Heir Hunter.

Shiny_Paul

Morning all.
My sister got a cold call at her door last Saturday from a Chap claiming to be from a well known Heir Hunting company, he said my sister and I are possibly entitled to a share of a deceased distant relatives estate, the chap apparently died in March 2017.
The Guy gave us a name but on Googling the chap I can find no record at all on the web or on bona-vacantia.
The company are a large player in the Heir Hunting world and have appeared on the TV show, but I am concerned that I cannot find any record of this distant relative anywhere, even though I vaguely remember my late father mentioning him.
The company have sent me a very informative info pack telling me all about them and asking me to sign an agreement entitling them to 15%+VAT on successful completion of the case.
Do you think this is legit even though I cannot find any record of the deceased.
Sorry for the essay.
Paul.

elsien

If you're not able to find the person yourself and there's no fee otherwise, what have you got to lose? You could always check out other companies to see how the fees compare to the going rates.

robpw2

you dont have to go with this particular firm - but at the end of the day what have you go to lose.

If in doubt ring the actual company and check the guy who turned up works for them before signing

Margot123

robpw2 wrote: »

you dont have to go with this particular firm - but at the end of the day what have you go to lose.

If in doubt ring the actual company and check the guy who turned up works for them before signing

Yes, check the agent is who they say they are. Don't ring the number he has provided but do a Google search for the customer services number for the company.

Daft as it sounds, there are scammers purporting to be from these legit companies. Sending out professional-looking packs etc.

Beware the man in the suit who calls uninvited.............

Catmagnet3

Hi it does happen and sounds legit to me.Just over 18 months ago to me and my siblings were contacted out of blue by heir hunters about a relative in the US.The contract sounds similar,like you I was sceptical but it cost me nothing except £10 way way through process for a witness signature from another local solicitor..Lets face it a share of something with their fees taken off is better than a none share as you weren't even aware in 1st place.
That's way we looked at it,no outlay and any money was a bonus and extra family history was interesting......go for it!

bugslet

I had an heir hunters thing come through the post, no charge, just a percentage (20% in my case) of whatever I got if got anything.

After about a year, got a cheque for 7+k. A relative I new nothing about and somewhat distant. Paid for my new roof and a hefty donation to charity.

PasturesNew

A lot of the work they do isn't from bona vacantia, but from a neighbour or a solicitor contacting them direct. Neighbours, strangers, solicitors, are paid a commission if they alert them to a potential intestate death.

In short: if they are a legit company there will be somebody from whom you might inherit. You have two choices: think hard/do your family tree quickly to see if you can find them ... ".... where DID Brian go to after his parents died in that car crash in 1943, he was an only child wasn't he?" ....

How much you can put a claim in for might range from £0 (new information, a previously unknown illegitimate child, a will was found) through to £000s.... so you take your chances.

One thing is assured: if you do not take up their offer you will not "lose" your rights to any money. You will simply have a harder job to try to work out who it is. Contact other relatives - they, too, must have also had the call... if they signed up they'll even have the name. You need to spend quite a bit of money on original certificates etc (which the heir hunters will have already bought) in order to put the claim in ....

But you can do it yourself, at a lower cost - but your success at proving your claim will depend on who it turns out to be.

It could be "anybody" .... it could even be an illegitimate child from your spouse's past .... although that's VERY rare (or they don't mention it on the telly).

Some trees are harder than others ... you'd need to start by knowing who all your family are back to your oldest member's grandparents (in my case born 1840-1880) ... and all their children ... and all their marriages .... and then down, down, down. It's when it comes to somebody's 2nd marriage it gets tricky as you don't know where they went, if they remarried - and each certificate costs £9.25 ... and there could be 20 potential marriages "IF they remarried".

Only children of only child parents tend to crop up often too.... people who haven't been seen by the family since the 1950s.

Whoever died could be in their 90s....or 40s.

Even in my simple/known family I've got fathers who completely disappeared, an aunt who moved to the US and died over 50 years ago ...who had X children. Lots of GI brides occurred in the late 40s.

TonyMMM

15% + vat is quite a good rate for heir hunters, many charge much more than that.

Margot123

TonyMMM wrote: »

15% + vat is quite a good rate for heir hunters, many charge much more than that.

Competitive rates sometimes have additional fees hidden 'somewhere'.
Always check the small print, and you can't (usually) go wrong.

missprice

PasturesNew wrote: »

Some trees are harder than others ... you'd need to start by knowing who all your family are back to your oldest member's grandparents (in my case born 1840-1880) ... and all their children ... and all their marriages .... and then down, down, down. It's when it comes to somebody's 2nd marriage it gets tricky as you don't know where they went, if they remarried - and each certificate costs £9.25 ... and there could be 20 potential marriages "IF they remarried".

.

This, in bold.
I had a grandfather who managed to marry three times in this country and at least once abroad. Yet he only had two children (that I know of)
And with possible spelling mistakes and possible dates transposed, it took an age to find out. Plus actual spellings of names.
I always thought my grandmother was called Thomasina. It turns out she was but with a completely different spelling that I would never have guessed. Took quite some time to figure out.
You can imagine the cost of certificates for each marriage then their birth and their parents, and siblings, and any children they had, within or outside the marriage. It soon mounts up and you need the certification to prove you are the right person.
Oh and death certificates too.
So it's time and money spent versus 15%.

getmore4less

IN practice you should only need to prove what relative you are to someone you know is in the tree already and has signed up.

eg: if you are bother sister and the HH have signed up one of you then the other should only need to prove they are another child of the same parents.