Find out how Steene Law helped victims of elder financial abuse
Financial abuse can come in many forms. Let me tell you about two cases where the team at Steene Law intervened. Both cases involved cold-callers who introduced themselves as a ‘Barrister Intermediary’.
Let us be clear, anyone can wake up one morning and decide to call themselves a barrister intermediary – it is not a legal qualification.
A few months back, we received a call from an elderly lady. Alice* told us she had been sold a Will and other associated documents which she had become rather concerned about as she had paid out a large sum of money. We agreed that the costs seemed high for the work involved.
When we dug deeper we found out that the person who appeared on the doorstep and sold Alice the Will, was an ex-physiotherapist who was now calling themselves a “barrister intermediary”.
After further investigation, we recovered (without any fee on our part) all of the money that Alice had paid out. At the time, we believed this was a one-off. Sadly, this proved not to be the case.
Recently, we took a call from a lovely gentleman named Stanley.* He was in his late 80s and his wife had recently passed away.
One day, the doorbell rang and there stood, in Stanley’s words, “a very nice gentleman, who was well spoken and wore a suit and tie”. He introduced himself as a ‘barrister intermediary’ and explained his firm specialised in probate and the administration of estates. He had popped by because he just wanted to ask if there was anything he could do.
This ‘barrister intermediary’, who was, in fact, a crafty door-to-door salesman, said that in exchange for £2,500 he could take away all the “complicated issues” of dealing with the probate of Stanley’s late wife.
Stanley willingly agreed. Later, clearly confused and wondering if he had done the right thing, he got in touch with us.
Sadly, it was clear to us that this poor man was vulnerable and, leaving aside the fact that he could hardly hear, we felt that he probably had a mild cognitive impairment and maybe early signs of dementia.
After a little more investigation, we discovered the only assets Stanley had were a joint bank account and his home, valued at £240,000, which had been in joint names – meaning that he probably didn’t require probate.
Stanley then told us that in a few hours’ time the gentleman was coming back to get him to “sign some more papers”. He had no idea what these papers were.
We managed to get hold of Stanley’s daughter and explained our concerns.
She called the company to cancel the visit but, lo and behold, when Stanley got back from shopping, this so-called ‘barrister intermediary’ was sat in his car, waiting on the driveway!
Thankfully, we understand that Stanley did not sign these papers. Instead, he and his daughter followed our advice. We had discovered a local solicitor already held the Title Deeds to Stanley’s house, so we advised the family to go straight to the solicitor’s office and give them all the paperwork so they could sort everything out.
Why was Stanley targeted? We can’t be certain but it is possible the firm was scouring death notices in order to prey on elderly and vulnerable people.
The moral of this story?
If you or a relative are dealing with a firm that is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), you should proceed with caution.
All solicitors registered with the SRA – including Steene Law – are obliged to be insured and are strictly regulated.
A “barrister intermediary” is not a legal qualification so there is no professional body to regulate their work or provide insurance if something goes wrong.
At Steene Law, we specialise in Elder Law and we regularly advise families on ways they can protect vulnerable relatives.
During our free telephone conversation, we offer clear and impartial advice to our callers, who have often been given conflicting information.
Many get in touch because they are confused whether they are entitled to Continuing Health Care. Others have been wrongly advised or even conned out of money – as was the case with the two so-called ‘barrister intermediaries.’
If you are concerned about financial abuse, or you have been given conflicting information and want to check the facts, call us for a FREE impartial conversation on 0203 653 0623.
* All names have been changed to protect the individuals’ identities.
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