Has a crime been committed ?

blondie21

Have been advised to delete this thread- which is what I'm doing , thanks for all the advise

Gingernutty

blondie21 wrote: »

Well, my elderly aunt took seriously ill and was taken in by her brother and his wife. They decided she would live with them and that was it!

She has now died and and her will has been read and all her brothers and sisters will receive an equal amount - She has no surviving children.

They all know roughly what they will receive, as her house was sold and the money banked (or so we thought) and this is where the problem lies.

Her brother who was looking after her has withdrawn £100,000 of her money - without any explanation. The rest of the family is mad and are unsure what to do.

Can we freeze the money in the account, to have this investigated?

Is this a criminal matter? Do we involve the police?

It's not what she would have wanted, it's pure greed of them to do this as she was paying them a lot every month from her own money to stay with them!!! Can anyone advise how we should proceed ?

Was the brother an executor? If he was, call the Probate Office and explain what's happened.

The Probate and Inheritance Tax Helpline is open Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm. 0845 30 20 900

Whether he is or not, call the police.

Get to the bank or building society with a copy of the death certificate and try to get the account frozen - tell them what's happened too.

[Deleted User]

http://www.ehow.co.uk/about_6133304_happens-executor-steals-money_.html

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/uk.legal.moderated/UtH8kdtRWIA

From these two links it seems that yes this is a criminal matter, the money in the estate was not the executors to take so it is theft. You should contact the police if you wish to see prosecution and/or recovery. If you're not entirely sure, speak with your solicitor.

hardpressed

Did he withdraw the money before or after she died? If after the bank account should have been frozen until probate had been granted.

securityguy

blondie21 wrote: »

He took it when she was alive .

Then it could be very, very difficult to prove retrospectively that it was stolen. If she signed the cheques, and is now dead and therefore unable to discuss the circumstances, it's going to be problematic.

Yet again, "for God's sake, set up Powers of Attorney, and don't let other people operate elderly relatives bank accounts via any other mechanism."

Gingernutty

You can report your concerns about the management of the POA.

Gingernutty

Good luck. Hope it turns out okay.

michelleliverpool

blondie21 wrote: »

Well my elderly aunt took seriously ill and was taken in by her brother and his wife , they decided she would live with them and that was it ! She has now died and and her will has been read and all her brothers and sisters will receive an equal amount - She has no surviving children. They all know roughly what they will receive, as her house was sold and the money banked ( or so we thought) this is where the problem lies. Her brother who was looking after her has withdrawn £100,000 of her money - without any explanation. The rest of the family is mad and are unsure what to do . Can we freeze the money in the account, to have this investigated? Is this a criminal matter , do we involve the police ? It's not what she would have wanted, it's pure greed of them to do this as she was paying them a lot every month from her own money to stay with them !!! Can anyone advise how we should proceed ?

100K is a lot of money! It is by no means something you could withdraw from a cash machine. And surely the bank would have questioned this amount and required some sort of verification from your aunt?

michelleliverpool

blondie21 wrote: »

He was one of the executor's - there are two. The rest of the family is in shock. We don't think he will agree to give the money back ( I would gladly get him to donate to charity ) a needy cause would benefit , rather than him benefit from it , from his greed. He also had access to her banks as she was living with them- he was authorised to sign cheques for her and she also signed cheques, unaware of what the money really was for . What reason should I say to the police, for ringing ?

The first thing the police will probabably ask you is (I quote:)

"he was authorised to sign cheques for her and she also signed cheques, unaware of what the money really was for"

why you did not bring this to the attention of the police before her death, assuming that she was not 'compos mentis' at the time.

ComeTheRevolution

You seem very certain of what she did and didn't want and what she did and didn't know. One of the things she wanted was to be cared for by relatives rather than strangers in a home. Having someone to care for 24/7 is extremely hard on a number of counts and she may have expressed a wish to repay that. As you're sure she did not then consider what you say about donating the money to charity. They saved her from institutional living and if they had not, a lot of money would have been used up, anyway.

Just an alternative view as reporting her benefactors to the police for ? abuse of a vulnerable person is a very serious thing for everyone concerned.

paddedjohn

OP, since you are not a beneficiary of the will, why are you mentioning donating the cash to charity when it's not yours?