Ex relatives trying to sue me for a gift

jennystarpepper

I have sent you a message, hope this is ok.  You should agree to mediation, even if you are not at fault, in the legal process of the Small claims court it is the correct thing to do, (as strange as it is).   I have sent you details of another site where you can get help to word and complete the court documents and how to go forward.  The mediation process is to listen to both sides, it is not about agreeing to what you owe, as I thought.  

I have been through this process myself, people use the Small claims court to try and bully people.   A solicitor will not help with A Small claims court case.... as it will cost  too much, (I tried this, I rang quite a few).    

I hope this helps.

Sallyp2

Thrugelmir said:

Sallyp2 said:

You need to be sure they dont have any paperwork and have not cobbled something together behind your back. Old emails can be forged for dates / times and content

Difficult to forge signatures on a legally binding document that doesn't exist. 

I was just forewarning of the those making the claim altering any old emails etc. If there are no emails etc then there is nothing to worry about. I did not mention forging signatures or legally binding documents did I!
 I was merely providing some advice from experience. People do attempt to alter old emails and present them as evidence in court. 

Sallyp2

Shakin_Steve said:

Thrugelmir said:

Sallyp2 said:

You need to be sure they dont have any paperwork and have not cobbled something together behind your back. Old emails can be forged for dates / times and content

Difficult to forge signatures on a legally binding document that doesn't exist. 

Plus, they'd be in a lot of trouble if it could be proved they'd put forged documents before a court. They'd be mad to take that chance.

Trust me, from experience, people do try it on, especially when they want to win and claim £££

Sallyp2

jennystarpepper said:

I have sent you a message, hope this is ok.  You should agree to mediation, even if you are not at fault, in the legal process of the Small claims court it is the correct thing to do, (as strange as it is).   I have sent you details of another site where you can get help to word and complete the court documents and how to go forward.  The mediation process is to listen to both sides, it is not about agreeing to what you owe, as I thought.  

I have been through this process myself, people use the Small claims court to try and bully people.   A solicitor will not help with A Small claims court case.... as it will cost  too much, (I tried this, I rang quite a few).    

I hope this helps.

I too have been to the small claims court, three times, and I have won three times. Those I claimed against made all sort of attempts to prove they were not at fault.
You do not have to agree to mediation. All three of my claims went to court and I presented my own cases and won. Its not scary and normally its only 1 person who sits and decides. 

Sallyp2

Agree you do need to file a defence
One of the businesses I made a claim against, did not file a defence and it counted against them. Be careful about what you admit to knowing and doing. It will be held as evidence for and against you. 
Go along the lines that the first you knew of this supposed "loan" is the claim being made against you. Nothing was mentioned during the divorce etc. If you have no no knowledge of the loan being to you, then you should not have too much to worry about.
But do file a defence, as then they will need to send you any evidence to substantiate their claim and counter yours ahead of the court date. In your defence, ask to see the evidence that this loan exists. Make THEM provide the detail.

Unfairclaim

Thanks for the replies so far, i am concerned about the bit on the letter below, that i have to agree to all three points, 1) that i will negotiate and compromise? I never borrowed a penny, how can i compromise on that?
2) i have enough info, i have seen no evidence, none has been presented (because there is none)?
Am i admitting some kind of guilt just by agreeing to mediation?
Again, thank you all for the advice so far, makes me feel less alone x

Clive_Woody

From your comments it sounds like mediation is not appropriate. You are not prepared to negotiate as you are not aware of any loan and the other party has not provided any evidence to support their claim that a loan was made. 

[Deleted User]

jennystarpepper said:

I have sent you a message, hope this is ok.  You should agree to mediation, even if you are not at fault, in the legal process of the Small claims court it is the correct thing to do, (as strange as it is).   I have sent you details of another site where you can get help to word and complete the court documents and how to go forward.  The mediation process is to listen to both sides, it is not about agreeing to what you owe, as I thought.  

I have been through this process myself, people use the Small claims court to try and bully people.   A solicitor will not help with A Small claims court case.... as it will cost  too much, (I tried this, I rang quite a few).    

I hope this helps.

If this is useful/legal advice you should be posting it publicly, not message people privately giving links to other sites - at the very least it could help others in this situation and shows you are on the level, plenty of unscrupulous people can abuse the DM system to try and push shady links

Thrugelmir

Obviously you do not agree with 2.   As you have absolutely no information with regards to the claim against you.  You need to ask for the full documentary evidence that the other party holds.  

The onus is on them to substantiate the claim. Courts do not arbitrate on simply who said what. 

lordmountararat

If they have no evidence then they would be idiots to take this to court. I think it is a try on, but I agree that you ought to file a defence.