Heir hunters, grant, intestate and solicitors.

WolverineSW11

Not a good mix, in my opinion.
In Dec 2019 my brother's father died (we had the same mother but different dads), leaving no will.
Before his cremation a heir hunting company was in touch with my brother?????? How the hell did they find out? They even quoted an amount that was left by his father, now how did they find that out?
They later got in touch with me, as my brother's father's name is on my birth certificate. I sent them away stating he was not my biological father and he did have a son.
I then contacted my brother telling him not to sign anything with them at all. He didn't listen as they put pressure on him and he signed an agreement.
That was all in very early 2020. They also sent another letter to me trying to get me to sign a contract with them, and told my brother that a female had come forward, regarding their adverts. I know that his dad only had the one child, my brother. So I feel they are using their arsenal of tricks to delay any payment, as well as racking up what they can grab from the estate for themselves.
He told me that in March he received a letter from them notifying him that everything had been sorted out and the money would be transferred to his account within 8 weeks. He still has not received it.
From March last year I kept checking the unclaimed estates on the .gov website. My brother's father's name has never appeared there. So again how the hell did the heir hunters find out all the details?
Last week I tried another tack and looked for a will. What I did find was a 'grant' giving my brother the position of 'administrator' of his father's estate. At the bottom of the grant was the detail that the form had been 'extracted' by my brother's solicitors. Who still have not told him this detail.
What I am trying to do is get my brother to receive the money from his father's estate, as well as pulling the rug from under the heir hunters feet, as well as have him contact the ombudsman regarding his own solicitors and the heir hunting company.
My brother will be contacting his solicitors today to enquire why they have not told him anything, or offered to have the funds transferred.
So, does anyone know the procedure that my brother needs to take to get his dad's estate sorted out?
He has his dad's death certificate, a copy of the grant, an official letter addressed to him where he lives, his own birth certificate, as well as his change of name certificate.

Marcon

WolverineSW11 said:

Not a good mix, in my opinion.
In Dec 2019 my brother's father died (we had the same mother but different dads), leaving no will.
Before his cremation a heir hunting company was in touch with my brother?????? How the hell did they find out? They even quoted an amount that was left by his father, now how did they find that out?
They later got in touch with me, as my brother's father's name is on my birth certificate. I sent them away stating he was not my biological father and he did have a son.
I then contacted my brother telling him not to sign anything with them at all. He didn't listen as they put pressure on him and he signed an agreement.
That was all in very early 2020. They also sent another letter to me trying to get me to sign a contract with them, and told my brother that a female had come forward, regarding their adverts. I know that his dad only had the one child, my brother. So I feel they are using their arsenal of tricks to delay any payment, as well as racking up what they can grab from the estate for themselves.
He told me that in March he received a letter from them notifying him that everything had been sorted out and the money would be transferred to his account within 8 weeks. He still has not received it.
From March last year I kept checking the unclaimed estates on the .gov website. My brother's father's name has never appeared there. So again how the hell did the heir hunters find out all the details?
Last week I tried another tack and looked for a will. What I did find was a 'grant' giving my brother the position of 'administrator' of his father's estate. At the bottom of the grant was the detail that the form had been 'extracted' by my brother's solicitors. Who still have not told him this detail.
What I am trying to do is get my brother to receive the money from his father's estate, as well as pulling the rug from under the heir hunters feet, as well as have him contact the ombudsman regarding his own solicitors and the heir hunting company.
My brother will be contacting his solicitors today to enquire why they have not told him anything, or offered to have the funds transferred.
So, does anyone know the procedure that my brother needs to take to get his dad's estate sorted out?
He has his dad's death certificate, a copy of the grant, an official letter addressed to him where he lives, his own birth certificate, as well as his change of name certificate.

You may well be trying to help, but what does your brother want? He ignored you before when you suggested that signing the agreement might not be a great idea.

Maybe best to wait and see what his solicitors have to say if he's contacting them today.

getmore4less

Before his cremation a heir hunting company was in touch with my brother?????? How the hell did they find out? 
........
From March last year I kept checking the unclaimed estates on the .gov website. My brother's father's name has never appeared there. So again how the hell did the heir hunters find out all the details?


The BV list only gets updated if someone reports the estate AND there is no known living relative.

That often means no one knows or suspects the deceased has relatives

Depending on the circumstances HH can get tipped off by anyone dealing with the deceased they get a head start over their rival HH.
They will also search notices and may have contacts at the registrar, funeral directors, hospices, councils etc to get wind of potential business

Reads like you(or brother) knew of the death early on  

thegreenone

It does sound like a tip-off and perhaps your brother changing his name caused confusion.

Brother needs to put pressure on his solicitors for the full story. 

Mojisola

WolverineSW11 said:

In Dec 2019 my brother's father died (we had the same mother but different dads), leaving no will.

They later got in touch with me, as my brother's father's name is on my birth certificate. I sent them away stating he was not my biological father and he did have a son.

You may have delayed things by doing this.  The firm will have checked birth records and, as the deceased is on your birth certificate, you would be considered a beneficiary.

thegreenone

OP, I'm confused (not difficult!) why was your brother's father's name put on your birth certificate, if he wasn't your biological father?

WolverineSW11

thegreenone said:

OP, I'm confused (not difficult!) why was your brother's father's name put on your birth certificate, if he wasn't your biological father?

My mother got married in March, I was born in April. In the 60's new husbands names were put on birth certs, to stop the mothers being classed as 'fallen'.

WolverineSW11

Mojisola said:

WolverineSW11 said:

In Dec 2019 my brother's father died (we had the same mother but different dads), leaving no will.

They later got in touch with me, as my brother's father's name is on my birth certificate. I sent them away stating he was not my biological father and he did have a son.

You may have delayed things by doing this.  The firm will have checked birth records and, as the deceased is on your birth certificate, you would be considered a beneficiary.

The HH got in touch with me BEFORE when they told my brother everything was sorted. So I did not delay anything, they are doing the delays.