help please with Universal Wealth preservation Trust

1202123252636

Comments

  • Barker_Gotelee
    Barker_Gotelee Posts: 7 Organisation Representative
    Hello all


    I am a solicitor (Barker Gotelee Solicitors) with experience dealing with Wills, Powers of Attorney, Care Fees and Trusts (including Universal Trusts). As a firm we have been growing increasingly concerned about both Universal and other unregulated firms which sell these products to clients (often when the clients don't need or understand them).


    I am in the process of removing Universal as trustees on a number of trusts and giving back control of the assets (usually a house) to the client. I urge anyone concerned about these types of trusts to seek advice from a regulated solicitors firm. In particular, my firm offers a free initial 30 minute consultation to consider the best approach for each individual client.


    If anyone would like a confidential chat, my contact details are on my firm's website (please Google "Barker Gotelee" as I am unable to post website links) and I am happy to chat face-to-face (at our office in Martlesham Heath), over the phone or via video conferencing.


    Kind regards

    Becky
    Verified Company
    I am a verified representative of Barker Gotelee. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the Verified Companies list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE.
  • Doc_N
    Doc_N Posts: 8,267
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    Forumite
    Hello all


    I am a solicitor (Barker Gotelee Solicitors) with experience dealing with Wills, Powers of Attorney, Care Fees and Trusts (including Universal Trusts). As a firm we have been growing increasingly concerned about both Universal and other unregulated firms which sell these products to clients (often when the clients don't need or understand them).


    I am in the process of removing Universal as trustees on a number of trusts and giving back control of the assets (usually a house) to the client. I urge anyone concerned about these types of trusts to seek advice from a regulated solicitors firm. In particular, my firm offers a free initial 30 minute consultation to consider the best approach for each individual client.


    If anyone would like a confidential chat, my contact details are on my firm's website (please Google "Barker Gotelee" as I am unable to post website links) and I am happy to chat face-to-face (at our office in Martlesham Heath), over the phone or via video conferencing.


    Kind regards

    Becky

    Your firm is, I happen to know, a reputable firm - and very much in the area that this outfit operated from.

    Here's the link from your website:

    https://www.barkergotelee.co.uk/universal-wealth-preservation-trusts/

    Obviously, other firms are available, and you should know that if you want to post here you'll need to obtain permission from MSE to post as an accredited representative of Barker Gotelee.

    You might want to add a comment about potential costs (approximate, of course) to give people some idea of what they might be signing up to.
  • I would be interested to know the approximate cost of removing Mr Long as Trustee from a property
  • The BBC Moneybox journalist and the Law Society representative made one error in focusing on Estate Planners as the problem here. Universal are virtually unique in the Estate Planning sphere in that their trusts appoint Steve and Melanie Long as trustees - ie you are transferring ownership of your house/money/assets to them and you TRUST THEM. That is not a good idea even if money hadn't allegedly gone missing. 99% of estate planners who advise on trusts will always ensure that family members are trustees, and point out that you even have to trust those family members, as you are transferring legal ownership to them. It appears to me that Mr Long has found a way of bypassing the various regulatory bodies that govern professional people who invest clients money and if any regulatory body should be involved in such circumstances it should be the FCA
    As for removing trustees - this is complex and expensive and you will need a solicitor to do that. I would recommend that you do this asap particularly if the trust holds property. Whether you go a further step and "bust the trust" and transfer property to the beneficiaries is a decision that needs to be taken with someone who understands trusts and what the advantages and disadvantages are of that course of action
    If the Universal trust only has cash or investments in it, after reading this forum and the amounts involved and in my mind adding to that those people who haven't posted but who could be in the same situation, you may find that the cost of changing trustees does not merit the expense if you suspect that there is no chance of obtaining anything from Mr Long. (Or at least wait until you know if you are likely to recover anything before incurring further legal expense to recover what may end up to be little or nothing).
  • Barker_Gotelee
    Barker_Gotelee Posts: 7 Organisation Representative
    Thank you Doc N, for your kind words about the firm, for putting the link up and for letting me know about needing permission - I'd read the four forum rules but not seen that - I have now emailed MSE and notified them of my first reply and asked for permission.


    In terms of costs, it's difficult to say what these would be without knowing individual circumstances (is the settlor (the person who set up the trust) alive, is the trust asset a house or money (or both) and where are the original deeds).


    I will highlight that the initial meeting would be free and we would be able to give a more tailored estimate of fees at the end of that meeting.


    However, by way of a guideline, I would estimate that in the most simple circumstances, the remove Steven and Melanie Long as trustees, appoint new trustees and deal with the transfer of the house into the names of the new trustees, the costs would be £150 - £200 + VAT and disbursements. The disbursements would be the land registry fees for checking the title to the property (£3) and the transfer (likely to be £20 - £40 depending on the house value).


    I hope that helps.


    Kind regards
    Becky
    Verified Company
    I am a verified representative of Barker Gotelee. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the Verified Companies list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE.
  • Hi Becky

    Thank you for taking the time to make your post. That all sounds really straight forward. I suppose the situation is more complex regarding the implications of the "Trust" .
  • Barker_Gotelee
    Barker_Gotelee Posts: 7 Organisation Representative
    Hi Piggy in the middle,

    Hi Becky

    That all sounds really straight forward. I suppose the situation is more complex regarding the implications of the "Trust" .


    For many people, yes, hopefully the situation will be nice and straight forward, for others I'm afraid it can be more complex.


    Just a note as I have now heard that another unregulated firm (based in the north) has gotten hold of the Universal Client list and is writing to all of Universal's clients.


    I always recommend clients take unregulated firms with a pinch of salt - with a regulated solicitor's firm, if they were to go bust, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) would step in to ensure that clients are protected - with unregulated firms, you lose that protection, as has happened with Universal.
    Verified Company
    I am a verified representative of Barker Gotelee. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the Verified Companies list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE.
  • Doc_N
    Doc_N Posts: 8,267
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    Forumite

    Just a note as I have now heard that another unregulated firm (based in the north) has gotten hold of the Universal Client list and is writing to all of Universal's clients.

    We're not talking about these people by any chance, are we:

    http://www.inheritance-preservation.co.uk/
  • Doc_N
    Doc_N Posts: 8,267
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    Forumite
    [IMG][/img]Cohen_Knights.jpg


    Thanks - Cohen Knights LLP has a fascinating history. We shall doubtless learn more.........
  • I totally Agree Doc N

    this all seems very spurious! it is no coincidence that the 2 top directors that appear in the document here are the very solicitors that were in charge when all of this trouble started and Steve was nominating him self as the legal owners of clients homes and hard earned assets!
    Maybe though this is another coincidence? the 3rd person on that list has the same sir name as the person charged with keeping the company going when it was all going wrong! Maybe this is just a fluke though that the Interim Chief Financial Officer has the same sir name as one of the directors of Cohan Knights and that somehow they have got access to all of the unfortunate universal client files!
    And that they are asking clients to pay to mop up the mess that they have played a very part in creating!
    Not very transparent if they are not telling clients this!
    Is this honest?
    Clients beware!!
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards