Seniors advocates are reporting a rise in pensioners being conned out of homes often by greedy relatives.

Age Concern head Claudette Fleming said the elderly needed to be wary of people claiming to have their interests at heart, only to snatch their most valuable asset.

She said: "More seniors are getting cheated out of property now.

"Seniors are giving up their interest in their house to families prematurely."

Sometimes the senior gets life tenancy, loses the value of the home but still has responsibilities for maintenance, said Mrs. Fleming.

"Sometimes it gets sold with them in it if they haven't stipulated it should not be sold."

A recent survey found 72 percent of seniors own their home.

"Seniors are sitting collectively, as a group, on billions of dollars worth of assets," said Mrs. Fleming.

"They have to recognise the property they own is extremely valuable. They can't make sound decisions without proper legal advice or they will end up in a lot of trouble.

"There are relatives and others who have their eye on it."

In one case a senior was promised care if she signed away her house. "She is now stuck away in a room not cared for."

In that case the property had rents on it which are not going to the senior.

"We saw one lady at a legal clinic who was thinking about giving her property to her grandkids," said Mrs. Fleming.

Explaining that she thought the woman had been dissuaded, she added: "But at the next clinic we found she had given it to her grandkids.

"They lost it, now she is looking for an apartment. It's heartbreaking."

Wednesday's free legal clinic on property issues, offered to seniors by law firm Mello, Jones and Martin, was full to bursting with 107 participants.

"We had to turn away up to 50," said Mrs. Fleming.

"There is a lot of interest. And it's not like we are seeing the same people all the time. There is a demand for this."

Boundary rows are also a headache for seniors said Mrs. Fleming.

"The culture of Bermuda is changing. You have a mom and pop in a little cottage and next door you have the guy who bought land to put three condos on it. It is not as neighbourly and friendly now."

In other countries publically available documents can help resolve land disputes.

Bermuda's Land Title Registry is still not fully operational.

Although the office has been staffed since 2007 and work has been done registering Government land there is not the legislation to record other properties.

Mrs. Fleming said: "My concern is for seniors they don't have the money for all the legal procedures to sort problems out.

"Some find it's making them physically sick having to deal with it."

Juliana Snelling, a partner at Mello, Jones and Martin, said the biggest problem was seniors being taken advantage by relatives.

"The trust that seniors place in family is often violated for the sake of personal greed and this is disturbing."

Another big problem is seniors not documenting agreements while they are in a fit state of mind.

"If an agreement about property is not reduced to writing and one side denies it was entered into, it becomes a dog's breakfast about who allegedly agreed what. This applies to all persons, not just seniors," said Ms Snelling.

In the case of a senior, if the senior's mind begins to fade, then they become easy fodder in a property dispute on the false suggestion that they are "confused" and should not be believed.

Mrs. Snelling recalled a case last year where a daughter and her husband applied to court to sell their property under the Partition Act and to throw the mother, who was also a co-owner, out.

The mother was unemployable due to serious personal injuries suffered at work.

"Yet they were willing to go through a trial to try to throw her out of the property, saying she should find somewhere else to live and they should be able to stay.

"The daughter and husband had steady jobs and had a future ahead of them.

"The judge did the right thing and told the daughter and husband to get cracking on the basis that the mother (through her son who was willing to take care of her) would buy them out."

Ms Snelling said she had also met seniors at the Legal Advice Centre on Angle Street who have been persuaded by their children to gift away their properties to them on the basis that they are avoiding estate duty on death.

"The children promise the senior that they can live in the property for life after the conveyance has taken place.

"That promise is later broken, often due to the spouse of the child who does not like the senior-in-law living with them.

"The senior did not protect himself or herself legally and has no recourse when they are thrown out of their own property by their children."

She added: "Sadly, in these recessionary times, I am seeing more and more property disputes amongst Bermudian families, fighting to hold on to their little piece of the rock.

"This is the time when families should be banding together and helping each other out; not spending their family inheritance on lawyers to see a judge to make a decision for them a decision that perhaps no one foresaw or wanted.

"If you can work it out without lawyers, the chances are everyone will be happier with the result."

Tips for seniors:

¦ Plan ahead while you are still able to think clearly and remember events. Do not necessarily trust your family

¦ Get promises recorded through legal documentation to protect you

¦ Don't see the same lawyer as your children; get independent legal advice from a lawyer who is protecting your own interests

¦ If you can't afford a lawyer, try the Legal Advice Centre on Angle Street on a Thursday at 5.30 p.m. for free legal advice

¦ You can get Legal Aid in civil property disputes if you meet the financial need parameters, and the case has merit.