Clients ‘in the dark’ after tax-planning firm closes

Universal Wealth Management advised clients to transfer assets to trusts to avoid care home fees

Asian investors in London property risking hefty IHT bills

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An unregulated inheritance tax (IHT) planning firm that told clients they could avoid IHT and local authority care home fees by placing their home and other assets into a trust run by the company has collapsed, leaving clients in the dark about the ownership of their money.

Ipswich-based Universal Wealth Management and related firms ran seminars called ‘Keep It In The Family’, encouraging investors to put their home into a trust run by the company, which meant they no longer officially owned it.

Two people connected to the firm were arrested earlier this year and subsequently released as inquiries continue, according to the BBC.

A Suffolk police spokeswoman told the BBC: “Two people who were arrested on suspicion of fraud as part of a large-scale financial investigation have had their police bail cancelled. Both have now been released under investigation while inquiries are continuing.”

Assets inaccessible

The firm advised clients to place assets into trust to prevent them being used to pay care fees in the future. Clients are now unable to access their assets or sell their own homes due to restrictions put in place by Universal.

Universal companies and directors may now technically be the owner of some of the properties.

Action Fraud said at least 140 clients of Universal Wealth had contacted it about missing money, while Step, a professional association for tax practitioners, said it has also been receiving an unprecedented number of inquiries about the firm. It permanently barred a director of the company earlier this month.

Universal Asset Protection, an associate firm of Universal Wealth, entered compulsory liquidation in May 2018, while the business premises of its subsidiary Universal Wealth Preservation closed several months previously.

The BBC reported that the company laid off dozens of staff in 2017 and, from earlier this year, clients’ emails and calls were going unanswered.

The firm also offered will writing and lasting power of attorney services.

An investigation will be broadcast on BBC One’s Inside Out East programme on Monday at 19:30.

Tags: Fees | Fraud | IHT