New bill protects grieving families from scam artists

A bill requested by Attorney General Nick Brown strengthening probate law to protect grieving families from scam artists passed the Legislature with bipartisan support and now heads to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

AG Brown requested the bill in the wake of an investigation and lawsuit by the Attorney General’s Office against a group of people and their companies who took control of 213 deceased strangers’ estates and drained the assets without properly alerting heirs and courts.

HB 2445, sponsored by Rep. Adison Richards, D-Gig Harbor, strengthens state law governing the probate process for handling the estate of a person who dies without a will. 

It sets clear rules for third parties seeking to become probate administrators, preventing strangers from seizing control of a deceased person’s property, siphoning the proceeds, and keeping grieving family members in the dark. The bill passed the state Senate unanimously.

Last year, the Attorney General’s Office sued and won against a group of people and their companies who took control of 213 deceased strangers’ estates and drained the assets without properly alerting heirs and courts. 

The judge ordered John B. Elliott, Shanelle Sunde, and their companies to pay more than $7 million in penalties, restitution, legal fees, and costs. 

The case exposed significant loopholes in Washington law that made it possible for the defendants to become court-appointed probate administrators for estates of people they didn’t know in counties where the deceased people had not lived. 

More information here