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Harrison’s private client solutions

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Good afternoon. Just a quickish one, if anyone has had this before; I’ve had nothing like this before.

A relative has died leaving the estate with no one to inherit it. So this company finds these estates and look through family trees, then I presume, take a percentage before dividing what’s left if anything. 
I know the family member had died but we have never had anything to do with them. This all sounds morally wrong as I write it. 
Essentially can we /should we do this estate checking business ourselves? Or just let Harrison’s do it? 

Thank you for any input. 

Comments

  • Flugelhorn
    Flugelhorn Posts: 7,323 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Doing it yourself really depends on how close you are (relation wise) to the deceased and how many other people are equally eligible to share the inheritance 
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,767 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    Good afternoon. Just a quickish one, if anyone has had this before; I’ve had nothing like this before.

    A relative has died leaving the estate with no one to inherit it. So this company finds these estates and look through family trees, then I presume, take a percentage before dividing what’s left if anything. 
    I know the family member had died but we have never had anything to do with them. This all sounds morally wrong as I write it. 
    Essentially can we /should we do this estate checking business ourselves? Or just let Harrison’s do it? 

    Thank you for any input. 
    Which bit sounds morally wrong?
  • Brie
    Brie Posts: 14,688 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Pollycat said:
    Good afternoon. Just a quickish one, if anyone has had this before; I’ve had nothing like this before.

    A relative has died leaving the estate with no one to inherit it. So this company finds these estates and look through family trees, then I presume, take a percentage before dividing what’s left if anything. 
    I know the family member had died but we have never had anything to do with them. This all sounds morally wrong as I write it. 
    Essentially can we /should we do this estate checking business ourselves? Or just let Harrison’s do it? 

    Thank you for any input. 
    Which bit sounds morally wrong?
    The bolded bit I would think is what they are referring to.   

    And frankly this is the case with so many families for lots of reasons so if I was the OP I wouldn't get too worked up about it.  

    And I suspect that if you had access to ancestry.co.uk or similar you would be able to do the work Harrison's are suggesting, just maybe not as quickly or efficiently.
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  • phoenix99999
    phoenix99999 Posts: 10 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture First Post Combo Breaker
    Thank you for all of the above. The link was very helpful. Looks like it’s going to be a lot of finding death and birth certificates and filling in the family tree. 

    Cheers
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 47,319 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Doing it yourself really depends on how close you are (relation wise) to the deceased and how many other people are equally eligible to share the inheritance 
    And don't underestimate what might be involved: I'm one of 5, I know I have 6 1st cousins but possibly 2 more. Cousins' ages mean some of them have children my age, and grandchildren the ages of my children, and now great-grandchildren. They're not all in the UK. Any heir hunter would earn their fee!

    And a friend was dealing with a nibling's estate, no will. A step sibling has been identified, with a strong possibility of more - now with a solicitor.
    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • phoenix99999
    phoenix99999 Posts: 10 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture First Post Combo Breaker
    We aren’t shutting off the possibility of using them but are enjoying the process. They ask a percentage plus vat and they are also the solicitors, so they can charge whatever they like for the legal side to. 

    At least one of us has apparently already signed their document, what happens if some of us didn’t even get a letter. 
    Does that start a clock ticking? Making it a race to complete all the documentation? 
    Cheers again. 
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