any potential for a claim against HSBC?0 -
thanks for your useful advice. It is quite complicated to explain, and I have added the info that you suggested to make it hopefully clearer. This is the first time we have put anything like this on a forum!
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks again.0 -
Why are you precluded from taking action against HSBC for your loses?
Rob0 -
thanks for this. We addressed this in our reedit, Sadly because we had already been to court our solicitor felt we were unable to take any further legal action.0
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The problem resulted from the fact that in 2000 my Mum bought 2 Abbey National Bonds with money from an Abbey account. [...] Unbeknownst to her, because the money was no longer in the Abbey account named in the Will, and because the Will wasn't written in percentages, this £300,000 fell into the residuary pot, and was assigned to a distant relative.
Did your mother leave her residuary estate to this distant relative then?0 -
The problem resulted from the fact that in 2000 my Mum bought 2 Abbey National Bonds with money from an Abbey account. She put these 2 Life Insurance Bonds in both her sons names, one for 100k and one for 200k.
why did these pay out to the residual estate?0 -
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Because the Will was so badly drafted, when my Mum withdrew the money from the Abbey bank account and bought the two bonds in mine and my brothers names, the Will didn't recognise them and they fell into residuary. A solicitor who specialised in Wills at a leading London law firm said it was the worst drafted will he has seen in 16 years.
Thanks for your interest.0 -
Yes she did name him in residuary but he would have been paid out nothing if the will had been drafted correctly, and we have been told this in writing by HSBC.0
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Because the Will was so badly drafted, when my Mum withdrew the money from the Abbey bank account and bought the two bonds in mine and my brothers names, the Will didn't recognise them and they fell into residuary.You might as well ask the Wizard of Oz to give you a big number as pay a Credit Referencing Agency for a so-called 'credit-score'0
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I'm thinking the bond were like a "RE:" account. Her name was primary and the sons' names were secondary - the money in the bonds was hers she'd just given the bonds names.
When she died, the bonds, which were not specifically mentioned in the will as she had taken them out AFTER the will had been written, ended up in the residue of the estate.
The will should have been updated to mention the new bonds but the mother either forgot to do it or didn't realise it needed doing.:huh: Don't know what I'm doing, but doing it anyway... :huh:0
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