Our father died seven years ago, why are we still waiting for £200,000 of our inheritance? TONY HETHERINGTON investigates

Tony Hetherington is the Financial Mail on Sunday’s top researcher, taking on readers’ corners, uncovering the truth that lies behind closed doors and delivering victories for those left out of their own pockets. Below you can read how you can contact him.

Mrs IA writes: My two siblings and I inherited £320,000 from my father when he died in 2017.

He employed Abacus Wills & Trusts Limited to prepare his will set up a family fundand he asked the owner of the company, Mrs. Tehsin Aslam, to be the executor.

In the end she distributed £120,000 to us, with more to be paid in December. But we haven’t heard anything and think we still owe £200,000.

Tony Hetherington replies: Since you contacted me in January, there have been more twists and turns in this story than you would expect from a barrel full of rattlesnakes. And more stings in the tail than you would get from a nest of wasps. I have never seen such a complete, confusing, contradictory mess of a deceased person’s estate.

Land of Chaos: Tehsin Aslam, top left, has declared her will bankrupt

Sheffield-based Abacus Wills & Trusts Limited no longer exists. Its director, Ms Tehsin Aslam, declared the company bankrupt in 2018 when it faced debts of around £68,000. I found a dissatisfied County Court judgment against the company for £2,250.

In 2019, Aslam founded the eponymous Abacus Wills & Trusts Global Limited, now based in High Wycombe. There is also a dissatisfied court judgment against it, in the amount of £1,682.

Aslam was named as your father’s executor in the will she made in 2015, and her new firm took over obtaining a Probate Grant and then distributing the bequests. Applying for Probate Probate involves filing a tax return. Aslam estimated your father’s estate at less than £325,000, less than the starting point for inheritance tax.

But she completely disregarded the value of a house your father owned in Wembley, North West London. The house is now said to be worth around £600,000.

Aslam told me: ‘Mr A was separated from his ex-wife. As part of the financial settlement, Mr. A was ordered to relinquish the property to his wife.”

Correct, except that the court order made this conditional on a payment to your father of £70,000, which your mother refused to pay. The transfer was never submitted to the Land Registry.

And if Aslam believed that the 2008 divorce meant your mother owned the Wembley house, why did she include that in your father’s will in 2015? Or, if your mother still owes the £70,000, why didn’t Aslam declare this in the probate application? I asked, but she repeatedly failed to provide her tax calculations.

Your father’s will leaves the bulk of his estate to a family trust, with Aslam as trustee. But your father – led by Aslam – set up two different trusts. Why, I wondered, and had your father signed both?

Aslam told me that two separate deeds were sent to your father. She added: “He decided to keep all the trust documents in his possession. He did not send them to my office for storage because we would have checked that the documents had been executed correctly.” Waste. You and your family had a certificate confirming that the company kept both deeds. The certificate was signed by Aslam himself.

Then there is an expression of wishes signed by your father, which lists his investments and specifies which beneficiaries should receive them. Such letters are not legally binding, but executors often respect them.

However, your father’s wishes contradicted his will.

Aslam claimed ignorance. She told me that she met your family after your father died, and she said, “They didn’t say anything about the existence of an Expression of Wishes document.”

And she protested: ‘The expression of wishes is drawn up personally by the client, we are not aware of that.’

Waste again. When I told her that I had a copy of the document, formatted in the same way as other Abacus documents and printed in the same font, Aslam finally admitted that it was prepared by her company. Then there is the enormous delay in paying legacies. Aslam blamed Covid for the delays. This is basically like saying the dog ate her homework. Your father passed away in 2017 and we are now in 2024.

A final example of this mess is Aslam admitting that your father’s estate still contains premium bonds. This is ridiculous! Bonds can win prizes only one year after the death of the holder. So all prices since 2018 should have been disallowed, and the money tied up in bonds should have been earning interest.

At the heart of it all is the fact that anyone can set up a wills company, draw up wills, appoint themselves executor and then create a mess for the deceased’s family. No legal qualifications are required.

Aslam has no intention of stepping aside. Please, please get a good lawyer to get a court order to kick her out, appoint a replacement and then consider suing her and her company for wasting seven years.

Amazon confused about missing MacBook

DW writes: I ordered an Apple MacBook Air from Amazon, which cost £1,444. Upon arrival, the package did not contain a computer, but stationery. I returned this and Amazon said a refund would take two weeks.

No refund came, so I called Amazon and answered questions about the returned package. Weeks later, Amazon asked the same questions again.

I replied, but Amazon’s response was to send me identical questions.

Act of disappearance: an Apple MacBook Air from Amazon turned out to be nothing more than stationery

Tony Hetherington replies: I contacted Amazon who immediately said it would refund you. But bizarrely, it threatened to demand the refund unless you returned the stationery, which you had already done. And then Amazon decided that your computer had been stolen and, using impeccable American terminology, asked you to contact the ‘Police Department’ for your ‘zip code’.

I told Amazon that the police would ignore a theft report from you since you never had the computer. Amazon was the real victim and should report the theft. This worked. Amazon told me, “We’re sorry that the customer experience in this case did not meet the high standards we expect.”

Amazon has now refunded the full £1,444 to your bank account.

If you believe you have been a victim of financial misconduct, please write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Due to the large number of questions, personal answers cannot be given. Only send copies of original documents. Unfortunately, these cannot be returned.