Unexplained cash transfers

bobster2

[Deleted User] said:

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.

As I mentioned earlier - while this would protect someone in their capacity as an executor/administrator - this wouldn't absolve beneficiaries from the need to potentially pay creditors.

Having read the OP's other thread about issues to do with family disputes over running of a business and ownership of different plots of land - and how this may be a contentious probate - I think it would be wise to try to work out what the source of these funds were. Could these funds be tangled up in the issues raised in that other thread?

E.g. what if one family member claims these were funds that they loaned to deceased? Or transferred to purchase land?

Keep_pedalling

The main issue with these payments is not tax but the impact they should have had on benefit payments if they had been declared. It is possible that money may need to be paid back to the DWP because of them, so I think the OP has not waisted their time by going back this far on the bank statements. 

If the OP is the sole residual beneficiary then advertising in the LG is just a waist of money. 

BreakfastTea18

bobster2 said:

[Deleted User] said:

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.

As I mentioned earlier - while this would protect someone in their capacity as an executor/administrator - this wouldn't absolve beneficiaries from the need to potentially pay creditors.

Having read the OP's other thread about issues to do with family disputes over running of a business and ownership of different plots of land - and how this may be a contentious probate - I think it would be wise to try to work out what the source of these funds were. Could these funds be tangled up in the issues raised in that other thread?

E.g. what if one family member claims these were funds that they loaned to deceased? Or transferred to purchase land?

I think that's a reasonable possibility and one I can't discount despite their being no audit trail in conveyancing paperwork. Usually if someone is gifted money for property purchase, money laundering checks are carried out. There is nothing to suggest that was the case.  No repayments were ever made as if it were a loan either. 

BooJewels

I hadn't realised that it was the same poster as the thread with land being used for a business and it being contested - so my earlier points are moot.

Sarahspangles

Kimlisa1 said:

bobster2 said:

[Deleted User] said:

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.

As I mentioned earlier - while this would protect someone in their capacity as an executor/administrator - this wouldn't absolve beneficiaries from the need to potentially pay creditors.

Having read the OP's other thread about issues to do with family disputes over running of a business and ownership of different plots of land - and how this may be a contentious probate - I think it would be wise to try to work out what the source of these funds were. Could these funds be tangled up in the issues raised in that other thread?

E.g. what if one family member claims these were funds that they loaned to deceased? Or transferred to purchase land?

I think that's a reasonable possibility and one I can't discount despite their being no audit trail in conveyancing paperwork. Usually if someone is gifted money for property purchase, money laundering checks are carried out. There is nothing to suggest that was the case.  No repayments were ever made as if it were a loan either. 

I just checked your other thread, could the payments be from your brother and the lack of a paper trail relate to the fact he doesn’t want too much scrutiny? 

BreakfastTea18

Sarahspangles said:

Kimlisa1 said:

bobster2 said:

[Deleted User] said:

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.

As I mentioned earlier - while this would protect someone in their capacity as an executor/administrator - this wouldn't absolve beneficiaries from the need to potentially pay creditors.

Having read the OP's other thread about issues to do with family disputes over running of a business and ownership of different plots of land - and how this may be a contentious probate - I think it would be wise to try to work out what the source of these funds were. Could these funds be tangled up in the issues raised in that other thread?

E.g. what if one family member claims these were funds that they loaned to deceased? Or transferred to purchase land?

I think that's a reasonable possibility and one I can't discount despite their being no audit trail in conveyancing paperwork. Usually if someone is gifted money for property purchase, money laundering checks are carried out. There is nothing to suggest that was the case.  No repayments were ever made as if it were a loan either. 

I just checked your other thread, could the payments be from your brother and the lack of a paper trail relate to the fact he doesn’t want too much scrutiny? 

It's entirely possible, I guess I will.have to look more closely at it 

Sarahspangles

Kimlisa1 said:

Sarahspangles said:

I just checked your other thread, could the payments be from your brother and the lack of a paper trail relate to the fact he doesn’t want too much scrutiny? 

It's entirely possible, I guess I will.have to look more closely at it 

I feel for you - there doesn’t seem to be a way forward without dealing with your brother. If there was an undocumented land transfer then maybe issues like unpaid stamp duty and capital gains tax are relevant.

Is it possible to insulate yourself from the mess and potential fallout (and get your life back….) by allowing him to administer the estate subject to you receiving an agreed amount? Then it’s his signature on any false statements.

BreakfastTea18

Sarahspangles said:

Kimlisa1 said:

Sarahspangles said:

I just checked your other thread, could the payments be from your brother and the lack of a paper trail relate to the fact he doesn’t want too much scrutiny? 

It's entirely possible, I guess I will.have to look more closely at it 

I feel for you - there doesn’t seem to be a way forward without dealing with your brother. If there was an undocumented land transfer then maybe issues like unpaid stamp duty and capital gains tax are relevant.

Is it possible to insulate yourself from the mess and potential fallout (and get your life back….) by allowing him to administer the estate subject to you receiving an agreed amount? Then it’s his signature on any false statements.

Trouble is, he won't or can't administer the estate as he is in conflict , he believes he is rightful owner of part of it. He won't buy me out, he's made it very clear that his aim is for me to get nothing.