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How You Might Be Able to Protect Yourself from Probate Fraud

April 17, 2019 By Richard Farrell

Let’s imagine for a moment you have belated news that someone died a month ago. This is someone with whom you were friends but later lost touch. You make inquiries and find to your surprise all the money went to a perfect stranger from what others say.

How can you know if the estate was properly administered? You recall the deceased telling you “I’ve left the grand piano and antiques to you because you loved them as a child”. There’s no sign of those fond memories to be seen now. You might be able to protect yourself from probate fraud if you knew how.

How the New Online UK Probate System Could Trip You Up

The Times of London joined the growing outcry among the legal fraternity. Richard Burgon, shadow justice secretary pulled no punches on March 27, 2019. When he insisted, “The government must urgently address concerns that this will be yet another botched outsourcing.  

“Another failed project,” he continued “where the public pays the price for the government’s failure to properly consult and the loss of experienced staff.”

The Public and Commercial Services Union representing more than 180,000 civil servants told The Times the deal increases the risk of fraud. “Thousands of years of experience are being lost,” their officials said. It’s getting harder to protect yourself from probate fraud.

“We are concerned that the current model of probate has to change to fit government proposals for a paperless system, a system that they have not consulted upon, our members maintain is not fit for purpose and threatens the integrity of the grant.”

How the Incentive Paid By the Contractor Makes This Worse

We understand the government has outsourced the task of verifying online probate applications to a contractor. This company apparently may be paying its employees a bonus for speedy processing.

The Public and Commercial Services Union strongly believes its members, the legal profession and the public should have been consulted “because this is a judicial process”. However by all accounts the government is pressing ahead with the plan.

How to Find a Will or Probate Document in England and Wales

What follows is a summary of the procedure in England and Wales. (Scotland and Northern Ireland have slightly different systems that you can track on .Gov.UK). New probate records for Wales and England are online within approximately 14 days of issue of grants of representation.

You may therefore be able to protect yourself from probate fraud by accessing the information online. You’ll need to know as much as possible about the following details to avoid wading through pages and pages of results.

# Name, surname and year of death

# Month and day of death

# Year, month and day of probate grant

Once you have the probate documents you can examine them for possible signs of fraud and take appropriate action. If you find the technology challenging there’s a paid search service you may be interested in. This will set you back £10 for a copy of the grant of representation, and the will if it exists.

Related

Filed Under: Probate Valuation Tagged With: correct probate administration, probate contents valuation, probate fraud, protect yourself from probate fraud, uk online probate system

Our House Clearance Services

We provide a full house clearance and property management solution:

  • We clear hoarded houses, regardless how big or how cluttered
  • We clear all types and sizes of property, irrespective of location, or access is restricted or where parking is difficult or not available.
  • We can help avoid water damage by draining the central heating system.
  • We can secure the property and change the locks.
  • We can reinstate the gardens and maintain them whilst the property is empty.
  • We can provide 24 hour security to eliminate the risk of squatting or unlawful occupation.

As well normal house clearances we specialise in clutter clearance and we can clear a hoarded house which may contain years of accumulated possessions, or which have abnormal amounts of general household items, sometimes as a result of compulsive hoarding syndrome.

Equally we can help to clear a property where the occupants were previously unwell and unable to care for themselves or their property which sometimes results in insanitary, dangerous or just plain unpleasant conditions.

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Client Reviews

Jenny Schon
Dec 3, 2021
 by Jenny Schon on Avery Associates
Well done

This truly is a 'one stop shop' for all things relating to Probate valuations and clearance. Jeffrey is a 'facilitator' and full marks to him for finding... Read More

Kevin Anderson
Oct 26, 2021
 by Kevin Anderson on Avery Associates
Fantastic and Reliable

Our aunt was a recluse and hoarder. She died leaving two properties in London that were dilapidated and completely hoarded. Unfortunately, because everything... Read More

It was a pleasure to assist Kevin

T. Hackett
Aug 26, 2021
 by T. Hackett on Avery Associates
1st Class Service

Avery Associates Appraisal I have just moved house after almost 30 years of occupation. My initial choice of movers, Pickfords, decided at the last... Read More

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