Overpayment of pension

getmore4less

simpywimpy wrote: »

Am I liable to return it? I havent benefitted from it and wasnt aware of it until after all his debts etc were settled.

but they were not all settled.

Was the estate insolvent?

if not call back in funds from the benificiairies.

NAR

simpywimpy wrote: »

It was a genuine error on my part.

I don't think anyone doubts this and don't get upset by everyone saying you should have done this, that or the other. You were obviously doing your best as executor (and perhaps this will be a lesson/guidance to others) but the bottom line is unfortunately you are responsible for repaying the overpayment. If you can get the beneficiaries of the estate to return monies to you it may reduce/eliminate the amount you have to pay.

CaptainAmerica

Freezing of the accounts is I would say one of the first things to do, leaving them open for 4 months is going to open you up to all kind of overpayments etc after the DOD.


Any company that tries to pay in to a frozen account will have it returned by the bank which will usually trigger the company to send a letter which is particularly useful if there is literally no paperwork to work from to ascertain assets/liabilities

simpywimpy

I have now received a letter threatening court action from LCC however, my emails to them remain unanswered. I have asked for a breakdown of what payments were made and where their figure of £1300 comes from plus explained that after funeral expenses were paid, there was no money left in the account itself.

I also explained that my sister (elder) who dealt with accounts with me has since died and Ive no way of checking anything with her.

What should be my next move. I have written again in response but no reply so far.

Crabapple

Reply to them by letter not email.

You say there was no money left in the account, but was there other money in the estate? If so you need to find out where that has gone and get some money back from the beneficiaries to repay the Council as soon as possible.

thorsoak

simpywimpy wrote: »

My father died over a year ago now. I applied for probate as executor/beneficiary and notified companies that I knew of.

My dad was in receipt of a pension from the county council and although advised via registrar service as all pensions were, they continued to pay for 4 months (approx). I closed his account and used the funds to pay his undertaker bill. What I didnt know at the time was that the money was an overpayment or where it had come from. I presumed it was an investment policy he had coming in but had no idea it was something he wasnt entitled to.

They are now threatening court action against me personally for the return of £1300.

Am I liable to return it? I havent benefitted from it and wasnt aware of it until after all his debts etc were settled.

"I have now received a letter threatening court action from LCC however, my emails to them remain unanswered. I have asked for a breakdown of what payments were made and where their figure of £1300 comes from plus explained that after funeral expenses were paid, there was no money left in the account itself.

I also explained that my sister (elder) who dealt with accounts with me has since died and Ive no way of checking anything with her.

What should be my next move. I have written again in response but no reply so far."

As you applied for probate as executor/beneficiary, you ccannot now complain that your elder sister dealt with the accounts - the responsibility is yours, and you will have to repay the debt.

Flugelhorn

I think the thing is that the money does have to be paid back, how many beneficiaries were there? Did they receive enough money to share this bill between you?

pimento

Didn't the OP say that all the overpayment paid for the funeral? He never mentioned inheriting any money from the estate.

uknick

pimento wrote: »

Didn't the OP say that all the overpayment paid for the funeral? He never mentioned inheriting any money from the estate.

The problem is the executor used the overpayment of the pension to pay for the funeral. The overpayment was made because the executor didn't tell the council the person had died.

simpywimpy

I thought I had notified everyone I had need to uknick. Im not one to not pay but feel Im paying a bill here that I didnt actually benefit from in the first place