Loan to my dad he is very slowly repaying....

Notwhiteanymore

As a rule I don't lend money. When my dad (nearly 80 yrs old) asked if I could lend him the money I hesitated but, after working our realistically that he could pay me back within a 5 year period I agreed. I lent him everything I had saved £15,000. He lives in Croatia and has a apartment block that he let's out to tourists in the summer season. My loan to him was to finish the rooms on the top floor. He was so eager to get the money I didn't agree a loan period before I transferred the money, but I did write an agreement that he and I signed and had witnessed - saying that I had lent him £15,000 and that the repayment period was to be agreed within a reasonable timescale. This has been since September 2011 and there is still over £10,000 outstanding. I regularly text and email asking him to set up a standing order, but he just sends me tails of woe. Of which I am not interested. I now need all my money back due to health reasons. He is refusing to pay me my money back saying that when he dies I will get it from the sale of his house. I really am not happy about this. I have discussed this with my sister who has said just take money out of his account. I do have my name on his UK bank account and am tempted to start taking £150 pcm, but am sure that if I do that it really won't go down well and I probably won't get any of my money back. To say I currently hate my father for doing this to me is an understatement. To top it off he has moved his 'girlfriend' in, a 60yr old Polish woman. Any help or advice appreciated. Am considering legal advice about this mess.

Pixie5740

Is it a joint account you have with your father?

macman

If so and you start taking £150 at a time, he will clean the account out and set up a sole account elsewhere. And then presumably change his will. Since you can't enforce any legal action against him while he is outside the UK, your options are limited.
The agreement you drew up was completely valueless, since it did not state the repayment rate or period. 'Reasonable' can mean one year, ten years, life...

WannaBLoaded

You see, if it wasn't for the 60 yr old polish bit of stuff, presumably after his money? Or maybe because for an 80 yr old he does seem to have his fingers in a lot of pies and keep active so maybe she does actually like him - i would personally think that he is coming to the end of his life, probably, and if he thinks he needs the money to do what he has to do and enjoy the rest of his years i will eventually get some inheritance which will most probably exceed the 10k substantially.

It's not like he is being a complete knob because he has paid 5k back which shows he hasn't just tried to pull a fast one and fleece you.

This is the downfall of lending money, i would always help a family member out with a positive project like an apartment renovation but i wouldn't lend them every penny i had.

If you do have access to his bank then presumably you know how much is in it?

Maybe you need to have a talk with him and say you would like a bit more money but want to ensure that when he does die his estate and will make sure that you get the remainder of the money owed.

I am not sure on whether croatia laws are the same as the uk because in the uk even when you are not married but live with someone in a relationship things can get messy.

How you go about it depends on how good your relationship with your dad is, i can call my dad every name under the sun but we do work together and help each other out despite sometimes hating each other.

Your loan agreement is probably a bit of fluff between you and him, whether it is legal i do not know but i would have personally said to my dad i was going to employ a solicitor to draw something up so that if he did pop his clogs i could get my money back out of whatever he had left in his will.

andyfromotley

I doubt that you are ever going to see that money now or when he is dead.

chesky

Has he made a will?
Is there more than £10,000 in the bank account?

somethingcorporate

No guarantees he will leave you anything in his will whether or not you start reclaiming your money from him.

This is a painful lesson I am afriad...

dealer_wins

Yeah if you annoy him chasing the debt, he may well write you out the will.

Just go with the flow and think every £1 recovered is a result.

Thrugelmir

Notwhiteanymore wrote: »

I regularly text and email asking him to set up a standing order, but he just sends me tails of woe. Of which I am not interested.

Then you shouldn't have lent him the money in the first place

Peter333

Recipe for disaster; lending money to relatives and friends.

Never in a million years would I do this.

Give it to them??? Yes, if I could afford it... But lend them money that I need myself and need to have back?

No. No. No. No. No.

DandelionPatrol

dealer_wins wrote: »

Yeah if you annoy him chasing the debt, he may well write you out the will.

That would not be a complete disaster, because with the loan agreement as evidence, the loan would still be repayable as an estate debt.