Estate Research

matofender

Hi all - hoping for some advice.

My grandmother has received a letter from the above company informing her that she is a 'missing legatee' of a friend's will.

Does anyone have any info on this company or advice on this in general? The letter simply requests she contact the company ASAP. What would be the normal procedure? Would there be fees involved?

Any advice on what to do / words of caution would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

BobQ

There are many firms like this. Let us assume they are a reputable firm (no reason to believe it is not).

http://estateresearch.co.uk/beneficiaries.php

From what you say, it could just be that the executors have paid the firm to track your grandmother down to give her the money. So the estate may be paying for their time. Do they say the name of her friend? If so and your GM knows the person it may be simply a question of putting her in touch with the executors

However, many people die and leave estates that cannot be distributed for various reasons and some firms take on the risk of locating the rightful beneficiaries who would otherwise not know of their good fortune. In that case they may be charging your GM a sizeable commission from the legacy.. If they do not say the name of the deceased they are probably being employed or working on a commission basis.

Mojisola

From another forum, it looks as if they charge 20+% of whatever inheritance is due to you.

BobQ

Mojisola wrote: »

From another forum, it looks as if they charge 20+% of whatever inheritance is due to you.

You are probably right, but a friend of mine was contacted by such a firm, but they had just been paid by the executor of a will to make reasonable steps to find him. He got the full legacy specified and the costs of finding him (which was fairly easy) came out of the estate.

John_Pierpoint

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Bona+Vacantia+

Well worth finding out what you can and then getting in touch with the probate researcher.

If the beneficiary has to pay the costs, they are negotiable.

madbadrob is a poster with practical experience in this field who might be able to give you a few pointers on how to handle the situation.

BobQ

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Bona+Vacantia+

Well worth finding out what you can and then getting in touch with the probate researcher.

If the beneficiary has to pay the costs, they are negotiable.

madbadrob is a poster with practical experience in this field who might be able to give you a few pointers on how to handle the situation.

True. Madbadrob has not posted for a few weeks OP, but you might have a search through his past posts as several give information from his experience doing this kind of work