Claiming an inheritance without paying Heir-Hunter's commission?

Chardonbois

I have recently been contacted by an Heir Hunting company regarding a small inheritance from a long-dead distant relative. They have asked me to sign and return a form to claim the inheritance- although failed to mention the small print which grants them a 30% share.

I would like to know whether I am able to claim my inheritance without them taking their rather large cut. I have contacted the Treasury Solicitors department who initially admininstered the estate via the Bona Vacantia website but I'm afraid they talk in riddles and will only answer my queries with vague monosyllabic soundbites(via email!).

From what I can glean the heir hunter has taken the case from the Bona Vacantia site in order to trace the relatives and claim the bounty. They have therefore been appointed 'administrators'. The Treasury Solicitor's reply unhelpfully says 'You do not have to go with the heir hunter- you can apply directly to the administrator'.

But in this case the administrator is the heir hunter and so seem to be wearing two hats in clear conflict of interests. On the one hand they are neutral administrators whilst on the other they are a commercial enterprise creaming off a third of every inheritance they manage.

When I asked for clarification the Treasury Solicitor said 'We cannot advise you- You do not have to go with the heir hunter. Apply direct to the administrator'.

All I want to know is - can I legally apply for my inheritance from the heir hunters without paying any commission? I haven't signed anything yet!

Many thanks for your help....

PasturesNew

You can. You'd need to draw up the whole family tree, arrow pointing to you - and the paper trail to prove you're related to that person.

Browntoa

But to do that you may need to back it up with copies of birth,death and marriage certificates at £10 a go

Balance between what the estates worth and what it will cost , and it may be a complicated estate , hence the heir hunters taking it on

G6JNS

Chardonbois wrote: »

I have recently been contacted by an Heir Hunting company regarding a small inheritance from a long-dead distant relative. They have asked me to sign and return a form to claim the inheritance- although failed to mention the small print which grants them a 30% share.

I would like to know whether I am able to claim my inheritance without them taking their rather large cut. I have contacted the Treasury Solicitors department who initially admininstered the estate via the Bona Vacantia website but I'm afraid they talk in riddles and will only answer my queries with vague monosyllabic soundbites(via email!).

From what I can glean the heir hunter has taken the case from the Bona Vacantia site in order to trace the relatives and claim the bounty. They have therefore been appointed 'administrators'. The Treasury Solicitor's reply unhelpfully says 'You do not have to go with the heir hunter- you can apply directly to the administrator'.

But in this case the administrator is the heir hunter and so seem to be wearing two hats in clear conflict of interests. On the one hand they are neutral administrators whilst on the other they are a commercial enterprise creaming off a third of every inheritance they manage.

When I asked for clarification the Treasury Solicitor said 'We cannot advise you- You do not have to go with the heir hunter. Apply direct to the administrator'.

All I want to know is - can I legally apply for my inheritance from the heir hunters withut paying any commission? I haven't signed anything yet!

Many thanks for your help....

You can but to do so you would need to duplicate all the work they have done to establish your entitlement. That will take time, expertise and be supported by documentary evidence of the family tree or similar. Each of the certificates will cost you money. The reality is that businesses have to earn a living by their fees. A lot of work they do results in no revenue. That is balanced against the estates where they do.

Chardonbois

Hi Guys- I'm a bit of a genealogist anyway so already have these details and documents from my work on my family tree. I just didn't realise that a distant relative had died intestate a few years ago. There is no problem in proving my claim, I just don't think 30% is reasonable and want to know how sound my legal footing is.

TonyMMM

You don't have to use the heir hunter, and it is quite normal for some of the beneficiaries of an estate to choose to apply separately.

If you have the necessary evidence, the process is quite straightforward and explained on the Bona Vacantia Website:

https://www.gov.uk/make-a-claim-to-a-deceased-persons-estate

Chardonbois

Thanks Tony- This is really helpful. Thanks for taking the time to find it and reply. Wish the BV website had just pointed me to this link weeks ago! Kind regards Brian

TonyMMM

You're welcome - but the link is at the top of the first page of the BV website.

Denise_Hawley

The process is actually not all that difficult and is explained clearly at the Treasury Office website.

Heir hunters can be deceptive and charge outrageous percentage fees. My partner was approached by one that was honest, but asked 25%. He answered our questions honestly, despite the fact that the information was what we needed to trace the estate ourselves. Unfortunately, without our knowledge, my partner's brother had already signed with a woman named Laura Limb who used despicable tactics to try to effectively blackmail my partner into signing with her and we have had to bring her up on points of UK law. The Treasury Office has passed the money into her account already so we may have to go to court to have her put aside as administrator of the estate.

I strongly advise doing it yourself, before one of these vampires sinks their teeth into it.

nom_de_plume

Does the OP know how many people stand to inherit and have any of them been approached and more to the point signed the agreement? If any have, how would that affect things?

Also could the OP simply negotiate a better deal? The Heir Hunters now know he exists so presumably cannot give the money to someone else simply because he refuses to sign. Presumably his share would have to be returned to the Treasury and the Heir Hunters would get nothing in relation to it. 10% of something is much better than 30% of nothing, especially as they've already done the work.

Pollycat

nom_de_plume wrote: »

Does the OP know how many people stand to inherit and have any of them been approached and more to the point signed the agreement? If any have, how would that affect things?

Also could the OP simply negotiate a better deal? The Heir Hunters now know he exists so presumably cannot give the money to someone else simply because he refuses to sign. Presumably his share would have to be returned to the Treasury and the Heir Hunters would get nothing in relation to it. 10% of something is much better than 30% of nothing, especially as they've already done the work.

The OP originally posted in Feb 2015, last post on 27/2/2015 at 11:52am.
Last activity was on 27/2/2015 at 12:04pm so I doubt they'll be back to answer any questions.