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

TBagpuss

I am slightly more optimistic than others that you may be able to satisfy a court that there is a genuine loan, given that you mention texts and messages.

However, I would strongly recommend that you get some professional advise from a solicitor dealing with debt recovery before you go further. If you were to take her to court, you would have to pay a court for of over £1,000, for a claim for £26,000, so paying a couple of hundred pounds to get advice on your prospects of success makes a lot of sense.

The other thing it may be worth doing is to complete all the forms to take her to court, (but don't issue them) and then write to her to say that you have been very patient and she has repeatedly promised to pay back the debt, but that unless she is able to make payment, or at the very least, come up with a workable proposal for starting to make payments, that you will have no option but to apply to court. Send her a copy of the forms and be clear that you will be making the application if you don't get a substantive response from her with payment or concrete proposals to pay, by a specific deadline.

Unfortunately if she doesn't have any assets than at best you may get an order for her to pay £xx per week/month, and trying to enforce in a foreign country is always likely to be more difficult and more expensive than doing it in the UK, because it adds an extra lawyer of work and you will probably have to pay additional fees, get stuff translated etc,

Voyager2002

I see things rather differently...

Your sister needed money; you had money; so you helped. Great. However, why did you insist on making it a loan? Giving is the way: surely if you now need money, and she has money, then she will help.

My sister died almost a year ago, and I would gladly pay any amount of money for a little more time with her if that were possible.

IAmWales

Candyapple wrote: »

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.

I can't see any reference to the rest of the OP's family living in Greece?

enthusiasticsaver

That is a substantial loan and unfortunately you won't be the first or last person to be stitched up by family members, partners or friends. Your options are limited given there are no legal documents or charges on assets. You can look into taking some sort of civil action suit in the courts but it will be time consuming and depending on her circumstances may not get any of your money back and you will incur costs and a lot of stress. Trying to enforce any sort of judgement abroad will not be easy though.

You could try going over and reasoning with her face to face. What is her excuse for not repaying it?

Herzlos

I think your legal options are limited, so unless you can apply some other pressure (getting other family members to lean on) then you've probably had it

MEM62

Read all the other posts on the subject of money lent to friends and family and realise that your chances of recover are nil. Regrettably, your money is gone.

AnotherJoe

kikilarue wrote: »

I have tried over the last 18 months to get payment but to no avail.

Does she work for the Greek government by any chance

Robisere

As has been said on this thread and many others similar, you are unlikely to be repaid and the prospects of successful legal action are not good.

Do you have any reasonable expectation that your sister has the financial or other assets which could result in getting your money back? Do you have any knowledge of her situation in Greece? The situation in that country is known: she may be truly struggling and may also be ashamed of that fact. If you know for certain that she can afford to pay you back, but is refusing to do so, then I think you should cut her out of your life, writing to tell her that. If you are also certain that she has no way to repay you, then the answer is obvious. Either way, you must be sure of her financial position to make a decision. And either way, the result is the same. You will never see that money again, until and unless your sister either changes her mind, and/or becomes wealthy enough to repay you.