Repayment of a loan after death

[eric755]

34 years ago I loaned my father-in-law $500. He never mentioned the loan again and never paid any of it back. He died recently. Can I claim this amount plus reasonable interest from his estate? WIth compound interest, I calculate that the the amount has grown to over $9000.

[dzug]

Don't know about the US but in the UK you could at least try to claim it.

You might hit a brick wall though. The executors have several lines of defence:

the loan never took place
it was, or became, a gift anyway

You don't say if you ever asked for it back - if not then they could also argue it falls outside the (UK) 7 year limit on enforcing debts.

To be honest the best advice is forget it.

[eric755]

Thanks.

My wife is the executor so that won't be a problem. The problem may be the multiple credit cards that he owed about $50000 to and who want to get as much of that back as possible.

[factor-fiction]

I calculate the value to be nearer �7000 based on bank the value could be quite a bit less. You'd need some proof of the loan and of an agreement that interest would be due for late payment. You'd also have to explain why you didn't try to recover the money earlier.
Good luck but I'd expend my energy elsewhere and help with the funeral arrangements and feel pleased that you helped your father in law in some way

[factor-fiction]

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I calculate the value to be nearer �7000 based on bank base rate and of course if a taxpayer tax would be due on the annual interest and so the value could be quite a bit less. You'd need some proof of the loan and of an agreement that interest would be due for late payment. You'd also have to explain why you didn't try to recover the money earlier.
Good luck but I'd expend my energy elsewhere and help with the funeral arrangements and feel pleased that you helped your father in law in some way

[eric755]

Thanks - good answers. I hadn't thought about the tax implications.
I have the cancelled cheque. The loan happened on my wedding day in Vancouver. He asked for the loan just as we were about to go on our honeymoon. I wrote out the cheque on the top of my car. Irrelevant, I know, but interesting. We then moved to Australia for a couple of years and, being his son-in-law, I didn't feel like asking for the loan back . But now that every cent of his assets is about to go to 26%-interest-charging credit card companies that bled him for years, I want to know whether I have a legitimate claim for some of his assets.

[Twenty20]

I honestly cant believe that you even remember a $500 'loan' from 34 years ago!

You'd need proof of the 'loan', a cheque that was cashed 34 years ago wouldnt be proof. I would expect other creditors to query this 'loan', especially as your wife is executor.