How To Protect Family From Inheritance and Probate Scams After a Death
Practical guidance for identifying and avoiding inheritance, estate, and probate scams that target families during the bereavement period.
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
The period following a death is one of the most vulnerable times for financial exploitation. Inheritance scams, fake solicitors, probate fraud, and legacy charity fraud all target grieving families when their guard is down and they may be dealing with unfamiliar legal and financial processes for the first time. Understanding what is normal helps families spot what is not.
Common scams targeting bereaved families
Scammers monitor public death notices, obituaries, and probate filings, then move quickly because they know grief creates both distraction and a willingness to trust anyone who sounds official. Common approaches include a call or letter claiming to be a solicitor or 'estate recovery service' who has located unclaimed inheritance money for an upfront fee, fake creditors claiming the deceased owed a debt, and emails impersonating a real solicitor's firm with altered payment details for estate funds. These messages are convincing because they use accurate details pulled from public records — the deceased's name, date of death, sometimes even a relative's name — which can make an entirely fabricated claim feel personally researched and legitimate rather than a mass-sent scam.
- Fake solicitors offering to handle the estate for a 'small upfront fee'
- Advance-fee inheritance scams: someone claims to represent an unknown relative's estate
- Legacy or charitable gift fraud: charities claiming the deceased pledged a donation
- Online will fraud: unlicensed will writers creating unenforceable documents
- Fake executor services charging for tasks that are straightforward to do independently
Verifying professionals and organisations
Any solicitor, financial adviser, or executor involved in handling an estate can and should be checked against an official regulatory register before any money is sent or document signed — for solicitors this typically means the relevant law society's public register, for financial advisers a national regulator's register. If someone contacts the family claiming to represent a firm already involved in the estate, call the firm directly using a number found independently — from a previous letter, their official website, or the regulator's listing — rather than any number the caller provides. A genuine professional will never object to this kind of verification call and will usually welcome the family taking it seriously.
- Verify solicitors on the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) website
- Check financial advisers on the FCA register
- Verify charities on the Charity Commission register before responding to legacy claims
- Never pay upfront fees to receive an inheritance or start probate
The probate process — what is normal
Understanding the ordinary shape of probate makes it far easier to spot what doesn't belong. Legitimate probate is typically slow, involves a named executor or solicitor the family already knows or was formally introduced to, and communicates through official letters or a known firm's email domain rather than urgent calls demanding immediate payment. There is no legitimate mechanism for a stranger to 'unlock' inheritance funds in exchange for an upfront fee, and real courts or probate registries do not ask for payment by gift card, cryptocurrency, or wire transfer to an individual's personal account. If contact feels unusually fast, unusually urgent, or introduces a fee the known solicitor never mentioned, treat it as a signal to pause and verify.
- Probate applications go through the Probate Registry (or equivalent in your country) — not through cold callers
- Legitimate solicitors do not normally demand same-day payment for estate work
- If in doubt, ask the court or probate registry directly
Conversation script
“I know there is a lot to deal with right now — I just want to flag that there are people who target families during this time. If anyone contacts us about the estate out of the blue, let's check who they are before we engage.”
“Any solicitor or adviser we use for this should be on the official register. I can check that for us if you want.”
“If anyone claims there is a charitable gift we owe, or an inheritance from someone we have never heard of, that is worth being cautious about.”
Frequently asked questions
We received a letter from a solicitor we don't recognise claiming to represent the estate — is it real?
Do not respond until you have verified the firm independently. Search for the firm on the SRA website using the details in the letter. If they are not listed, or if the address or number does not match, it may be fraud. Contact the SRA or the real firm's publicly listed number to check.
Someone has told us there is an inheritance from a distant relative abroad — could it be genuine?
Occasionally, genuine distant-relative inheritances do exist. The test is simple: legitimate inheritance processes never ask you to pay fees upfront to receive the money. If you are asked for a fee, bank details, or personal documents before receiving anything, stop and verify through an independent solicitor.