AG Sues Bellevue Estate Planning Companies; Asks Victims To Step Forward

Attorney General Christine Gregoire today filed a lawsuit against two Bellevue based companies for violating an agreement to stop engaging in deceptive estate planning sales tactics that target senior citizens.

The complaint against Senior Estate Legal Services, Inc. and Asset Preservation Group, Inc. alleges that Neil Adkins and John Cannon preyed on senior citizens by developing personal relationships in order to gain access to their financial information. The information then was used to press the victims into buying inappropriate or useless investment, estate planning and insurance products.

The Attorney General's complaint also asserts the companies provided legal services to consumers without license to practice law, charged consumers for services that were not provided, and failed to deliver products that were paid for, all violations of an Assurance of Discontinuance Order filed in King County Superior Court in 1996.

Both companies are managed out of the same office in Bellevue and are known to have operated around Skagit Valley, Yakima, Spokane, and possibly other areas in the state.

The Attorney General's Office is asking that anyone who has made transactions with the companies and has concerns to contact its Consumer Resource Center toll-free at 1-800-551-4636.

The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, seeks consumer restitution and civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation. Defendants in the suit are Senior Estate Legal Services, Inc. and its owner, Neil T. Adkins and Asset Preservation Group, Inc., and C. John Cannon., a sales representative for both corporations.