Online estate fraud – the latest worry for families

Following on from our recent articles relating to the online portion of your estate, it has been reported that fraudsters are increasingly targeting the estates of deceased people for valuable assets, hosted online, such as online bank accounts. The problem is arising due to people innocently trying to assist beneficiaries by including details of accounts, pin numbers and passwords in their Wills. When the Will becomes a document of public record, after their death, this information is available for all to see.

It is for this reason that we have recently changed our Will-writing processes and checklist to suggest that clients write a separate note, to be kept securely under seal with their Wills, containing this information.