bank account closed without probate

cypher007

ive just found out my late Dads bank account was emptied and closed by my step brother, see other thread for more info. the bank said he essentially just got a form signed by himself and a solicitor to say he was the executor, which its looking likely he was not. they have said that as far as they are concerned he met the criteria needed to close the account.


can the bank wash there hands of it like this if it is found he acted fraudulently? as with other info from new contacts I have made in the area where my Dad lived, it would appear the stepson is very unlikely to pay me back any money hes taken.

leespot

Just a thought, but if there was a solicitor involved would that not imply that there was a will?

LavenderBees

leespot wrote: »

Just a thought, but if there was a solicitor involved would that not imply that there was a will?

Not necessarily - I didn't have a will for my late Mam as she died intestate. The form I had to sign to get hold of her money from her building society account simply needed a solicitor to sign it to say I was who I said I was i.e. that he had seen my identification. It cost me £5.

Each bank/building society will have slightly different criteria, but essentially the form I signed said something along the lines (sorry, I can't remember the wording) that I was entitled to claim the money and would be liable for it, should it be found I didn't act correctly, kind of thing.

I think your issue is with your step brother....unfortunately, not the bank but it would be helpful to get a copy of the form he and the solicitor signed to see the wording on it.

SevenOfNine

Surely at some point the solicitor (& possibly bank) would have needed to see the death certificate?

If you have that cypher007 I'd be asking the bank for a copy of this 'form' so you could track down the solicitor.

leespot

LavenderBees wrote: »

Not necessarily - I didn't have a will for my late Mam as she died intestate. The form I had to sign to get hold of her money from her building society account simply needed a solicitor to sign it to say I was who I said I was i.e. that he had seen my identification. It cost me £5.

Each bank/building society will have slightly different criteria, but essentially the form I signed said something along the lines (sorry, I can't remember the wording) that I was entitled to claim the money and would be liable for it, should it be found I didn't act correctly, kind of thing.

I think your issue is with your step brother....unfortunately, not the bank but it would be helpful to get a copy of the form he and the solicitor signed to see the wording on it.

Blimey, fairly straight forward isn't it! I suppose it reinforces the need for people to leave a will, as the OP likely has no recourse for claiming the money back from the step brother if he has taken it illegally :O

Hope the OP gets sorted either way, although if that is how the step brother is behaving over money in the bank, I wonder what he's up to with the property. He's obviously been clued up enough to know the procedure for getting hold of money from the bank.

cypher007

SevenOfNine wrote: »

Surely at some point the solicitor (& possibly bank) would have needed to see the death certificate?

If you have that cypher007 I'd be asking the bank for a copy of this 'form' so you could track down the solicitor.

this will be my next approach. re the bank I will be claiming from them, they can get it back from him, best of luck would be my guess.


the form he probably signed has this at the bottom:
[FONT=Expert Sans Regular,Expert Sans]

[FONT=Expert Sans Regular,Expert Sans]PERSONAL INDEMNITY
i GIVE THIS INDEMNity both in my personal capacity and as the claimant/deceased’s Personal rEPRESENTATIVE⁄bENEFICIARY⁄eXECUTOR.
i WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSSES OR COSTS THE bARCLAYS GROUP OF COMPANIES SUFFERS AS A RESULT OF ANY OTHER PERSON BEING ENTITLED TO A SHARE OF THE FUNDS THE bARCLAYS GROUP OF ¢OMPANIES PAYS TO ME UNDER THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT.
[/FONT]

[/FONT]its messed up the cut and paste, but essentially as I read it I claim off Barclays they claim off him?

g6jns_2

cypher007 wrote: »

ive just found out my late Dads bank account was emptied and closed by my step brother, see other thread for more info. the bank said he essentially just got a form signed by himself and a solicitor to say he was the executor, which its looking likely he was not. they have said that as far as they are concerned he met the criteria needed to close the account.


can the bank wash there hands of it like this if it is found he acted fraudulently? as with other info from new contacts I have made in the area where my Dad lived, it would appear the stepson is very unlikely to pay me back any money hes taken.

The indemnity only means that the bank can claim the money back. It has no bearing any liability that they may have. Their liability is not dependent on them being able to recover the money.

cypher007

in your view do you think hes got a will and just doesn't want to spend the money executing it via a solicitor? or is he just winging it?


to me it makes no sense to use the method he has to get the funds if he has a will, there again he only waited 9 days after my Dad died to empty the account. which is quicker than waiting for probate id imagine.


god knows how im gonna find any other accounts. I used a utility company to find the Barclays one.

Crabapple

I don't think there's any way to know if he has a Will or is 'winging it' as you said, unless you get in contact with him and ask if there is a Will.

Without knowing if he holds one, you don't know if you have any authority to deal with the Estate or whether he does.

He's been to a Solicitor and got a statutory indemnity signed, which means he will have sworn to the truth of the statement you cut and pasted. The Solicitor isn't required to ask for proof that he is what he says, but your step-brother has lied under oath if he isn't.

I can't remember if there is also a property. If there's just one bank account with a fairly small sum in (amount depends on the bank) then just swearing an indemnity form is a perfectly normal way of claiming funds. If there are other assets for which a Grant will be needed you shouldn't do things that way. However, the frontline bank staff don't always understand this and often fling these indemnities at people irrespective of what they actually need to do.

Mattygroves2

cypher007 wrote: »

in your view do you think hes got a will and just doesn't want to spend the money executing it via a solicitor? or is he just winging it?


to me it makes no sense to use the method he has to get the funds if he has a will, there again he only waited 9 days after my Dad died to empty the account. which is quicker than waiting for probate id imagine.


god knows how im gonna find any other accounts. I used a utility company to find the Barclays one.

If the balances are small the banks will release them before probate even if there is a will.

The only way you are going to find all the accounts is to go to the house and hunt through all the paperwork that exists. The longer you leave it the more likely it is that things will be destroyed.

getmore4less

guys read this in conjuction with the other threads by OP, there is more to this than just an account.

The is is what happens when info is split over multiple threads people go over the same ground.

the probate board ones in this search

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.php?do=process&showposts=0&starteronly=1&exactname=1&searchuser=cypher007