Land Ownership Scam?

[John McDermott]

My mother in-law (born in cyprus - living in the UK) has been contacted by a "family friend" who has said that she and her brother & sister are the owners of some land in Cyprus that is worth a greta deal of money. She and her brother & sister have been asked to fly to Cyprus in order to claim this land and complete a transaction to sell.
This has an air of truth, as she states that her father did own several tracts of land. Her father died some 8 years ago and her mother came to the UK to live - she passed away over a year ago. There appears to have been no will or official transfer of the parents estate to her or her brother and sister.
The "family friend" living in Cyprus? Indicated they were trawling the internet and came across information regarding the father and the land. My mother in-law is contemplating going to Cyprus with her brother and sister in order to make the claim and decide what to do etc.
Does this sound possible? They certainly beleive so. My question is simply has anyone heard of a possible scam of this nature that they may be being drawn into?
Also, if this also sounds plausible what would you recommend? My thoughts are to enage a UK lawyer and investigate from a distance - yes?
Thanks for any suggestions
John

[Nigel Howarth]

Hello John & welcome to the forum,

Yes, it is quite/very possible that your mother-in-law has inherited part of her late father's and mother's estate. If neither of your wife's parents made a Will then their estate would have been transferred to their children (and even if they'd made a Will, Cypriots cannot disinherit their children).

Each of the three children will have a share of the land. There could be other inheritors as well if her father owned the land along with his brothers and sisters. So there's a possibility that there are several part owners.

I suggest you get a Cypriot lawyer to look into the matter. Trying to do it at a distance from the UK using a UK lawyer (who would have no idea of Cypriot law) would be impossible without local knowledge.

The British High Commission publishes a list of English speaking lawyers - if you can let me know in which District the land is situated, I can let you know the names of the lawyers in that area. Alternatively, you can download the list from my website at http://www.cyprus-property-buyers.com/f ... awyers.doc

Regards,

[Pantheman]

My mother in-law (born in cyprus - living in the UK) has been contacted by a "family friend" who has said that she and her brother & sister are the owners of some land in Cyprus that is worth a greta deal of money. She and her brother & sister have been asked to fly to Cyprus in order to claim this land and complete a transaction to sell.
This has an air of truth, as she states that her father did own several tracts of land. Her father died some 8 years ago and her mother came to the UK to live - she passed away over a year ago. There appears to have been no will or official transfer of the parents estate to her or her brother and sister.
The "family friend" living in Cyprus? Indicated they were trawling the internet and came across information regarding the father and the land. My mother in-law is contemplating going to Cyprus with her brother and sister in order to make the claim and decide what to do etc.
Does this sound possible? They certainly beleive so. My question is simply has anyone heard of a possible scam of this nature that they may be being drawn into?
Also, if this also sounds plausible what would you recommend? My thoughts are to enage a UK lawyer and investigate from a distance - yes?
Thanks for any suggestions
John

I find this unusual to say the least.

This comment here got me the most :

The "family friend" living in Cyprus? Indicated they were trawling the internet and came across information regarding the father and the land.

I have never heard of being able to trawl the internet for this sort of info and is completely suspicious. First of all

Then, how does this 'Family friend' know that there is no will and that you have to claim it???? Another suspicious statement.

And then theres the selling bit. Why does this 'Family friend' even get involved in the value of this land and how does he know you even want to sell it. IMHO it is total Cr*P. Be very careful and I am willing to bet that they will ask for money upfront to do this.

My Advice, One of the siblings go to the land registry, take your parents death certificates and ask one of the agents there to apply for a list of property listed against your parents names.

This is the only true list, its official and you can work from here.

If you need to get it transferred, the agent (or Dikolavos) could probably arrange it as long as you are all present and you will all have equal shares in all the plots. Unless you decide to split them up and each take whole plots as long as there is a written agreement between you all. The Dikolavo could probably arrange this too.

Bottom line, believe no one, you cannot find out about someones land on the internet end of. Go yourselves to the land registry of the district of where the land is registered and start there.

Hope that helps

Pan

[John McDermott]

Pan and Nigel, thank you both for the sound advice and comments. I too am wary!

I shall gather the additional information suggested and follow the advice - I will keep you posted
Regards to you both

John