Found Cash in Relatives house

Pa_Ja

Not sure were to post this..

A friend is clearing out a recently deceased family member’s house (He’s the next of kin). They have founds bags of money in excess of £10k.
It was genuinely earned, ie… Not hidden for tax avoidance. The elderly person most likely withdrew lump sums throughout their life and held onto it as she did not trust banks.

Does the cash need to be declared? A lot of the notes are possibly withdrawn and not necessarily in circulation.

Thanks

Robisere

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/withdrawn/default.aspx

Click on "Exchange Withdrawn Banknotes" on LH sidebar.

Official position: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/dealing-deceased-persons-money-and-property

Was there a Will and was your friend the Executor?
From the 'Withdrawn' link above, it is apparent that, if the amount of cash is £999 or less, no ID is required in order to exchange the banknotes for current ones. Perhaps your friend needs confidential legal advice.

DigForVictory

My first thought was "what fun!".
But then, oops taxes, unless the estate is pretty slender but a property?
Sounds like the MSE honest & ethical path is to cash in the notes & add it to the estate, but there are obvious alternatives.

Pa_Ja

There was a will for the house , belongings etc... Not sure if there's any mention of this money on it though.

Thanks for your advice

alanq

Robisere wrote: »

Official position: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/dealing-deceased-persons-money-and-property

That website is for Northern Ireland. There may or may not be some differences for other UK nations.

jonesMUFCforever

The money found will form part of the deceased's estate - end of.

Owain_Moneysaver

Pa_Ja wrote: »

There was a will for the house , belongings etc... Not sure if there's any mention of this money on it though.

In any competently drawn up will there will be a Residuary Legatee, who gets anything that's left after all the other beneficiaries have received their bequests.

The Residuary Legatee is often a charity (it's helpful if the RL doesn't predecease the testator) so there's a possibility that a charity that meant something to the deceased could receive a nice windfall.

The simple answer is the money must be declared to the Executor.

PasturesNew

The route will probably end up with you making an appointment to cash it in at the bank ... and having it paid into the account where the rest of the estate funds are held.

You can't just rock up at a bank with a bag of cash, especially if some of the notes need to be changed. So you'll probably end up having to make an appointment to see somebody and take lots of ID and death certificate with you as they'll be concerned with money laundering issues .

pinkdalek

It will form part of the estate.
It should be deposited into an executors account.

Best practice would be to contact the bank, arrange an appointment to initiate the bereavement process and explain what has happened.

Banks will accept BoE notes out of circulation however I would imagine they would have to be deposited through an account in line with money laundering regulations.

It's quite common (especially in elderly customers) for them to "squirrel" stashes of money at home - quite frightening really as the majority of it is not covered under any insurance, yet in a bank it would be.

Bet it stinks too (the money) usually of musty old mothballs.......

eDicky

If I had come across this money as the next of kin, I would honour the deceased person's intentions and distribute the cash according to the terms of their will, avoiding banks if possible.

Anyone with a bank account can probably deposit the previous issue notes with no problem, while anything really old would mean a trip to the Bank of England for someone.

ThinkingOutLoud_2

The posters above are right - the money is part of their estate. It is not uncommon for people of a certain generation / history to keep what feels like a very large sum at their home.

It should be distributed according to the deceased wishes in their last will and testimony.

If you do anything else it will burn away in your head, aside from being illegal and immoral.

Unless the estate is going to be large enough to attract Inheritance Tax - what could be gained by withholding it? If IHT does apply, then the executor is legally bound to handle the whole estate, or else...