WINDFALL THAT WASN’T

TWO months ago my wife and I each received £250 left to us in a cousin’s will. However the solicitor who sent us the money has asked for it back, having discovered a codicil cancelling the legacy. We’ve spent the cash: do we have to pay it back? IF the solicitor was in possession of the codicil but “overlooked” it, the Law Society may consider the solicitor should make good the money. If the codicil has just been discovered at the bottom of a dusty drawer at your cousin’s house you are not entitled to keep the money, in which case I suggest you negotiate with the solicitor reasonable repayment terms, perhaps at so much a month.