Inheritance paid to the wrong person. Now demanding money back! Help!!!

NYM

missapril75 wrote: »

Presumably accepting the word of a solicitor responsible for making the deposit may count as not believing the credit was wrongful.

How can they prove they made such a call ?
How did they find out the details of the Solicitors that made the payment?

Too many loose ends here ....

jackyann

If the story is as you have told it here, then I suggest that your friend gets some legal advice. There will almost certainly be some sort of CAB, Welfare Law, Law Centre or similar in her area where someone on a low income can access some basic legal advice. A properly worded letter may make all the difference.

pmlindyloo

This article may give your friends a little hope:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2423931/ASK-TONY-We-spent-88-000-inheritance--told-pay-back.html

If your friends did indeed question it then that is two serious mistakes made by them.

How has this mistake occurred? Interesting to find out how such a serious mistake could have occurred.

Worth a try to get it written off - morals apart, a firm of solicitors should not be making such serious mistakes.

HHarry

It may be worth trying to come to some arrangement with the Solicitors.

I (and 5 other beneficiaries) were overpaid an inheritance by about £5k. A fortnight later we were asked to pay it back, but suggested that 25% was written off as a goodwill gesture, which was accepted.

10pence

You will need to get advice from someone with knowledge of Scottish debt law as it is different to debt law in England. As the law, rules and process are different in Scotland and England.

For example in England a company can make someone bankrupt if they owe £750, in Scotland it is £3000. www(dot)aib.gov.uk

melanzana

Did your friend know the person who left the money?

How did the solicitors acting for the estate get your friends bank account details to lodge the money there? There must have been some correspondence.

There may be a possibility of reducing the repayment according to means. But £10 a month is a very low amount really, but what do I know about the Real circumstances.

nannytone_2

just a thought ...
she must have been in contact with the solicitor prior to the payment as they would have needed the bank details.

Gaz83

nannytone wrote: »

just a thought ...
she must have been in contact with the solicitor prior to the payment as they would have needed the bank details.

No, not necessarily. Could easily be a clerical error, someone typed in the wrong account details and it happened to go to OP's account.

This story has more holes in it than a block of swiss cheese. Tell "your friend" to contact a solicitor and leave it at that.

rogerblack

evenasus wrote: »

I doubt very much that would be accepted as an excuse.
She will have to pay the money back.

If it goes to court _and_she_is_there_ - it is likely that at best there would be a nominal fee - but there is no way of telling if it would be 10 quid a month.

If it goes to court, and she is not there, it is essentially certain that she will they will get a judgement requiring immediate payment.
If this happens, then it's basically a 'normal' debt - and everything that can
happen - bailiffs, ... can happen.

However. This is somewhat different from the 'someone accidentally paid money into the wrong bank account' - in which case, yes, you are obligated to return it.

I would question if paying someone money - then critically after they query it - confirming that it's theirs - and then waiting 6 months before asking for it back does not go so far as to reach into professional misconduct for a solicitor.

She needs to write them, and if the case is as you represent above - state she had no reason to believe that it was not a real windfall, especially after they confirmed she was owed it.
By representing to her on the phone that yes, indeed she was owed the money, they have some duty of care towards her - which they have breached.

At the very least, they should offer to recoup all her losses due to this - for example, if she were to sell the goods she purchased to return their money - they should bear the loss, not her.

At the most, I'd be strongly initially arguing that they should write off the debt totally, and if they wish, claim it on their insurance.
Otherwise she will be contacting the solicitors regulator, and making a complaint.

http://www.lawscot.org.uk/forthepublic/what-the-society-can-do-for-you/making-a-complaint

If it does go to court, she can submit a written defense.
I would suggest she offers to give the firm the proceeds of selling any goods purchased to the court, or the goods, if they choose to collect.
Emphasise that she was confirmed that the money was hers.

nannytone_2

Gaz83 wrote: »

No, not necessarily. Could easily be a clerical error, someone typed in the wrong account details and it happened to go to OP's account.

This story has more holes in it than a block of swiss cheese. Tell "your friend" to contact a solicitor and leave it at that.

i realise that but the OP said the friend contacted the solicitor who said the money was theirs.
how would the friend know who the solicitor was if they hadnt communicated prior to the payment being made?