Pearl Wright
Court of Protection
Protecting Your Estate from Scammers
A recent article in the Law Society Gazette reports how the Government’s Bona Vacantia team has withdrawn its list of unclaimed estates to limit frauds.
The Bona Vacantia deals with estates where the beneficiaries (if any) are unknown. The list that had been issued was used by genealogy companies to search for relatives of the deceased and find the beneficiaries of their estates.
The BBC has a new Radio 4 podcast on the theft of inheritances: Shadow World: The Grave Robbers, a new BBC Radio 4 podcast launches an original investigation of gangs faking wills to steal inheritance
This is another area of focus for scammers and fraudsters, seeking to benefit from deceased estates by faking wills and seeking to claim the estates.
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Samantha Hamilton, Head of the Court of Protection department at Mullis & Peake LLP says:
“As a Panel Deputy I am frequently appointed to act in relation to the finances and property of people who have been financially abused. It is right for people to take action to protect themselves from scammers and fraudsters who contact them by phone call, text, letter to email. The BBC’s Scam Interceptors programme gives great guidance on what scammers do and how to stop them from stealing funds. However, people need to be aware that some frauds are committed by family and friends, so taking care of your finances and property is wider than just ‘stranger danger’.
With estates, if Wills were made to ensure that the estates of the deceased were given to those the deceased wanted to benefit (whether people, organisations or charities), it would go a long way to prevent probate fraud, especially if the Will is lodged with the Probate Registry: How to store a will with HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) – GOV.UK”