Overpaid by estate executor/solicitors they want it back

RosieWonders

Over four years ago my two young children are were fortunate beneficiaries of an estate. Yesterday, out of the blue, I received a letter saying they had overpaid my son by £5k ( now aged 11years) and me by £5.5k, totalling £10.5k, and asking me to send a cheque with payment within 14 days (!!!) They also said my daughter had been underpaid by £5k and asked me to provide details on an count they could transfer money into. This doesn't make sense as both children were equal shareholders at 10% each. It has taken them 5 years to bring this to my attention, my son can't pay this back, his money is invested, and I'm a single parent not earning a substantial amount.
Surely this is their mistake / negligence and so they should be liable for this error i.e. the loss and we don't have to pay back ? They were executors of the will and have made the mistake. They never provided any financial explanation to explain how the error occurred , nor at the end of the estate.They seems completely incompetent, were paid to be executors, and how do i know this isn't another mistake!!
Can someone please advise where do i stand legally? Can they take me to court if i refuse to pay it back? My son can't anyway!!

xylophone

http://death-duties.co.uk/content/executor-liabilities

https://www.furleypage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Furley-Page-Executors-Liabilities.pdf

It may be that your son has a case against the executors for underpayment and that they must stand the cost of the overpayment.....?

You may need to take legal advice........

DCFC79

If the childrens share was equal and 1 has apparently been given some extra and the other childs was £5k why was it not questioned at the time ?

trailingspouse

Did they both receive the same amount when the funds were transferred? In that case, one can't possible have been underpaid and the other overpaid.

I think your first move is to get back to whoever the letter came from and ask them for a blow-by-blow account of how they have come to this conclusion.

Biggles

Yes, your first move is to write back asking for a complete breakdown of the original estate and of the revised figures.

Just that. In particular, make no mention of their ridiculous 14-day deadline (how many months did it take them to complete probate?).

RosieWonders

...that's really helpful, good point, thank you : I will take a good look at links this evening

RosieWonders

... so this makes this even more questionable?! They were literally paid same amount in two cheques, and they left me to manage its investment etc...

RosieWonders

Yes they got exactly the same amount, so this makes no sense, whole thing was a total curve ball! And yes, I was thinking along the same lines : need a very detailed written breakdown of full finances, plus their decision-making-process?!

The questions remains though, even if they did make a mistake, am I , my son, liable to pay this huge sum back!?

RosieWonders

.... Yes I agree completely, makes complete sense ...
Thanks for your advice.

RG2015

Have you considered that this may be a scam? There are often reports of solicitors having their files hacked and clients sending house purchase funds to bogus bank accounts.

Uxb

Yup
I'd agree with RG2015
This has all the hallmarks of a scam
Do NOT use the letter's contact details to contact/write back just in case its a re-direct to the scammers.

Find the contact details from elsewhere