Paying back loan

(sorry if this is in the wrong place, it's to do with money but not really anything to do with expat life).

Purely hypothetical.

Man loans money to a family member, no formal agreement drawn up, the family member needs help financially and the man is more than happy to help.  No agreement as to when or even if the money is to be paid back.

Man dies.  Wife 'discovers' that there has been a money transfer to the family member and discusses it with them.  The wife wants the money paid back, but only because morally she thinks the family member should pay it back, not because she needs the money.

Family member shows great reluctance to pay the money back due to their ongoing financial hardship.

Question:  Is there anyway that the wife can force the repayment given that there's no formal agreement and the family member 'could' claim it was a gift?  Also, is the wife actually entitled to have this money repaid given that it was her husbands money?

To the best of my knowledge, the courts (within the 3 UK legal systems) don't usually enforce loan repayments between family members unless it is clear it was a business arrangement. So if there's no formal agreement I am afraid the widow would most likely be out of luck.

If someone is thinking of lending a substantial sum of money to a family member and truly expects it to be paid back I would recommend getting a formal contract drawn up by a solicitor and signed by both parties. (The person borrowing should take independent legal advice about this).  This could include a clause that in the event of the creditor's death, the repayments would be collected by the estate of the deceased to protect the wife in your example.

Thanks Britwife, it's as I expected.  In this case I think it's more a moral obligation to pay it back than a legal obligation.  Not to worry.