The Expert Podcast

Probate fraud is so common these days that almost every single case we look at, where a person is either deceased or put into conservatorship and there's an estate, has some type of fraud in it. So how does this work? When a person is dead, about to die, or in long-term care, that person probably has assets that are going to be inherited by somebody or distributed through a will after they die. People who are familiar with the soon-to-be or deceased person sometimes get greedy and want to take some of those assets that don't belong to them.

If you are a relative that knows you're going to get maybe a little bit but not a lot from the will, you might want to get more than your fair share. If you're going to get nothing, you might want to get at least something. So what do they do? They find where the assets are and try to grab them before the estate gets them. They might know about a bank account and forge a check to get money out of the bank account. They might hide assets, quitclaim deeds to real estate, transfer vehicles into somebody else's name, or even file a fake will.

This is a case we're looking at out of here in Oregon, in Clouth County, where the person who died had a friend who supposedly knew they were dying. This friend filed a fake will to disinherit the children from the inheritance, draining the entire estate from the rightful heirs. When a person has assets and they're dying, about to die, or deceased, those assets now become like candy falling out of a piñata. Everybody wants to grab a piece of it, even if it doesn't belong to them.

This is called probate fraud. Make sure if you are related to, associated with, or somehow involved with a person who is deceased, you get a very good asset search done. Ensure you get a good forensic accounting of all the transfers and have whatever will or probate documents formally authenticated. Many times, there are forgeries or fraudulent alterations made to these documents. Even if there are not, people often take assets and divert them before they are distributed to the rightful heirs.

The number of cases we're seeing with fraudulent transfers is through the roof. People are getting desperate because of the economy. They feel like they've been short-changed by their family and try to make up for it by taking money away from other family members. So make sure that you don't fall victim. Even if you think another family member should get more money than you, let the will or probate process give the money to where the deceased person wanted it to go first. If you want to give some of it to somebody else afterward, that's fine.

However, if you let someone else steal the money, you're disrespecting and dishonoring the wishes of the deceased, and that's not good for their memory. Be very aware: people are out there trying to scramble and grab every last dime they can because of inflation and the economy. Unfortunately, it’s at the expense of innocent people losing out on what's rightfully theirs.

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