Unexplained cash transfers

bobster2

Hoenir said:

bobster2 said:

- are these perhaps loans of some sort that could have outstanding balances that need to be repaid? So it would be worth checking on where these funds came from.

That's why posting a notice of the death in the Gazette is the long trodden route.  The administor / executor of the Estate is deemed to have performed their legal duties by doing so. Creditors of any note will step forward fairly quickly.  

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/

Yes - that protects the executor/administrator so they cannot later be held personally liable in that capacity. But it doesn't fully protect someone as a beneficiary who can still be pursued for debts later. So it's worth doing more than just posting a notice if you do suspect they could owe something to someone.

Marcon

bobster2 said:

Hoenir said:

bobster2 said:

- are these perhaps loans of some sort that could have outstanding balances that need to be repaid? So it would be worth checking on where these funds came from.

That's why posting a notice of the death in the Gazette is the long trodden route.  The administor / executor of the Estate is deemed to have performed their legal duties by doing so. Creditors of any note will step forward fairly quickly.  

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/

Yes - that protects the executor/administrator so they cannot later be held personally liable in that capacity. But it doesn't fully protect someone as a beneficiary who can still be pursued for debts later. So it's worth doing more than just posting a notice if you do suspect they could owe something to someone.

Quite.

OP - one other thought. How old was your mother at the time these transfers arrived in her account? If she was at least 55, then it's possible they were from pension schemes (?any idea if she ever had paid employment which could have given her pension scheme membership?) and given the total amount, could have been something known as 'full commutation on grounds of triviality' (in English that means her private pension entitlements totalled less than £30K, so could be paid out in lump sum rather than regular small payment form). If so the pension scheme administrators will have reported the payments to HMRC and deducted tax at the time of payment.

user1977

It would seem rather odd for it to be a loan if there is no sign of regular repayments, or any "informal" lender already having popped up with the news of the death wondering when they're getting their money back.

Hoenir

bobster2 said:

Hoenir said:

bobster2 said:

- are these perhaps loans of some sort that could have outstanding balances that need to be repaid? So it would be worth checking on where these funds came from.

That's why posting a notice of the death in the Gazette is the long trodden route.  The administor / executor of the Estate is deemed to have performed their legal duties by doing so. Creditors of any note will step forward fairly quickly.  

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/

Yes - that protects the executor/administrator so they cannot later be held personally liable in that capacity. But it doesn't fully protect someone as a beneficiary who can still be pursued for debts later. So it's worth doing more than just posting a notice if you do suspect they could owe something to someone.

There's no suspicion though in this instance though. Not unusual for parents to withhold aspects of their financial position from their children. Nor are major creditors suddenly going to pop out of the woodwork at a later date.  As the Gazette itself is monitored. There's enough to be dealing with at this time. Without creating endless conspiracy theories and chasing down rabbit holes as a result. 

BreakfastTea18

Marcon said:

Kimlisa1 said:

I am applying for Letters Of Administration for my mum's estate. Somewhat complicated situation as explained in other threads. 

I have bank statements going back 7 years and have noted sums totalling around 28k being transferred into her account about 6 years ago. 

She (and my late dad at that time) were both on state pensions and my dad had a very small private pension. 

The transfers appear to have come from 2 l different accounts but I am confident these weren't my parents savings accounts,in fact they didn't have any. 

Should this 'income' have been declared to HMRC at the time and should I be looking at it a bit more closely or can I just ignore this ? 

 

Have you asked their bank if they can throw any light on the transfers in - or could you post any reference that was given in relation to these, just in case anyone recognises anything about them? From what you've said, and the amount of money, it does look uncomfortably possible that it was a loan.

Have you checked at the Land Registry to see if any charges are registered against the property, especially if they are around the time the money came in? https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry is the site to use - much cheaper than those with remarkably similar sounding names which add a fee to the fairly modest Land Registry costs.

Hi Marcon, definitely no charges against the land or property, I'm thinking either gift or loan too. They look to have come via Faster payment and ordinary bank credit, one looks like it was cash. There were 5 in total.

BreakfastTea18

Marcon said:

bobster2 said:

Hoenir said:

bobster2 said:

- are these perhaps loans of some sort that could have outstanding balances that need to be repaid? So it would be worth checking on where these funds came from.

That's why posting a notice of the death in the Gazette is the long trodden route.  The administor / executor of the Estate is deemed to have performed their legal duties by doing so. Creditors of any note will step forward fairly quickly.  

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/

Yes - that protects the executor/administrator so they cannot later be held personally liable in that capacity. But it doesn't fully protect someone as a beneficiary who can still be pursued for debts later. So it's worth doing more than just posting a notice if you do suspect they could owe something to someone.

Quite.

OP - one other thought. How old was your mother at the time these transfers arrived in her account? If she was at least 55, then it's possible they were from pension schemes (?any idea if she ever had paid employment which could have given her pension scheme membership?) and given the total amount, could have been something known as 'full commutation on grounds of triviality' (in English that means her private pension entitlements totalled less than £30K, so could be paid out in lump sum rather than regular small payment form). If so the pension scheme administrators will have reported the payments to HMRC and deducted tax at the time of payment.

She was late 70's at the time, she had no pension in her own right, just State pension, pension credit and attendance allowance. She never contributed to a private pension as she never worked more than a few hours a week. My late dad was the sole provider income wise. 

badmemory

Could these have been an inheritance from someone like a cousin do you think.  It doesn't seem to be enough for equity release & surely that would be a single amount.  As already said the payment references could help identify.

BreakfastTea18

badmemory said:

Could these have been an inheritance from someone like a cousin do you think.  It doesn't seem to be enough for equity release & surely that would be a single amount.  As already said the payment references could help identify.

Potentially, I may ask the bank if they can shed some light on it. 

Cloth_of_Gold

Did they have any premium bonds or do the lottery? If so could some, at least, have been a win, or wins? Did they have anything they might have sold, e.g. a car or jewellery or a watch? Sometimes people have bought something decades ago that is now worth a lot more. Might they have had an inheritance that you  didn't know about? Might they have had some benefits backdated if there had been a mistake or an application had taken a long time to decide? I know I'm probably clutching at straws here but just trying to think of anything and everything to try and help.

[Deleted User]

What if you just had bank statements for the last couple of years?
You'd be none the wiser as you don't have evidence of anything else.
Just put an advert in the gazette and let any potential claimants find you.
You've done your duty and acted in good faith. That's as much as you can reasonably be expected to do.