The Prevalence of Probate Fraud
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? Well, when a person is dead or 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 they want to take some of those assets that don’t belong to them.

Motivations for Probate Fraud
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.

Methods of Probate Fraud
They might know about a bank account and forge a check to get money out of the account. They might hide assets. They might quit claiming deeds to real estate. They might transfer vehicles into somebody else’s name. They might even file a fake will.

A Real Case of Probate Fraud
This is a case we’re looking at out of here in Oregon in Clouth County where the person who died had a friend, supposedly, that knew they were dying and filed a fake will to disinherit the children from the inheritance. It drained the entire estate from the children, the rightful heirs.

The Vulnerability of Assets
When a person has assets and they’re dying or about to die, or they’ve deceased, those assets now become like the 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.

How to Protect Against 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. Make sure you get a good forensics accounting of all the transfers and that you have whatever will or probate documents are formally authenticated. Many times, there are forgeries or fraudulent alterations made to those documents. Even if there aren’t, many times people will take assets and divert them even before they are distributed to the rightful heirs.

The Rise in Fraudulent Transfers
The number of cases we’re seeing with these fraud transfers is through the roof. People are getting desperate because of the economy because they feel like they’ve been shortchanged by their family, and they’re trying to make up for it by taking money away from other family members.

Honoring the Deceased’s Wishes
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 the probate give the money to where the dead person wanted it to go first. If you want to give some of it to somebody else, that’s fine, but if you let somebody else steal the money, you’re disrespecting and dishonoring the wishes of the person who’s deceased. That’s not good for their memory.

Economic Pressures Leading to Fraud
Be very aware. People are out there trying to scramble and grab every last dime they can because of inflation and the economy, and it’s at the expense of innocent people who are losing out on what’s rightfully theirs.