Intestate Estate

Keep_pedalling

eddyinfreehold wrote: »

If your father is registered with the Police as a missing person you could check back with them about all the usual id documents: passport, driving licence, benefits, national insurance number, death certificate etc. It would for them be a simple search if he is using his own name. If he is alive in this country it is very unlikely he is living on fresh air.

It is also worth noting that the Salvation Army have a very good missing persons tracing service, both in the UK and overseas. Well worth asking them too:

https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/reuniting-families

I was going to suggest the SA but their terms do state the following.

When we can’t help:

When adoption has taken place
We cannot search for children under 18 or other ‘vulnerable’ missing people, where a physical search or police involvement would be more appropriate
We cannot search for ‘possible’ relatives or friends
We cannot conduct searches for estate, legal or other business purposes

Brighty

I don't think you'll have much trouble getting the LOA, the problem is what do you do with the money once you have it all. Under intestacy, your father inherits her estate, so do you hold onto it forever hoping he'll reappear? Even if you assume he has already died, you can't assume you inherit in his place, as he could theoretically of had more children in the last 10yrs who would be entitled to an equal share

Lostgirl1234

Thanks all. I’m not sure what sources the tracing agencies have used, however they did all say they were conducting robust searches (ive used various companies over the years). One did make mention of financial/credit related info but there was no trace of any accounts apparently and no electoral roll records. I haven’t tried SA, however, prior to this probate issue arising, I did liaise with the Red Cross a number of years ago but they were unable to trace either. I made contact with DWP a few years back in relation to my fathers pension to check if it was still being paid (he would be 80 now if still alive) but they would not entertain any discussion citing DPA; I also was unable to provide his NI number. I’ve also checked online as much as I can in relation to death certs but can find nothing, however online sources only appear to go up to 2005. I did contact the registry service but they were unable to provide info on name and DOB alone; I apparently would need to visit each locality and ask permission to view records but that would be a hefty undertaking and isn’t feasible. I can’t think of any other things to try at the moment. That said I will look at getting some advice from insurers as mentioned above.

Savvy_Sue

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

I think the first thing i would be doing is to see if i could find a record of his death.

Is that not the first thing any tracing service would do?

Lostgirl1234

They told me they had as well as looking for any records of marriages too but nothing recordered that they could find. I have also looked too but it’s constantly a dead end.