Loan to family and won’t repay (they live abroad).

kikilarue

Okay this is a weird one, I have lent my sister £26,000 over a period of 2 to 3 years and she promised she would pay back. I have messages and texts to this effect but no formal documentation. I have tried over the last 18 months to get payment but to no avail. The added fact to here Is that she is a resident in Greece where she lives and works and has done for the last 20+ years. What are My options and what can I do? I will literally do anything at this stage to get the money.

[Deleted User]

It's not a weird one at all. It's a depressingly common one.

You're probably sunk, given the lack of evidence and the fact she lives abroad. It's up to you if you want to spend further funds on any kind of legal action.

AnotherJoe

Sue her in the Greek courts ?

Or burgle her house and steal possessions worth £26k. Jewellery maybe ?

Or send hired thugs in ?

You did say “literally anything”.

Realisticallty you are screwed. Revenge by getting her tied up in the courts might work.

DCFC79

Its a common occurence, I fear your money is gone. What was the reason behind the money being asked for ?

No harm in trying to getting your money back but has she the funds to return the money.

CKhalvashi

Deleted_User wrote: »

It's not a weird one at all. It's a depressingly common one.

You're probably sunk, given the lack of evidence and the fact she lives abroad. It's up to you if you want to spend further funds on any kind of legal action.

However both parties being in the EU will significantly help the OP if they do want to take legal action and have the legal paperwork to do so.

The EU legislation as enacted can be found here.

The UK advice can be found here.

If OP is in Scotland there may be a slightly different procedure, however the entire process is easy enough in practice.

Pixie5740

The first time you loaned your sister money and she didn't pay it back should have been the last time you lent her money. Instead it appears that you continued to lend her more money over a 2 to 3 year period.

If you gave her the money whilst she was resident in Greece, living and working there then there is little you can do from the UK. I have no idea if Greece has something similar to the small claims court although £25k is over the limit of the small claims court here.

IAmWales

Given the situation in Greece, does she have any funds to pay you back, has she used the money to live off?

I'm not suggesting you don't pursue it, but even with a court order you'll have to enforce it, and if she's got nothing you're not going to see the money again.

worried_jim

Bob hope and no hope.

phillw

I don't personally think that going to court will help.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intention_to_be_legally_bound

Family agreements are presumed not to give rise to legal relations, unless there is clear evidence to the contrary.

If she is flat out refusing to pay you back, then you've had an expensive lesson in how you don't really have a sister. Just make sure she is unable to make a claim on your estate.

System

No written agreement which specifies it is a loan, how the payments are to be made, when the payments are to be made and the duration, the total amount payable including any interest when lending money to a family or friend?

Not going to stand a chance of a win in a UK court and I doubt you would in any other EU country.

Candyapple

kikilarue wrote: »

Okay this is a weird one, I have lent my sister £26,000 over a period of 2 to 3 years and she promised she would pay back. I have messages and texts to this effect but no formal documentation. I have tried over the last 18 months to get payment but to no avail. The added fact to here Is that she is a resident in Greece where she lives and works and has done for the last 20+ years. What are My options and what can I do? I will literally do anything at this stage to get the money.

I presume your family in Greece know about it? Most Greek families are very close, I'd be surprised if your mum/dad haven't tried to intervene in order to bring about a peaceful resolution to your family unit.

Think of it as a £26k lesson that you had to learn. As hard as that may seem, you can't get blood out of a stone so if your sister doesn't have the money to return to you, then there is nothing you can do.

The sooner you come to terms with that, mourn the loss and let it go - the better your life will get. Unfortunately some people never let it go and live the rest of their days as bitter beings. Don't let this consume you.

Be grateful that you had £26k spare in order to help your sister, which likely means that you are doing well in life to have that much in savings lying around.

Whilst it's not nice being taken for a fool, the harder lesson will be for your sister who will have to deal with the consequences of her actions which would mean not having her sister in her life and everything that goes with that. Not to mention whatever the reasons for her borrowing the money in the first place, if they were debt related, her issues will still likely remain and come back to bite her because next time she needs money she won't be able to tap you up again.