Double Trouble
It’s not that often I come across glaring mistakes by 2 separate professionals in one case. Here’s one such claim arising out of professional negligence on the part of a solicitor and a bank.
I’m handling a case for Alice, who had been left a sum of money from the estate of her late father. As Alice was only 17 at the time of her father’s death, the monies were to be held on trust for her until she reached the age of 18. The two people to look after the monies for her were her mother and her aunt, the “Administrators”. So what went wrong?
The solicitors who were winding up the estate advised the Administrators that a trust account should be set up to keep Alice’s inheritance safe until she turned 18. Alice’s aunt contacted the solicitors to tell them that she did not think that Alice should have this much of her father’s inheritance and it should be shared out amongst the family. Alarm bells ought to have been ringing, particularly as the aunt was one of the Administrators charged with looking after Alice’s interests !
Theft following negligence
The monies were placed in a bank account on trust for Alice. Unfortunately, the bank manager (who was aware of the trust) failed to set up the bank account correctly; where it should have been a condition that both Administrators had to sign to release any monies, only one signature was required. The solicitor then failed to check that the account had been set up correctly, especially in light of what they knew about Alice’s aunt.
Without Alice or her mother knowing, Alice’s aunt subsequently withdrew all the money from the account and went on a spending spree. She was caught and prosecuted for theft but as she had spent the money, Alice faced losing all the inheritance.
She has an alternative remedy by suing her solicitor and the bank for professional and financial negligence. They were aware of the fact a trust was in place and ought to have ensured an account required 2 signatures for Alice’s protection. Where a professional fails in their duty of care they are accountable for losses suffered as a result.
Hopefully, we can restore Alice’s inheritance monies and get her compensation for her losses, to include the moneys stolen and the interest due. It was odd in this case that both the bank and the solicitors made such a simple mistake.
