Can my husbands Uncle take us to court?

Question

Basically, we borrowed some money from my Husbands Grandma and before we could pay it back she, sadly, died. We did pay some of it back but his uncle says that we have to give him his share of the money. We think that as there were no legal contracts signed (it was only for £2000) that it is a finished debt, but the Uncle, who will be getting £100,000 inheritance says he wants his share! Help!

I should also mention that there is also an Aunty and Hubbys mum but neither of them want anything, they are aslo getting £100,000 each!

Billybean, you are right (kind of)! We would have paid his Grandma back, but no, we aren't jealous, although I can see why you'd think that. Perhaps we should just give him his £450 and tell him to bob off!

Answer 1

You have already confirmed that you owe the money to your husband's (late) grandma and therefore to her estate.
The fact that you made certain repayments, particularly if they turn up in her bank statements, will only confirm this.
If you borrowed money and made promises of repayment, then there is most certainly a legal debt due to the estate. It does not have to be in writing, verbal contracts are most certainly binding, if perhaps slightly more difficult to prove.
I have to wonder who is being the tightwad here, you know that you borrowed the money, you know that you owe it, would you have refused to give it back to your husband's grandma. So why are you trying to get out of repaying it to her estate - jealously perhaps over the uncle's inheritance. He is not being a scrooge. You owe the money and he is correct in collecting it to bring it into the estate for distribution to all of the beneficiaries under the will. If you are not in the will, then sorry, but tough luck.

Answer 2

Hi,
unless there was something in writing then it was a gift. No one can proove otherwise.

A verbal agreement ends with the death of one of the parties concerned.

If the uncle has been left £100,000 as a specified amount and that is what he receives then he has no claim anyway.

If this figure has been calculated as a percentage of the estate then he might of had a claim.

Normally all monies owed to the deceased goes to the estate for distribution not an individual unless it forms part of that persons entitlement.
Tell the uncle not to be so greedy.

Answer 3

Wow what a miserable man! He's willing to go to all that trouble for the sake of such a relatively small amount of money. Any monies owing to the deceased are considered to be part of that person's estate, but as your husband is such a close relative, it would be far easier and friendlier for for him to write the money off as a gift and forget about it. If you click on the link below, it will give you some idea of what's expected regarding debts to a deceased person's estate; if it goes to court, the money will have to be declared in this way and, if it's to be shared with siblings anyway, one wonders just how much of it he will actually receive. Good luck!

Answer 4

Under the circumstances you have stated, I think that you are in the clear. This was a private agreement between you and Grandmother, her money that she chose to loan to you. Unless Grandmother stated in her will that she is leaving all her money INCLUDING the £2,000. she loaned to you, to your uncle or whatever, then this money will not be part of her estate, she obviously chose not to mention it to the uncle or to specifically mention in her will that you had it. In case the uncle starts to get `shirty` with you, be on the safe side and see a family solicitor for confirmation. Some solicitors will give you half an hours` consultation for around £ 5-1£10. Or the citizens advice bureauwill possibly be free. Good Luck. What an ungrateful, stingy old so and so he sounds!

Answer 5

If as you claim you borrowed the money and he inherited the lenders estate then in law you do owe the estate the money and he can take legal action to recover monies owed to the estate.Yes if no one can prove otherwise you can say it was a gift but you could end up swearing to that on oath and it sounds like you havent made a secret of it.

Answer 6

If there are debts owed to the Grandma's estate, the executor has the right to collect on them. But, if there is no paperwork that says your hub owes Granny money then it would make it much harder. It would be your husbands word that Granny forgave the debt vs his uncle's word.

How much of a share of that £2,000 is that greedy bugger going to get that he'd go after you for it? It might cost him more than that in legal bills!

Answer 7

How I see it is the guy is a greedy trotter. Your contract was with your husbands grandma and if nothing was in writing who's to say you never paid the bill in full?. Tell the uncle to take you to court - can't see him getting anywhere.

Answer 8

you have stayed in a tumultuous marriage for 27 years? Dang... perhaps you're able to easily bypass away him and shield your self till such time comes as your uncle passes and leaves you the domicile. good success yet i think of existence is merely too short, the only factor worse than 27 shaky years is 28.

Answer 9

If either of you acknowledged the debt then he can take you to court. If there is no contract or agreement then don't worry unless uncle has something else up his sleeve.

Answer 10

If the debt was part of the estate of the dead woman, and your uncle is sole beneficiary, then he can rightly claim the money back.
However he sounds a money-grabbing heartless b@stard so personally I would not hand it over.