World leading graphologist warns ‘wet ink’ signatures and enhanced ID checks must be introduced urgently to combat probate fraud
World-leading handwriting expert Emma Bache has warned that ‘wet ink’ signatures and enhanced ID checks are an urgent requirement if the government wants to eradicate many instances of probate fraud.
Fresh government proposals to introduce digital ID cards could help verify identities of claimants – although an online petition opposing the move has already amassed 2.4 million signatures – but Bache says that without verifiable wet signatures, rightful claims to probate may be very difficult to establish.
Currently, digital probate applications can be submitted, alongside a statement of truth, but neither require a ‘wet ink’ signature.
In July this year, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) was forced to suspend the unclaimed estates’ list known as Bona Vacantia (literally: vacant goods or ownerless property) after a BBC investigation uncovered multiple instances of fraud worth millions of pounds.
When a person dies without leaving a valid will and no apparent heirs, any property they own is listed in the Bona Vacantia and will pass to the Crown. There are cases where distant relatives are traced and, in that instance, they may apply for probate and inherit the property.
But the BBC investigation uncovered cases where relatives had been tracked down, but probate had already been granted to an unknown person living abroad who had produced a ‘purported’ document which stated that the deceased had left them the property.
In addition, when the property was then sold, many had been falsely declared to be just under the threshold for inheritance tax liability, also defrauding HMRC tax obligations.
Emma Bache, an experienced graphologist who works with legal clients on fraud cases, says: “HMCTS have done a considerable amount of work to clear a backlog left by the Covid pandemic and to modernise their systems to reflect the digital age we live in.
“But it’s clear that the system is now open to abuse. The way to combat that fraud is for enhanced ID checks – perhaps digital IDs as the government has proposed – but what is needed is a requirement for wet ink signatures which graphologists like me can analyse if necessary.
“We don’t really know how many cases of probate fraud are carried out by the methods revealed in the BBC investigation, because many people legitimately live in another country and this cannot and should not, of itself, act as a red flag in the application process.
“However, being able to register documents and making a statement of truth, without verification, means there is no systematic way to prevent this at the moment – and the government needs to act urgently.”
Bache is the leading graphologist who recently examined Donald Trump’s signature in the Epstein birthday book – and concluded it was “absolutely” that of the US President and “certainly not” a forgery.
HMCTS is said to be considering enhancing security and ID checks for online probate applications, but it is worth noting that without analysis of a ‘wet ink’ signature, proving false claims may be extremely difficult.
Without an accurate indication of how many frauds have been committed, the authorities might consider the cost of investigating and prosecuting those responsible not worth it.
It is often only after genuine heirs have come forward that the fraud becomes apparent, by which time the property may have been sold and the funds transferred elsewhere.
Bache adds: “Digitalisation and online applications have streamlined the probate system, in line with public demand, but that should not come at the expense of verification.
“Increasingly, people are on the receiving end of sophisticated scams which they would not have anticipated just a few years ago. HMCTS must introduce protections that are verifiable as a matter of urgency in order to ensure the security of probate applications.”
