Inheritance??

memorycard

Hi, have been using this site for ages now and found it very usefull but I am new to forums so sorry if this is in the wrong place.

I recently recieved a letter from a company (not sure if I can mention the company name here) who say that they have traced a relative of mine that has died in Northern Ireland without leaving a will. They are NOT a solicitor and they are NOT dealing with the estate they are simply a company that search for relatives of people who die without leaving a will.

They have said that if I sign a form giving them 1/3 + vat of any money I inherit they will give me the details of this person. It all sounds a bit odd to me the form i have to sign says that IRREVOVABLY ASSIGN / +vat of the net assetts of the estate that I become entitled to and that if nothing is due to me then no fees are payable.

I have googled the company and all that I can find is the companys web site, I have called them but they will not give any details without the form being signed (I can sort of understand this).

Has anyone else had anything like this or can anyone give any suggestion of how to look into this futher.

I have called the law society to check if this is a genuine regulated comapany but they only deal with solicitors, they gave me the number for the probate office but they do not have any detials that would help.

Thanks in advance Paul

emmalt

When my husband and I were on holiday we got adicted to a programme on the BBC called Heir Hunters.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/lifestyle/tv_and_radio/heirhunters_index.shtml

There are companies who seek relatives of the deceased who have not left a will and the money is still sat in probate. After a certain amount of time the money will go to the Treasury if nobody claims it.

You could research your family tree to try and find a relative who has died in Northern Ireland and grab the cash for free but would you know where to start?

memorycard

Thanks I'll have a look at that link,

I have no poblems with paying the company the fee I am just concerned that it is not genuine and part of some sort of scamm.

Clive_Woody

To me this just screams scam. My best guess would be you sign the form, they tell you that there is £xmillion pounds waiting for you. They need an advance up front to secure release of the funds. Please send them £3000 by western union to Mr Oboogiu in Nigeria who is a solicitor acting on their behalf. Or they need your bank account details to transfer the money directly to you....then watch your balance disappear.

I don't see any reason why you can't post the company name, that is not exactly giving away anything they wouldn't want to be available in the public eye (obviously this is up to you).

I may be wrong, but this seems like one of those too good to be true scenarios.

They want 1/3 of the estate + VAT (another 17.5%). Not a bad deal for them if they are genuine!

Sorry if I sound cynical, but with so many scams out there I would be very wary.

emmalt

Maybe contact the company who feature in Heir Hunters. I think they are called Fraser and Fraser. They may be able to tell you what is standard practice or if they have heard of this company.

emmalt

From Fraser and Fraser website.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You will never have to pay us, but you will authorise us to be paid on your behalf.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The contract we ask you to sign makes provision for us to be paid our fee in the form of a percentage of your entitlement. This ensures that we will only be paid if your claim is successful and that our fees will always be in proportion to your share of the inheritance - ensuring our fees cannot grow larger than your part of the inheritance. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Personal Debts[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The administrator will pay all debts from an estate before heirs receive their share; this will naturally reduce the value of the remaining assets. In the unlikely event that there are more debts than assets, the estate is declared insolvent. In such cases, you will not inherit any assets or debts, and you will not have to pay us a fee. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Tax[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Any tax due on an estate is calculated by the administering solicitor, ratified by the Collector of Taxes and paid before final distribution, resulting in the money you receive being clear of all personal taxes.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Amount of Money You Will Receive[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The total amount that any beneficiary is going to receive is dependent on four main factors.[/FONT]

• [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The probate law of the country in which the person has died[/FONT]
• [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The number of beneficiaries involved[/FONT]
• [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Your degree of relationship to the deceased person[/FONT]
• [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The value of the estate after administration[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As these values are all variables and individually worked out for each case, it is only possible to calculate the amount that any one heir will receive just before distribution. For this reason we cannot tell you how much you might receive until all our research is complete and the estate's assets have been collected and liabilities paid.[/FONT]

missile

It sounds genuine to me, but of course be careful. Congratullations on your unexpected windfall.

EdInvestor

http://www.fraserandfraser.com/

Seems OK.Alarm bells should start to ring whenever people ask you to pay money upfront.Never do this, it's a scam tactic.

skintmostofthetime

Why can't the money just go direct to you - why through them>
Sorry but still think SCAM.

savinglikemad

hi think it is genuine, we are in the middle of same thing year ago one of my cousins had phone call from company, turns out my cousin died has estate value approx £20000 no will, surviving direct family etc. They traced her through her maiden name, which was the same as desceased mothers maiden name and same place of birth, lenthy process, she had to get a letter same thing taking percentage, think its 20% plus vat, she had to give them rest of family details, we have all had to prove we are related, sign same form, they are just now tying it up as they have just sent us a form to say we do not know any more family, the chap did exist one auntie can remember him, they did know his mothers name, date of birth and gran parents name. there has never been any talk of an up front fee. they take a percentage of total to cover their costs and obviously profit, because my mum and his were one of ten kids (his mum would be 108 if alive now and my mum 91) divided by my brothers 3 of I will end up with about £200 but better in my bank than goverments which is what happens if these companys do not find you out. My cousin was told when they contacted her that this is all they do. Only thing that gets you is that I had a cousin alive that I did not even know. Apparently his mum moved up north during the war and occasional letters to some of the family, but once she died that was lost. Go for but make sure they only take commision, do not pay up front as our company says they have to claim it first on our behalf, and only get paid when we get paid.

olly300

skintmostofthetime wrote: »

Why can't the money just go direct to you - why through them>
Sorry but still think SCAM.

Companies like that are given the job to search for people due to people dying without wills or wills that are really out of date.

To get paid for the job they take a percentage of the money if the distant relation found accepts the inheritance.

Searching for people is not easy due to people moving including around the world and changing names and so they incur costs. So on some searches they spend more than they are to gain on the search, others they break even and most they are in profit.

If the person refuses to accept the money because they don't like the dead relation the company doesn't get paid and the government gets to keep it.

If these companies where not involved the government would keep ALL the money. People like the OP would not see any of the money.

So the choice really is:
1. People die without wills and no known relations and the government gets to keep all the dead person's money.
2. People die without wills and no known relations, distant relations are searched for and the money is shared between the search company and the distant relation(s). The government gets nothing accept for inheritance tax if there is any to pay.