Friend wrote cheque to me day before he comitted suicide

Cara_Delfosse

My friend of 40 years wrote me acheque the day before he tragically committed suicide. I paid the cheque in not even knowing he had ended his life. It got returned unpaid twice & has now been sent back payee deceased. I've been told by the bank that they cannot do anything & that I contact the person in charge of his affairs. I have tried to do this ( I know her well ) but she is not communicating, about anything. Does anyone know what I should do? As I said I was his best friend for 40 years. It's me wanting to keep one of his last wishes.

Yorkshireman99

Cara_Delfosse wrote: »

My friend of 40 years wrote me acheque the day before he tragically committed suicide. I paid the cheque in not even knowing he had ended his life. It got returned unpaid twice & has now been sent back payee deceased. I've been told by the bank that they cannot do anything & that I contact the person in charge of his affairs. I have tried to do this ( I know her well ) but she is not communicating, about anything. Does anyone know what I should do? As I said I was his best friend for 40 years. It's me wanting to keep one of his last wishes.

It is a legitimate debt of the estate and the executor should be told, in writing, that you expect it to be paid in due course, assuming that the estate is solvent.

Jenniefour

I imagine (if she's a relative/close to the deceased) she is in quite some shock about the suicide. As YM suggests, write to her.

sheramber

You say you want o carry out his last wishes.

Did he owe you the money or was it payment for something you were to buy? If it was for a future purchase it may no longer be applicable.

Yorkshireman99

sheramber wrote: »

You say you want o carry out his last wishes.

Did he owe you the money or was it payment for something you were to buy? If it was for a future purchase it may no longer be applicable.

Legally it makes no difference. It is not necessary to prove the reason for the cheque being written. The cheque itself is enough.

Cara_Delfosse

No.
We just received it.
With the words
Here's to 40 years of love

Yorkshireman99

Cara_Delfosse wrote: »

No.
We just received it.
With the words
Here's to 40 years of love

If the cheque is technically correct I.e. words and figures agree then that is all that is required.

Margot123

The cheque is evidence enough of the deceased's wishes; the note simply backs up their intentions.

Look upon the cheque as a letter of intent, as if it says 'I ***** am giving you ****** the sum of £*****'

It is a debt that their estate must honour, providing there are sufficient funds.

ska_lover

More than the money, the cheque was clearly a token of his love + A goodbye. Accept the love.

The money won't show you he loves you any more than you already know, and is likely to bring stress trying to pursue it

eddyinfreehold

What an awkward situation. I am very sorry for all involved. My initial thought is that this is probably not a small sum of money. If it is small or relatively small I would be of a mind to write a brief note to the executor saying that you are very sorry etc etc and return the cheque and tell them to forget all about it.

It might however be a significant amount and intended as an important parting gift to a friend. Only you can decide what constitutes 'significant,' but if it was £ 3figures I personally would leave it. People with depression or other disorders very often do strange, inappropriate and random things when 'on a high'. If however you wish to accept the gift then your only option is to write a diplomatic and sympathetic letter to the executors with a copy of the cheque and say that you choose to honour your friend's wishes in due course and put a charge on the estate for that amount. Maybe you feel now is not the time to press the matter, but you will be in touch later.

On a purely technical point if the gift is over the £3000 annual allowance, or your late friend made gifts totalling over this and his estate is liable for IHT, then the gift will have to be deducted from his allowance. This is for the executor to sort.

I hope things work out well for all parties.

Margot123

ska_lover wrote: »

More than the money, the cheque was clearly a token of his love + A goodbye. Accept the love.

The money won't show you he loves you any more than you already know, and is likely to bring stress trying to pursue it

The deceased clearly intended for the OP to receive a monetary gift by way of a 'thank you' for their friendship.
It would be remiss of the OP not to at least attempt to fulfil that wish. If they don't, then in years to come it may play on their mind that they didn't.