Solicitor Embezzles Money From Aunt’s Estate

A court in England heard a case where the accused, a solicitor named Michael Harris, embezzled money from the estates of two of his aunts. Harris reportedly used his position as their solicitor to take a third of their estate, or he took about £133,300 from their £400,000 collective estate. He also reportedly used his authority as their power of attorney and removed £15,000 from their bank accounts. The true beneficiaries, testators’s great niece and nephew, will not be able to receive any funds from the estate, even though the judge ruled in their favor. This is because Harris drained so much of the estate that it is now insolvent. 

Harris stole a third of the estates of two of his aunts by drafting new wills for both of this aunts. In the wills, Harris would receive a portion of their estate. This surprised several members of the family, considering that the testators disliked Harris. The barrister for beneficiaries, Thomas Dumont, also claims that Harris used dishonest invoices to further drain the estate. 

While Harris first disputed the claims, he has now “‘consented to judgment in the actions against him,'” according to Judge Henderson in this case. Mr. Justice Henderson also stated that the testators of the wills were unable to read at the time both of the wills were drafted, and it was possible that Hannah Harris, one of the testators, may have been suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. On a final note, Mr. Justice Henderson reported this case to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

See James Tozer, Lawyer Plundered His Ailing Aunts’ £400,000 Estate By Chaning Their Wills and ‘Decimating’ Their Bank Accounts, Daily Mail Online, May 27, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.