Lost our home

Bravo228

Hi all, not sure if this is the correct place for this thread but can't find any other section that is appropriate.

I'll try to condense this so it doesn't become too long.

Back in late 2014 / early 2015 my grandmother was diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of smoking. At the time she was in Bournemouth visiting my mothers boyfriend and they recommenced that she stayed in Bournemouth to have her treatment as where she was currently living wouldn't have been as good.

Myself and my mother lived in the same house as my nan and my mum went to go stay in Bournemouth with her whilst she had treatment. Me and my mother were both running business's at the time. My mother closed her business to move down to Bournemouth and help my nan through her treatment. Leaving me behind in the home I had basically grown up in to myself. This continued for around 3 months until the decision was made to sell the house and move to Bournemouth. We knew by then that time was very short so the plan was to have a quick sale and then spend some nice time with her and go on holiday etc.

Fast forward 3 months, the house is sold, and one family business closed. I had to sign some paperwork because i'd lived in the house so long that im happy to leave or something. I wasn't fully comfortable with this as I knew by the time this all went through that my nan wouldn't be alive essentially. But we went along with it to keep her happy and I was more than happy to do that.

So I moved down to Bournemouth so did the rest of us and the money was deposited into her account by this point we were basically on our knees financially. Both business's were not doing well and we've just lost one of them. We then had to add more outgoings by renting 2 homes down here as we couldn't find one big enough in time and really I need my own place as I run my business online from home.

But it was all ok because the money from the house sale would be through soon and it was around £300,000 and was all going to my mum as far as im aware. Fast forward again, my nan sadly passed away and we said our good byes and had her funeral.

Six months later my mother who was in charge of the estate went to the bank to be told that there was a remortgage on the home of £150,000 which needed to be paid, three or four other loans that totaled basically another £100,000. ( I don't have specifics as im not the estate manager ) Can I also just say we have no idea where this supposed money has gone as my nan never bought anything like cars or holidays etc we just don't understand why or when all these loans were taken out, I was living in the home with her and nothing seemed out of the ordinary for me.

Then with the remaining £50,000... My nan was using a laptop while she was going through cancer treatment as she couldn't basically move, she was under heavy medication and long story short spent the entire £50,000 on Gala Bingo in 12 weeks and apparently there was nothing to stop her doing this?

I have no idea what has just gone on but my mum was in tears knowing we had lost our only mortgage free home and my nan had spent all remaining money online. We completely appreciate it was her money to do what she wanted with but we just dont get it because she left everything to us in her estate and told us several times it was for us to buy a home with in Bournemouth etc. Not to mention closing down a business, moving houses etc totalling thousands of pounds.

We are very confident that she was not of sound mind AT ALL when this money was spent as it is a colossal amount of money to be spent gambling online in 12 weeks. But we just don't know what to do about it.

All i know is now we've lost our home and a family member and I just don't know what to do, I'm just shocked to be honest that absolutely everything is gone. Even if all the other debts were sound I still can't believe Gala would just let someone gamble that much money in such a short space of time without any further checks? Does anyone know anything about this as im just mind blown at the moment and would take any help at all.

Many Thanks.

Muttipops

Bravo, firstly, I am so sorry to hear of all the dreadful things that have happened to you as a family recently.
In order to get a bit more back ground could you please tell us did your nan have a will and do you know who is named as her executor if she did?
Here is the governement website that tells you what to do after a death concerning wills and handling of affairs....
https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/overview


and here is some advice from the Gambling Commission about complaining to gambling operators and if you have no luck, then to the Gambling Commission itself....http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/Contact-us/Complaints/How-do-I-complain-operator.aspx


I am sure that lots of advice will be forthcoming your way on here.

Elsewhere

People don't usually start gambling large amounts of money out of the blue. I feel bad suggesting this, but maybe she had a gambling habit for a long time and that's what the loans and remortgage were for? She may never have realised how much she had spent.

enthusiasticsaver

I too am wondering if your nan had a gambling habit which preceded her cancer diagnosis and the loans were given to pay off debts. Was the bank not able to elaborate on how these loans came about?

I am not sure that Gala would have tried to stop her gambling large amounts of money. Even on this forum there are many who have fallen into huge amounts of debt through gambling. I am not sure if you have any legal recourse but maybe someone who is more au fait than me with this will respond. Sorry for your loss and all these problems.

leicestersq

Hello,

when I read this story I had a different thought as to what might have happened to the above posters, and it isn't a good thought so I hope I am 100% wrong about this.

First of all, there are two great big red flags for me.

1) Why did your mum REALLY go to Bournemouth? It would have seemed far more sensible for her to stay where she was from you and your mother's point of view. I don't buy the argument that she would get substantially better treatment there.

2) Why haven't the executors of the will told you exactly about these loans secured against the property, including when they were taken out and where the money went? That money must have been paid out to some account somewhere, whose account was it?

On this second point I would go and ask the lawyers for this information, and take no BS, demand to see the documents immediately. If you don't get to see them go to the police, and perhaps also go to a different solicitors after that with your story. If you do get the documents, then go to the police and tell your story and present the documents as evidence.

If you do get all of the documents from the solicitors, along with a clear explanation of what has happened with these loans, then maybe my concerns about them being dishonest are incorrect. So test this out by asking them for all of the documents. If you don't get them immediately, then I would suspect them to be crooked.

However, whether the lawyers who executed your grandmothers will are honest or not, I doubt that they could have brought this situation about on their own. I strongly suspect that someone, known to your grandmother, may have used her infirm state to take advantage and commit identity fraud. It seems more than probable to me that if you find what happened to these loans, you will find that the lending agreement has a signature that isn't your grandmothers, and the loans were taken out surprisingly recently.

It also seems more likely to me that the gambling wasn't really your mothers addiction, but perhaps a way of hiding the transference of capital from your grandmothers estate to their bank account. It seems entirely possible to me that someone could have been playing bingo logged on as your grandmother but who wasn't your grandmother. I would certainly want to contact Gala Bingo and find out if this player had money paid out to a different account to that which money was paid in from.

Sorry to think such dark thoughts, but I think you ought to consider the possibility that a crime has been committed here and check the money trail to find out if the facts support this supposition.

lessonlearned

Well this is certainly a sorry mess and I agree with Leicestersq there are things that don't sit well.

It is all very vague. It could be of course all be legit and down to your grandmother having gambling debts but somehow I doubt it. It doesnt sound right somehow. Just too many "co-incidences" - £50k spent by a dying woman in just 12 weeks just doesn't sound plausible.

I think you and your mum need to do some digging and you might need professional help.

The executors should be calling for an investigation, you need dates and timescales, to see documents, verify signatures etc.

If these are not forthcoming you should definitely involve the police.

There could well be fraudsters at work but obviously you will need evidence.

nkkingston

Large amounts of money disappearing without anything to show for it could be a sign of a long running gambling, addiction, unfortunately, but I definitely agree with the above posters that you need to establish whether it was your grandmother who took out the loans and when before you can be confident in that conclusion. Since they were secured against your grandmother's house, and she's passed away, it should be easy for the estate to get hold of that information because it now has control. You want to be looking for money going out as well as going in - did the loans come first and were frittered away, or were they to cover up the existence of other debts? Consider enlisting the help of your local citizens advice to go through the information, as an experienced eye will pick up on things you and your mother may miss.

£50k does sound like an amount that could easily be gambled away that quickly, sadly (and a gambling addiction would also explain the loans) but in the circumstances may be money you might get back, because you can argue your grandmother lacked the capacity to understand what she was doing. If it does emerge she's been gambling for a long time, you may have less luck with that. At she realised the end was nearing, she may well have been placing higher and higher stakes in an attempt to win back the money she wanted you to have after she was gone.

Gambling addictions affect a lot of people you wouldn't necessarily expect, and in the elderly can be an early warning sign for dementia, which causes a certain kind of gullibility and risk taking behaviour (my gran gave away her life savings to postal scams, and even when we thought she understood she'd been scammed she found ways to keep doing it, because she was convinced that she could prove us all wrong).

sourcrates

I hate to say it but lots of people who are property rich, but cash poor, take out secured loans against there property in later life, its not uncommon, people get to a certain age and decide to "live a little".

But it also sounds to me like she had some kind of gambling addiction, which is most likely where the money went.

I think you would have significant problems in proving irresponsible lending, where secured borrowing is concerned, checks carried out are less stringent than for an unsecured loan, as you are providing collateral for the loan in the shape of your house, you would need to take legal advice as to weather any claim against the banks concerned would be likely to succeed.