Be Careful Who You Trust with Your Power of Attorney
You may have seen the case against Reverend Ivan Warwick recently in the news which raised important questions about Powers of Attorney and Undue influence. Not only was the Reverend Warwick trusted by the McCulloch brothers but he was a Church of Scotland minister who had preached for King Charles.
What is clearly concerning is that a police investigation in 2017 failed to find that a crime had been committed, because the power of attorney had been put in place. Alongside the Police failing to act, the NHS and social services also failed to step in despite concerns being repeatedly raised to these agencies by members of the brothers’ wider family.
Only after a 7 year battle through the civil courts were the family able to achieve some form of justice when the judge found that Reverend Warwick and his co-attorney Douglas Stewart had exercised undue influence over the brothers and ordered them to repay over £1 million to the brothers’ estates.
Hayley says in response to this case:
“Whilst this judgment is clearly welcome, as is the fact that the police, NHS and social services are now reviewing their actions in the case, it is all likely to be too little too late for the McCulloch family. Judgment against defendants in such cases is not the same as recovering the funds and it is often the case that if these individuals are prepared to be this underhand (or fraudulent) to commit these acts in the first place then they will have taken steps long ago to divest themselves of the fruits of their fraud to make it extremely difficult to recover assets back from them.
The judgment is therefore little comfort for the family unless it results in meaningful improvements to the system by which powers of attorney are operated – in England and Wales as much as in Scotland (which is where this case was heard).
For too long unscrupulous individuals have been able to take advantage of vulnerable elderly clients with little to no oversight by relevant agencies, who instead actively push back against concerned family members because they consider that capacity was in place at the time.
The reality has been clearly shown in this case, as we see so regularly in our specialist consultancy practice, that these professionals fail to consider the impact that undue influence – and even brazen fraud – can have in a situation where an individual may have technical capacity (albeit that assessment is often questionable given it is often the case that these professionals mistake capacity for lesser day to day tasks as the same test for testamentary wishes or gifting of property, when it is not) but nonetheless be sufficiently vulnerable for their freewill to be overborne.”
Hayley’s Consultancy Team are specialist in managing complex cases involving allegations of undue influence and even fraud, which often involve very detailed investigations into many years of transactions trying to unravel what these unsavoury individuals have done with a vulnerable deceased’s assets. These cases require a particular sensitivity and tenacity which Hayley’s team are experienced in managing through to a successful conclusion.
If you would like to read more about Hayley’s experience and specialist areas of consultancy practice as an ACTAPS member, you can find further details on her dedicated webpage.
Hayley’s consultancy team are happy to offer a free case assessment to discuss how they may be able to help you in your own situation, including the various funding options open to you, such as no win no fee agreements, to help you achieve the just outcome you deserve.
