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Who is responsible - individual or estate?

ziggycj
Posts: 321 Forumite


Scenario:
My cousin bought a car from my Dad for £2000. The agreement was to pay £200 a month until the cost was cleared. However, before clearing the cost, they passed away. So there was £1000 left still to pay.
The son of my cousin took ownership of the car. We agreed that they could pay off the remaining £1000 at a rate of £100 a month.
They started payments and are currently using the car, but are now saying they will pay the rest once the estate is finalised.
Question:
Is this OK? Our agreement was £100. I'm under the belief that this is now a new agreement and the debt is now the sons, not the estates. It can take years to settle an estate, so are we just supposed to wait? I can't find advice/laws regarding this, could anyone direct me to information. Is this a break of contract, or is the car still classed as being part of the estate (therefore the son doesn't have to pay until later, if at all)?
Thanks
My cousin bought a car from my Dad for £2000. The agreement was to pay £200 a month until the cost was cleared. However, before clearing the cost, they passed away. So there was £1000 left still to pay.
The son of my cousin took ownership of the car. We agreed that they could pay off the remaining £1000 at a rate of £100 a month.
They started payments and are currently using the car, but are now saying they will pay the rest once the estate is finalised.
Question:
Is this OK? Our agreement was £100. I'm under the belief that this is now a new agreement and the debt is now the sons, not the estates. It can take years to settle an estate, so are we just supposed to wait? I can't find advice/laws regarding this, could anyone direct me to information. Is this a break of contract, or is the car still classed as being part of the estate (therefore the son doesn't have to pay until later, if at all)?
Thanks
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Comments
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Just to be clear - it was your cousin that died, not your dad.
When did son take ownership of the car? If it was prior to cousin's death and he'd agreed with your dad to pay £100 then I'd say it's son's debt not the estate's. If he took the car from the estate then the debt is still with the estate.
Is the son not able to pay £100 a month? Does it matter if he doesn't and your dad has to wait? This is the problem with families doing business because things become personal. It's so much easier with a stranger. Would dad by ok with £50 a month if that was affordable?
I would double check that the car is no longer in dad's name. Last thing he wants is any fines, PCNs etc landing on his doorstep when they are son's (or cousin's) responsibility.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Debt Free Wannabe and Old Style Money Saving boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
"Never retract, never explain, never apologise; get things done and let them howl.” Nellie McClung0 -
I'm assuming that the boy is likely to be a beneficiary so rather than pay now he's hoping that the estate will cover the cost of the car and adjust his share accordingly when the time comes.
That's because I read it as the father/grandfather has died not the cousin.
If it's an estate that could take years to settle then I'd have thought it's likely to be substantial so why is less than £1K owed so important? 🤔 I know that executors are supposed to try and collect all money owed /pay off debts but is it worth a family fall out. 🤔0 -
They started payments and are currently using the car, but are now saying they will pay the rest once the estate is finalised.
Well you would just deduct it from their share.Life in the slow lane1 -
Thanks for the replies. To clarify, the son is the son of my cousin (who died).
The son has now taken ownership of the car, and we entered a repayment agreement with the son.
So, the son is trying to hold off paying anything more until the estate is settled. Whilst owning and using the car.
My question is, does my Dad (the original owner of the car) need to wait until the estate is settled, or is the agreement now with the son so the estate is irrelevant.
Note: we are already estranged so the only thing impacting relationships is what I view as breaking an agreement.0 -
Brie said:Just to be clear - it was your cousin that died, not your dad.
When did son take ownership of the car? If it was prior to cousin's death and he'd agreed with your dad to pay £100 then I'd say it's son's debt not the estate's. If he took the car from the estate then the debt is still with the estate.
Is the son not able to pay £100 a month? Does it matter if he doesn't and your dad has to wait? This is the problem with families doing business because things become personal. It's so much easier with a stranger. Would dad by ok with £50 a month if that was affordable?
I would double check that the car is no longer in dad's name. Last thing he wants is any fines, PCNs etc landing on his doorstep when they are son's (or cousin's) responsibility.
But if they are now the owner of the car, why does this have anything to do with the estate? They choose to take ownership of the car and agreed new repayment terms.
If it was a house, they would either have to start paying the mortgage or sell it to pay off the debt. You can't just wait x number of years whilst still owning the house.0 -
Reading through the OP I believe the cousin passed away and his/her son has taken the car.
In that case both the remaining debt and the car would fall under the cousin's estate.
Strictly speaking the remaining payments would be a liability of the estate and would be due to be settled by the estate. So any agreement about the use of the car post death is for the executor to deal with as is any payment in relation to the outstanding liability.
Which means the debt should be cleared by the estate. Although why OP thinks the estate will take years to settle is not clear and the debt should be settled by the estate as part of the process, unless the estate is insolvent, in which case they should sell the car rather than passing it onto the cousin's son/daughter.0 -
GrumpyDil said:Reading through the OP I believe the cousin passed away and his/her son has taken the car.
In that case both the remaining debt and the car would fall under the cousin's estate.
Strictly speaking the remaining payments would be a liability of the estate and would be due to be settled by the estate. So any agreement about the use of the car post death is for the executor to deal with as is any payment in relation to the outstanding liability.
Which means the debt should be cleared by the estate. Although why OP thinks the estate will take years to settle is not clear and the debt should be settled by the estate as part of the process, unless the estate is insolvent, in which case they should sell the car rather than passing it onto the cousin's son/daughter.
But it sounds like, we may have to wait for the estate to be settled before getting further payments (if at all). So the son can continue driving a car that they agreed a repayment on and could choose to pay off other debts before paying off this debt to family (assuming there's money left).0 -
ziggycj said:Scenario:
They started payments and are currently using the car, but are now saying they will pay the rest once the estate is finalised.
You can't prepare final estate accounts while there are still debts owing or bills to be paid.
Are they claiming that there is not enough liquid cash in the estate to pay off the debt straight away ?
If so, perhaps suggesting that they return the car as security until they are able to complete repayments might make them reconsider their stance0 -
p00hsticks said:ziggycj said:Scenario:
They started payments and are currently using the car, but are now saying they will pay the rest once the estate is finalised.
You can't prepare final estate accounts while there are still debts owing or bills to be paid.
Are they claiming that there is not enough liquid cash in the estate to pay off the debt straight away ?
If so, perhaps suggesting that they return the car as security until they are able to complete repayments might make them reconsider their stance
Because he's basically saying he will wait until everything is settled, which we would have no idea when that would be. Do we have any right to be able to get information on this? They could easily just say we ran out of money and I have nothing to say otherwise.0 -
Is there a written loan agreement?1
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