Inheritance Hidden From Me By Family Members

Ty66ty

Good evening all,

I hope you're all well?

I'll try to keep this as brief as I can. But as with such matters they can be lengthy!

My nan died nearly 20 years ago. Until recently I had always believed that nobody in my immediate family received any type of inheritance. It all went to a distant relative who lives abroad.

My father and only brother do not and have never had a good relationship with me. My brother and father do. In the last few months I gave up trying to build a relationship with them and told them I had, had enough and it was best we had no further contact. In the fall out my brother mentioned money he had received from our nan in her will. At the time I thought it was an accidental. Now I suspect it might be have been deliberate.

As I said, I've always thought nobody in my family received any inheritance. I have always said this and it has always been confirmed back to me by family members. After the WhatsApp message from my brother I obtained a copy of the will. In it my brother and I had both been given £5000 each.

As you can imagine this has just poured more fuel on the fire. My brother is telling me I have received the money and forgotten. My dad is telling me he always thought nobody got anything. Even now I'm hoping I've forgotten because it's the easiest option to deal with. But I know I haven't for many reasons I won't bore you with.

I've obviously contacted the solicitor who dealt with the will. I have spoken with him twice. He's making all the right noises in sympathetic terms but is clearly miss leading me. In the first conversation I explained the situation. He's said after all this time all he has is a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet lists a payment to me, my brother and the main beneficiary. He can't tell me definitely but it is likely me and my brother were paid by cheque. The main beneficiary was most likely paid by bank transfer. He can't say whether the cheques were cashed or not. But suspects they were because they had systems in place. He said nothing more can be done because his accounts only go back 6 years as do banks. I have since found out from a bank employee that they hold records over 6 years.

In the second conversation he said very similar. But changed tact to say that a statute of limitations comes into effect on any claims after 6 years. I've since learnt this applies from the time it is reasonable for the claimant to have learnt of the fraud. So, again he is misleading me.


I'm assuming he has just sent the cheques to the address on the will. IF my cheque wasn't cashed the follow up procedure would have been to send further letters to the same address. At the time of my name death I did not live at that address. My dad and brother still did. So any mail I should have received could have very easily been hidden from me. If the only communication was by letter and they were being kept from me how would I have known?

At the time my mother and I were not speaking. We didn't for 14 years. But do now. At the time my mother and father were recently divorced and not on good terms. Without doubt my brother has hidden the inheritance from me. It is highly likely my dad is involved. I also have very good reason to suspect my dad cashed my inheritance cheque through a joint account he had with my mum. We both have the same first initial and obviously the same surname.

As you can imagine this stings a little bit. I knew my relationship with my brother and father wasn't great. But I would have never suspected this. Basically I'm asking how best to proceed? It's not a lot of money but as I'm sure you can appreciate this isn't about the money. I'm assuming the solicitor hasn't followed his 'due diligence' Therefore there might be repercussions for him there? As well as having to pay back £5000 with 20 years of interest. So he will resist all the way. I'm under no illusions about how difficult this will make things. Ideally I'd like to see some form of criminal proceedings against my dad and brother but from my research I understand this is highly unlikely.

First and foremost is tracing if the cheque was cashed and into which account. Can I make a complaint against the solicitor with some form of regulatory body to force him into that? Can I start any form of criminal or civil proceedings against my dad and brother if it was cashed and not to me? Any advice in how best to proceed will be greatly received.

NorthYorkie

From what you say, it seems as if the solicitor did all that was required of him  - he issued a cheque payable to you at the address he had on file being the one shown in the will. The culprit is your father, if, as you suspect, he paid the cheque into his joint account. Questions: do you and your father have the same first names? was the cheque made out in your full name or simply your initial plus surname? 

Whether you should pursue this matter or write it off and move on, is not a question anyone can advise on. One factor you may wish to consider is whether your father is now in a position to repay that amount plus interest anyway.

Ty66ty

Thank you for your reply.

I do not know if the cheque was cashed or not. The solicitor can't or won't tell me. He also can't or won't tell me exactly how the cheque was written. There are three possible scenarios;

1) My brother threw the cheque and all further correspondence away and did not tell anyone.

2) My brother and father both knew about my inheritance and they threw the cheque and all further correspondence away.

3) My dad cashed the cheque into a joint account he had with my mum. My mum and I have the same initial and obviously the same surname.

At the time of the inheritance my mum and dad were recently divorced. As is the norm, not on good terms. I remember my dad saying at the time he had kept a joint account open which my mum for some reason didn't have access too. I'm unsure why she didn't have access to it. But I remember him saying it and he kept it open because for some reason it was useful for him in hiding or keeping money from my mum.

I think what is important to understand is the time, place and circumstances. It was 20 years ago when the banking laws were much more relaxed. This all happened in a very small town. My parents at the time were well known and respected. The bank or building society involved would have known them well over many years. My dad would have been trusted to be honest and something slightly unusual would not have been flagged. Where as if it was a random person in a city Bank it would have been. Money is very important to my dad and brother. I really didn't think they would have hidden an inheritance from me. But one or both clearly have. If they have, I would not put it past them cashing my cheque and splitting the money. Something my brother has said also leads me to believe this.

My father is in a position to repay the money. For me it has nothing to do with the money. It is about proving what my brother and possibly my father also did. 

lincroft1710

How are you going to "prove what your brother and possibly also your father allegedly did"? You cannot start criminal proceedings, you have no evidence of a crime being committed and the police will most definitely not be interested. A civil case would require some form of proof albeit not as much as a criminal case but all you have is statement that a cheque was issued to you and that is all.


It seems the solicitor acted correctly in his handling of the will and paid out according to the wishes of the deceased. With regard to the 6 year limit, what is a "reasonable time limit" to have learnt about the possible fraud? 


You have 2 options, either start some form of proceedings which will cause you upset, will probably fail and could be costly or just get on with your life.

Sandtree

Its 20 years ago... can you really remember every cheque you received? What you did with them? I vaguely remembered I got some monies when my gran died 19 years ago but wouldn't be able to tell you at all how much it was.

Ty66ty said:

1) My brother threw the cheque and all further correspondence away and did not tell anyone.

2) My brother and father both knew about my inheritance and they threw the cheque and all further correspondence away.

3) My dad cashed the cheque into a joint account he had with my mum. My mum and I have the same initial and obviously the same surname.

You are missing a lot more options...

4) The cheque was lost in the post

5) You got the cheque but never deposited it

6) You deposited the cheque and have forgotten about it

7) It was an old transferable type cheque and you signed it over to someone else

To this day I am convinced I lent my parents some money when I was about 11 but despite that strong memory when I stumbled across my old building society book 18 or so years later there was no evidence either of me having had the monies in the first place nor of me withdrawing it but despite that I clearly remember it... memory can be a funny thing.

The law of limitation is 6 years for most things, generally best practice (and indeed the law under GDPR) is that you delete things when they are no longer relevant. After Enron and a few other scandles where the consequences were much worse because of old materials that could have been deleted but weren't and so had to be disclosed a lot of companies got much better at records management and deleting things earlier. Some banks do keep records longer than 6-7 years for accounts that are still open but often you get to a point when they are taken off system and cost to attempt to recover the data increases significantly... some use non-electronic records too which may move them outside of dSAR requests. 

Mojisola

The cheque must have been cashed for the executor account to be at zero and closed. 

Savvy_Sue

Mojisola said:

The cheque must have been cashed for the executor account to be at zero and closed. 

I think that's a good point. Years ago we did something at the solicitors in relation to a declaration of trust. Several years after that we had a letter from them saying that there was a balance on our account, and they needed our instructions about what to do with it. They'd found it in a routine audit of not-quite-closed client files. 

Ty66ty

Sandtree - Forgetting about it was my first thought. As you said it's a long time ago. I hoped it was that. Part of me still does because it's the easiest option to deal with. But the more I've thought about it. The more I know I haven't.

I know because it's not just one thing. I've always said the same thing from the very beginning about the will, 'Nobody got anything in the will. I didn't see my nan for 18 months before she died so I don't think I deserved anything anyway' I've said this multiple times to my brother, dad and mum. In numerous conversations, over the last 20 years. I know for a fact my brother and mum knew that I also received something in the will because my brother got his inheritance. Something he has now admitted. Either by mistake or I think deliberately. Plus I know my mum saw the will not long after my nan died. So she knows.

So that means every time I mentioned it to one of them they corrected me and I forgot every time. Or nobody corrected me even though they knew what I was saying was wrong. All three of them, every conversation, every time.

It also means I've not only forgotten I got money. I've replaced the memory with something which is the complete opposite.

I am also very anal. I used to keep all my bank statements, all documents, everything important. Without doubt I would have kept a copy of the will had I received one. Or the letter from the solicitor. I've moved a lot over the last 20 years. Each time I've thinned down the paperwork. That's something I would have kept. Even if I didn't I would have seen the document before I threw it away. So I've also forgotten that.

As I said it's not one thing I've supposedly forgotten. It's numerous things including in recent history. So there's no way I've forgotten.

But the biggest give away is all three are saying different things. So at least one person is lying and there's only one reason to lie. To hide the consequences of the truth.

Mojisola and Savvy_Sue - The solicitor can't or won't tell me if the cheque has been cashed. All he said is he thinks it would have been because they have systems in place if cheques aren't cashed. I think it's a fairly reasonable assumption that those checks would be further letters to the same address. So I wouldn't have received them.

I'm assuming if it wasn't cashed it would obviously leave a balance on the solicitor's accounts. Would it still be there after all this time or at some point would it be written off in some way?

If I could get the solicitor to say whether the cheques been cashed or not it at least would be a start. But I don't know how to go about that or if I even can?

I know it's all a long shot. But I'm going to give it as good a go as I can. It's not the money. Surely you can understand that I want to know who did what. Was it all just my brother? My brother and mum? My brother and dad? Or all three of them?

GrahamChap

The Statute of Limitations is 6 years from when you could reasonably be expected to know about the fraud (if that is what it was). A very good friend of mine was lied to by his Accountant for many years about very large sums of money that had been stole from his bank account. The Court accepted that he could act against the Accountant within 6 years of finding out. I would have thought that the simple thing for you to do is commence proceedings against the Executor. It was his job to distribute the money, and part of that job entails ensuring he establishes the correct contact details of Beneficiaries. It is not expensive to begin a Claim online through the Gov website (I am not allowed to post the link). It is up to the Executor to prove he paid you.

lincroft1710

GrahamChap said:

 I would have thought that the simple thing for you to do is commence proceedings against the Executor. It was his job to distribute the money, and part of that job entails ensuring he establishes the correct contact details of Beneficiaries. It is not expensive to begin a Claim online through the Gov website (I am not allowed to post the link). It is up to the Executor to prove he paid you.

Firstly, before attempting to make a claim a Letter Before Action should be issued informing the defendant that a legal claim may/will be made if the matter cannot be resolved. Secondly the solicitor has said a cheque was issued in the OP's name. Thirdly given there is now only a spreadsheet of the account, there may be no longer a record of beneficiaries' addresses. Fourthly the OP has admitted she has moved a lot over the past 20 years, so there is a possibility she may have moved from the last address on record for her at the time.

Ty66ty

Thank you both for your replies. I'm a he not a she 😉

The solicitor is the Executor. He can't or won't tell me anything about the payment. All he claims to have is a spreadsheet which names me, my brother, the amount mentioned in the will and two dates. He can't or won't say if the payment was made and if so whether by cheque or bank transfer. He is assuming that it was a cheque and that it was paid to me because they have a system in place if cheques aren't cashed.

At the time of the will I was living at a different address than on the will. He would have had no more contact details for me than that. What is odd is the date on the spreadsheet for me is two weeks before my brothers date. This rightly or wrongly makes me assume someone cashed my cheque first. Waited to see if they had gotten away with it. If they hadn't they would have used my brothers cheque as some sort of excuse for the mix up, if questions were asked. Then my brother cashed his cheque. As I said it was a small town where we were all well known in the one bank and one building society we had all used for decades. It would have been very easy to explain and be believed about a  'mistake'.

What is also suspicious to me about my date being first is how could it have been? The only contact details were at the address my brother and father lived. How could I have possibly found out the inheritance before my brother? My brother is also saying I cashed the cheque before him and he rang me some weeks later to tell me about the inheritance. I can't possibly have known before him. So he's obviously lying. Why lie about that? You only do that if you have something to hide. Initially I thought it was my dad and brother. Events over the last few days have lead me to think it's my mum and brother. Possibly my dad as well. It's all fishy and stinks. They're all lying so clearly they're all hiding something.

Sorry, I'm going on a bit. As you can imagine it grates a bit. Back to the point. I have no knowledge of accounting and how records are kept in regard to wills. But if the solicitor still has some form of records then surely end of year accounting will either show a plus amount of 5k or not. If not it was cashed. If it's still showing then it wasn't.

If I start action against the Executor I'm assuming after the letter before action it would be via the small claims court?