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mairav29
Jan 21, 2011, 08:47 PM
I loaned my son in law 35K about 8 yrs ago has not paid yet. When I made the loan he lived in TX and I live in MI. Can I take him to court to pay me? He has refused to make any payments and when I ask him for the money he says he has no way of paying me. What can I do?

smoothy
Jan 21, 2011, 09:54 PM
Did you make him sign any papers that there was such a loan?

Fr_Chuck
Jan 21, 2011, 10:16 PM
And almost any type of loans, the SOL for suing has long pasted.

joypulv
Jan 22, 2011, 12:20 AM
Did the IRS ever notice the payment on your end or the receipt on his? There would have been a gift tax on some of it (your spouse can 'gift' an amount too) unless you set it up as an intra family loan (rates are on IRS.gov).
What you can do is tell dear daughter that her inheritance is being reduced by 35K + interest accruing at the intra family loan rate, which changes monthly (and has different rates for different terms). Just to be on the safe side of a contested will, you could send notice of this to each of them by certified mail. With interest accruing for the rest of your life, he might suddenly decide that he can start paying you back.

JudyKayTee
Jan 22, 2011, 10:09 AM
Did the IRS ever notice the payment on your end or the receipt on his? There would have been a gift tax on some of it (your spouse can 'gift' an amount too) unless you set it up as an intra family loan (rates are on irs.gov).
What you can do is tell dear daughter that her inheritance is being reduced by 35K + interest accruing at the intra family loan rate, which changes monthly (and has different rates for different terms). Just to be on the safe side of a contested will, you could send notice of this to each of them by certified mail. With interest accruing for the rest of your life, he might suddenly decide that he can start paying you back.


This is incorrect legal advice - the Will HAS to contain language to the effect that "I am not including X ..." (or whatever works in your State) in order to avoid a contest. The person being excluded has to be named. Recent Court cases have led Attorneys to conclude that wording such as "... for reasons he/she understands" CAN (and does) lead to a Will contest ("I know she says she's excluding me but I don't understand the reasons") and the current preferred language (at least in NY) is along the lines of "after due consideration I am not including X ...")

A certified letter to that effect is meaningless.

excon
Jan 22, 2011, 10:58 AM
Hello Judy:

The language may be incorrect, but certainly the mother in law CAN change her will to suit her needs. A letter to the daughter informing her of the change, might achieve the desired result.

excon

JudyKayTee
Jan 22, 2011, 11:20 AM
Hello Judy:

The language may be incorrect, but certainly the mother in law CAN change her will to suit her needs. A letter to the daughter informing her of the change, might achieve the desired result.

excon


Agreed - I'm reading the advice as sending a letter without changing the Will.

Anyone can change a Will any time, of course.

joypulv
Jan 22, 2011, 02:41 PM
I didn't mean that anyone was being excluded. An amount is being subtracted, such as from a fraction for each heir. When I said send letters, I meant so it wasn't a surprise after death.

JudyKayTee
Jan 22, 2011, 03:28 PM
Not without amending the Will, of course.

joypulv
Jan 22, 2011, 04:55 PM
I keep forgetting to say what I assume is given, sorry!