Property fraud, unfortunately, is on the increase, and case law suggests that property owners who are not in occupation are at a greater risk of identity fraud.

We have heard of a recent case where a person owned a rental property with tenants who had been there for some time. The tenant changed his name by deed poll to that of the property owner and then arranged new identification documents in the new name.

He then approached an Estate Agent to sell the property and was present for all the viewings as he lived there. He then appointed a Solicitor to deal with the sale and the Solicitor identified him via his new identification documents. The sale went through at over £400,000.

The landlord has been told that because the Estate Agent and Solicitor completed all their identification checks, it is unlikely that he will get his money back. The matter is currently with the police.

To reduce the risk of fraud, the Land Registry provides a service called “Property Alert”. This is a free service open to property owners based in England and Wales who feel their property could be at risk from fraud.

Once a property owner has signed up to this service, they will receive an email which will alert them of any activities that occur in respect of that property. Up to 10 properties can be monitored; this would allow home owners to take appropriate action in good time to prevent any fraudulent activities in order to protect their interests. All alerts are sent via email when either searches are conducted against the monitored property, or any applications are received that deal with the property.

Although Property Alert will not automatically stop fraud from happening, it could provide an useful early warning of any suspicious activity.

The following link will take you through to the Land Registry website where you can sign up for this free service.

https://propertyalert.landregistry.gov.uk/

 

 

 

There is a common feeling of indignation amongst families when the family home has to be sold to pay for care fees. Undoubtedly, elderly clients often want to avoid the risk of contributing to the cost of long term care as this can deplete assets and savings.

Putting the family home into the names of children is tempting, but time and again we as Solicitors have to warn clients of the risks of doing so. The four classic dangers include the premature death of a child; the divorce of a child; the bankruptcy of a child and a family fall-out.

Furthermore, clients need to be aware that any deliberate deprivation of assets can be challenged by the Local Authority, who have powers to make the elderly parent bankrupt and apply to have the gift set aside.

Rather than making a gift of a home to children, clients might want to consider other options that are available.

If both elderly parents are living, then they could consider structuring their Wills in such a way, that when the first spouse dies, their half share in the property passes into a trust, rather than giving all of their interest in the property to the surviving spouse. The terms of the trust allow the surviving spouse to continue residing in the property or in a replacement property should the surviving spouse wish to move.

This obviously does not protect the whole value of the property from being available to meet care charges. It does however, usually protect a half share. This is because the surviving spouse has the right to occupy the property but does not own the half share absolutely. The surviving spouse would still have their own half interest in the property which would be available to pay care charges. However, protecting half of the value, in a reasonably risk free-way, is more attractive than losing the whole value of the property to long term care charges.

We advise that you always seek legal advice if you are considering such a gift to a child(ren).

If you would like to speak to one of our specialist Solicitors about this, please contact Ceri Davies, Adam Bruce or Luned Voyle at Ungoed-Thomas & King Solicitors on telephone number 01267 237441 for further advice.