Beneficiary still not banked cheque, now it's about to go stale

Icey77

Last November DH sent a cheque to one of the beneficiaries (a cousin) of his uncles will. It has definitely been received as we've had confirmation from the cousin that he's received it but to date he's not banked it.

It will soon go stale, and in the meantime DH can't close the executors acc at the bank. DH is the residuary beneficiary and has left the acc balance at £10k plus a couple of hundred to cover any late fees etc but he can't actually finish off the job.

My feeling is that this cousin has realised his benefits will be affected by this inheritance of £10k and is holding on to it and not banking it, I'm not sure why though?

Email reminders are ignored so what can we do?

Can we cancel the cheque and withdraw £10k in cash and then deliver it to the cousin and get a receipt from him?

My personal feelings about hiding an inheritance so that is doesn't affect his benefits is that it's wrong, very wrong! Why should the taxpayer fund this chap when he's got cold hard cash sitting under his mattress!!

Any suggestions? Thanks

TBagpuss

I would write (rather than e-mail) the beneficiary. tell them that the account is going to be closed so the cheque will be cancelled if not banked by the end of the month.

I personally would not deliver it in cash as I would not be comfortable carrying that amount of cash, but provided that you agreed it with them in advance and they signed a receipt for it I don't see why not. Could you arrange for them to meet your husband and to go to the bank with him, so that the money can be handed over there and it is the beneficiary, not your husband, who takes the risk of wandering round with £10,000 in cash on him.

You may be able to get a bankers draft, but to protect yourselves I think you would need to get written confirmation first from the beneficiary that they would accept the money in this form, and that they understand that it cannot under any circumstances be replaced or reissued, and must be treated / kept secure as if it were cash.

My understanding is that it is more secure than cash as it is payable to the beneficiary only, but as it is drawn in the bank's own account, not yours, your account would be debited when the draft was drawn, not when it was cashed, so you'd be able to close the executors account.

If you have them, you could then cancel the cheque and do a CHAPS payment directly to the beneficiary.

specialboy

AFAIK the cheque might expire within a certain timeframe but the liability is still there, that's to say its still their cash.

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Could be they do not have a bank account to pay the cheque into. Check with them first on what the delay is.

AMD

Icey77

specialboy wrote: »

AFAIK the cheque might expire within a certain timeframe but the liability is still there, that's to say its still their cash.

Absolutely the liability is still payable, we're no trying to cheat him out of the money, just want him to "have" it so that we can close the account and know that the job is done.

AMILLIONDOLLARS wrote: »

Could be they do not have a bank account to pay the cheque into. Check with them first on what the delay is.

AMD

He refused to give us his bank details for a BACS transfer which is why we had to resort to cheque in the first place. He isn't replying to emails at the moment and he changes his phone number at the drop of a hat so we don't have an up to date one and neither do his parents, sister or other cousins as we've asked

As TBagpuss has suggested the first choice if for him to meet DH and a suitably husky mate at the local branch of HSBC (which is where the executor acc is held) withdraw the cash and then hand it to him in return for a signed receipt. Second choice would be for DH and husky mate to deliver the cash and get signed receipt.

Either way I would want DH to have a witness to the payment and also backup if there was to be a problem whilst walking around with a pile of readies!!

Many thanks for the suggestions, I will out them to DH and see if we can get hold of the cousin and tell what his options are.

My feelings about reporting the cash inheritance to the benefits helpline is another issue though it irritates me no end that this man is likely to be continuing to claim benefits although he will have £10k under his mattress Although, I don't know if that is a large enough change in circumstances to trigger a review of benefits so perhaps I am getting irritated for nothing!

thorsoak

It is a pity that you can't send the benefit to DWP, and ask them to distribute it to the beneficiary!

madbadrob

To be fair whether he takes the money or not he is now 10k richer and if he hasnt informed the DWP he is defrauding them anyway.

Rob

dzug1

There are ways of reporting benefit fraud surely?

madbadrob

There are Dzug. There is a number available online and its confidential. You dont have to give your name

Rob

BobQ

OP tell the beneficiary of your suspicions and explain that if the cheque is not paid into account you will contact the DWP informing them of your concerns.

That said there may be another reason for this behaviour. Maybe he has debts and is going bankrupt?

madbadrob

BobQ wrote: »

OP tell the beneficiary of your suspicions and explain that if the cheque is not paid into account you will contact the DWP informing them of your concerns.

That said there may be another reason for this behaviour. Maybe he has debts and is going bankrupt?

However not banking the cheque will make no difference if he is going bankrupt because he will lose all bank accounts and have to explain to the official receiver where he has received the money from should he take it after bankruptcy. He would then lose it all bar a small amount to clear his debts.

Rob