£300,000 Estate recovered in Hertfordshire

A lady passed away with no will and no known relatives, her Estate was referred to the Government Legal Department.

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We took up the case and found cousins which we were able to prove as being related.  Our claim was accepted.  The case was passed to a Probate Administrating firm who began the administration.  When they informed us of the assets that they were able to gather in, we were perturbed as they came to under £1,000.  Our research uncovered that the lady owned her own house up until she went into a nursing home.

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We asked the Probate company to retrieve all her bank statements and cheques leading back to when she still lived at home.  We were shocked to find that the man who was appointed as a legal deputy to look after the lady’s financial affairs (because it was deemed that she lacked mental capacity) had in fact sold her house. He paid off his mortgage, built an extension on his house, treated his children to new cars and gave his wife a lump sum.  Payments out of the deceased’s account also continued after her death until there was very little left.

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We were able to put together a criminal case against the appointed ‘Deputy’ which was passed to the Police who acted on it. The ‘deputy’ was arrested and eventually received a four-year prison sentence.

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Following a confiscation order, the Estate received some of the £300,000 that he had defrauded.

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