Heir Hunters

pauletruth

the 10% is more reasonable. an estate needs to be over 5000 yo get on the list.

pimento

My family tree has about 3000 people on it and none of them seem to have left a brass farthing.

pauletruth

i know the feeling. lots of wills and land no headed our way.

redmike123

Well, the simple answer is to tell them they are being greedy and that you would rather go without than them earn anything from helping you get any of this this money that you had no previous knowledge of. Its known as "cutting off your nose to spite your face", and the good news is that if you don't get the money, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, or Prince Charles will be glad of it.

Goldiegirl

pimento wrote: »

My family tree has about 3000 people on it and none of them seem to have left a brass farthing.

In the 1700's my dad's family had money ..... but none of it went down my branch of the tree.

I've been working on my family tree for about 4 years. I found that my dad had a first cousin that I never knew about. This cousin died in 1974. I've never been able to find a marriage for this cousin, and I have found out that he was a home owner.

My dad would have been the only heir, and now my dad is no longer with us, it's me who is the heir.

However, I know that you have 30 years to make a claim, so the time has passed, and the value of a house in 1974 is tiny compared to what it is today, so I don't feel I've missed out on millions.

I am still trying to find out more about this cousin - if he did marry and have children, then that would mean I'm not the last person on our branch of the tree.

Family history is endlessly interesting

lincroft1710

Goldiegirl wrote: »

This cousin died in 1974. I've never been able to find a marriage for this cousin, and I have found out that he was a home owner.

My dad would have been the only heir, and now my dad is no longer with us, it's me who is the heir.

Cousin may have had what used to be called a "common law wife" and willed his estate to her. Or a friend or even same sex partner or a charity. So you may not be the heir.

Goldiegirl

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Cousin may have had what used to be called a "common law wife" and willed his estate to her. Or a friend or even same sex partner or a charity. So you may not be the heir.

As we were in the Heir Hunters thread I was talking in the context that the cousin hadn't left a will.

You have given me a good idea for lead however. Wills that have gone to probate are in the public domain, so I could see if I could obtain a copy of the will from the probate registry.

Apart from my dad and I, this cousin seems to be the only one in our branch to have survived to the 1970's so I'm very curious to find out more about him

Thank you!

Mojisola

redpete wrote: »

What if one of the siblings signs up, gets the details, all will inherit their share once they know the details and then they can share the cost of the one inheritor's 30%.

The firms aren't that stupid -

https://www.lostkin.co.uk/Pages/Why_We_Have_Contacted_You.aspx
"We will need to enter into a contract with each heir individually ... It is general practice not to reveal full information until all the heirs have agreed to the terms of business."

pauletruth

just looked at that link they charge for a copy of the full tree. thats just greedy. how much does it cost to print a simple 3/4 generation tree.

Shelldean

Friends dad was contacted by Fraser and Fraser!! cant recall what % they asked for, but his opinion was if he only got a fiver it was a fiver he didnt previously have.
They did give him the name once he'd signed on the dotted line. and they have promised a tree once everything is completed.

It was quite a distanct relationship, friends dadlets call him Fred. His Gt grandparent were deceased grandparents. Making the cousins once removed I think??

According to tree of entitlement my friend would've been the furthest the money could've gone to.

But the tree would've been huge - I researched the name once we knew it, to see where it linked in.

The common ancestors (grandparents of dec'd)had seven children.
The uncle of the dec'd (my Freds grandfather) had five kids.
Then Fred's dad then had four kids!!
And this is just one branch from the seven orginal Aunts and uncles of the dec'd, lord knows how many claimaints there might be esp as we dont know how many sibling etc the dec'd father had this was just from the mothers side.


these things can obviously take as while as friends dad was contacted back in Jan and nothing has been heard since.