General Chat

A friend of ours died in July.
Shortly before he died he bought new spectacles from the Spanish equivilent of Specsavers & paid €50, with the balance of €150 to be paid in 3 quarterly instalments .
The company have contacted his executors who have explained that the estate is not yet settled so they are unable to release any funds.
This is a small town & our friend was from a prominent family.
The opticians have now contacted his Sister in Law & asked her to settle the bill.
She´s not even a beneficiary from the will & even if she was, she´s under no obligation to settle his bills.

cheek indeed - some companies have no shame

I assume she has told them to take a jump???

I think, if it was UK, they could claim from the estate before the money is sent to beneficiaries so I asssume it is the same there.

and send the specs back to them - with instructions for where to place them :-D

Technically, the money is owed to the company and the executors do have the power to pay all outstanding bills before the probate is granted, so there is no reason for them not to pay. Having said that, you would think that a large company would have the financial resources and the sensitivity just to write the debt off

Not knowing Spanish Law, if the Executors can't access the money from the Estate, the opticians will just have to wait!

There is no way that the sister-in-law should be responsible for someone elses debt.

When my father in law died a few years ago it was about a month after he had order some new glasses but he hadn't collected them. When he died I contacted the opticians and explained the circumstances. They said that there would be no charge and he hadn't even paid a deposit. As a result I have recommended this optician to several of my friends as I thought that the customer service was excellent.

Under Spanish law, the estate can´t be disbursed until the beneficiaries have paid the Inhertance Tax.
There is no money in the Estate (Quite the reverse). The only asset is a very small apartment which has to be sold. Easier said than done in the present economic climate. Hundreds of similar properties have been on the market at give away prices for 5 years or more.
The opticians are going to have a long wait :-P :-P