My elderly relative died in December 2018. Her gardener has now (January 2019) sent us an itemised invoice. The items begin in March 2018 and end in November (my relative last left the house in October to go to hospital). The total amount demanded is £700.
When we visited in January the garden was tidy and had clearly been worked on recently. We have no reason to think there was any dispute existing between them, and my relative was old but of sound mind.
Location: England, UK.
The problems:
- We do not believe that our relative would have left the bill unpaid for so long (7 months).
- We do not know what previous demands or payments were made, or when.
- There is no way of knowing whether the work was actually done, except for the most recent.
- We have not (yet) found any written records of previous invoices, receipts or payments (from before or after March 2018).
- Not immediately relevant but aggravating: the charges are very high considering the work and the part of the country.
The questions:
Is the executor legally obliged to pay? If he chooses not to, what could happen?
Normally, not paying would risk a county court judgment against the debtor. What happens if that person is deceased - will the judgment be against the executor?
I am in favour of paying only the final item (a very expensive £120 "garden tidy") as we can verify this was done.