Legal Question in Legal Ethics in California
financial clerical errors
If I am issued a inheritance check for more than it should be, am I obligated by law to return the overage?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: financial clerical errors
Contact the administrator or law firm who issued the check and see if it was, in fact, a mistake. It's possible that if you were supposed to receive a percentage of the estate and a beneficiary predeceased the decedent, his or her share was divided among the surviving beneficiaries.
If it was a mistake, then you have to return the difference.
Re: financial clerical errors
Yes! You must return it.
Some years ago, I had a client who found a bank error placed almost $200,000 in his account. He asked the bank a number of times what has balance was, and after being assured that the money was in his account, he withdrew it and left the country. When the error was discovered, he was either going to return it, or have felony charges against him, and he eventually returned all but $14,000 spent during his spree, and all was forgiven.
Re: financial clerical errors
Yes -- why wopuld you want to take money that was not intended for you and thereby reduce what would be received by the other beneficiaries?
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