London Gazette procedure

dzug1

What procedures should an executor follow when receiving a claim on the estate following a London Gazette advert?

Can he legitimately just ignore it? Or must he tell the claimant - tough, I'm not paying?

And what are the time limits, if any, for the claimant to pursue things in either event?

getmore4less

the debt does not go away until the standard time limits.

s27 just protects the executor.

the claim is against the benificiary(s).

madbadrob

Dzug,

An executor needs to confirm that the debt exists and hasn't been paid or covered by any insurance. The simple answer is no you cannot ignore the debt or refuse to pay it unless you are contesting it. An executor is required by law to satisfy all debts before paying any legacies and there is a strict order of paying the debts.

Time limits technically dont exist but any debts that are lodged with the credit reference companies only lasts for 6 years and most debt companies will write the debt off at this time period

Rob

John_Pierpoint

What is the nature of the claim ?

The objective of the notice is to avoid having to wait silently for 6 years; as you have received a claim you could now try waiting silently for 6 years to see what happens.

If you write back put "without prejudice" on your letter, as this would allow you to negotiate without your letters being produced in any eventual court case.

[All I have ever received is "chancers" coffin chasing in the hope that there is a property involved and theycould buy it cheap].

dzug1

It's the other way round - I've (or rather a relative has) made the claim and have heard nothing - not even an acknowledgement of receipt until prompted.

It's early days yet - but I now know what to expect. I'll return in 3 or 6 months if nothing has happened. Given it's taken 15 months to get probate on what looked a simple estate (to me anyway) I won't hold my breath

Thanks to all for replying

madbadrob

Dzug,
You are in that situation where it looks like you would need to chase the executors with a solicitor. The question would be is the debt worth the expense of chasing it which is what the executor is hoping I would guess

Rob

getmore4less

if they did the notice executors are not responsible chase the benificiaries.

that's where the problems start unless there was just one residual.

John_Pierpoint

I had an open and shut case against a debtor who suddenly died on me.

The legal advice I got was to avoid getting drawn into the iffs and butts of the work you had done for the deceased, just take the case to the small claims court if they won't cooperate.
The executors did not like my attitude but they paid up.

madbadrob

getmore4less wrote: »

if they did the notice executors are not responsible chase the benificiaries.

that's where the problems start unless there was just one residual.

The executors are responsible to settle any debts that are notified within the time limits set by the London Gazzette section 27 once they have confirmed the debt is genuine and not someone just making it up. If the executors do not settle that debt then they would be held liable. This is the reason of the section 27 along with taking away from the executors any chance of them being required to fund any debt that comes to light after the period of time as set out under a section 27

getmore4less

not clear from the posts if the claim was put in in time if it was as jp says small claims

madbadrob

getmore4less wrote: »

not clear from the posts if the claim was put in in time if it was as jp says small claims

True and I guess I just took it as red that it was an in time claim

Rob