The Universal Wealth Scandal

Roger and Jackie Wade from Sheffield came close to losing everything they had worked 30 years for, at the hands of ceased company Universal Wealth.

Roger Wade attended a Universal Wealth seminar in Sheffield and was persuaded to sign his property over into a trust to protect against care home fees and inheritance tax.  

‘Because Jackie and I had signed this trust, the government were going to take a third of what we were going to leave to our lads’ Roger Wade

Universal Wealth operated by sending out literature to households advertising a ‘Keep it in the Family’ seminar which they held in hotels nationwide. Ran by Steven and Melanie Long, the company targeted people of retirement age, and proposed that they create wills, lasting powers of attorney and asset protection trusts. 

Roger later realised the trust they had signed their property into would fail to carry out its primary purpose, which was to safeguard against inheritance tax and future care home fees, it had an adverse effect and would incur an enormous Capital Gains Tax bill for him and his family.

Former client of Universal Wealth, Roger Wade comments on his experience.

‘I heard about Universal Wealth and their services, through a flyer that came through my front door.

Commenting on the seminar ‘there must have been about 200 people there, they were all over 60’s’ 

‘The people running the seminar said they were practising solicitors and they told us about the benefits of the trust, but they never said anything about having to pay Capital Gains Tax when you came to sell your house, they never mentioned that.

I thought yes, we need a will and, yes, we need power of attorney and the trust option sounded so good we took that on as well’ 

After signing up to the trust, Roger later received communication from another firm. 

‘I received a letter from another solicitor saying that Universal Wealth had stopped trading and had handed my trust to them to continue monitoring, and would I like to sign a standing order for this, and that’s when I smelt a rat’

After speaking to his family Roger became concerned.

‘They said it’s a scam dad, I said it can't be they were so professional. And of course, it turned out to be a scam so we thought we better get some advice.’

After seeking advice from his own solicitor, Roger was referred to Kate Saunders at IDR Law.

IDR Law specialises in contentious probate have been working with former clients of Universal Wealth to remove their properties from trusts and any Capital Gains Tax liability.

Kate Saunders, Senior Associate IDR Law comments; 

‘Our success with the first reported Universal Wealth case where a charge prepared by Universal Wealth was set aside by the Royal Court of Justice has resulted in the firm representing a number of victims of the scandal. 

For each client, the outcome of our work has been such that the legal charge registered against the client’s properties has been set aside on the basis that a mistake had been made. 

The courts removed the charge therefore negating the significant tax consequences that go hand in hand with these trusts.’ 

Watch Rogers full story here: https://idrlaw.co.uk/universal-wealth/

Please contact IDR Law if one of your clients or someone you know has been affected by this or the Philips Trust Corporation issue. Our Universal Wealth Campaign team are here to review your trust documents for free. 
idrlaw.co.uk
0330 175 9912
[email protected]

(Author: Lindsay Gibson, Head of Marketing, IDR Law)