Inheritance out of the blue

Mine was made much more interesting by the fact that the cousin of my grandmother (who we'd never heard of) turned out to be an Olympic sprinter in her youth and then stabbed her husband to death in their bedroom. The value to my family tree was much more value than the cash. My cousins were expecting untold millions and were a bit disappointed though 😁

I’d avoid using them. I was in the same position late last year and also they work with solicitors and if solicitor does a shoddy job, the solicitor technically answers to the company and not you. I had a really poor experience of both the solictor and heir hunter company.

If someone dies with no identifiable next of kin, councils are responsible for a cremation etc… and a central list of of unclaimed estates can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/unclaimed-estates-list#the-list .

I live abroad probate would have been a nightmare to deal with. However, if I were in the UK I would simply scan the unclaimed estates and take the paperwork up from there once I’d been notified someone had died.

If using the company who contacted you, please be aware that other companies may also contact you, do not accept the percentage fee they offer, shop around. Also ensure they and the solictor tell you the fee structure the solictor uses, do they take a fee and a percentage on top of the company that contacted you? Fees, percentages are negotiable.

I believe filling in probate forms is fairly straightforward once you have the death certificate.

So sorry for the news it’s always upsetting, but shop around, and use the government resources that are freely available to you. I am sure others will be able to give more advice about the probate paperwork itself.

💐

I'm not sure if this will be useful or not so apologies if not!

MIL was contacted in a similar way, it was a distant relative (2nd cousin I think) we were a bit sceptical of scammers but it was legit, she looked into whether she could claim the estate without going thru the company, but it was very tricky to find out details of solicitors etc and the funeral had already taken place so it was difficult to know who to contact. It seemed as though if it had reached the point where inheritance hunters had been involved it was too late for someone else to intervene iyswim, but perhaps that was just MIL's perception?

Anyway in the end the company traced around 10 relatives and MiL received about £400 so maybe it would be worth the hassle if you know it's likely to be a large sum and/or if there aren't any other relations who will be sharing the inheritance? Good luck!

I agree with @UpaladderwatchingTV especillay with this part

and even if you only get £100, at the end of the day, you wouldn't have even got that, had they not sought you out.

I can think of much better ways to spend the hours, weeks and potentially months of time you would need to invest in tracing family members. Not to mention the mountains of paperwork you might need to complete before being able to access the money. Just go with the company, and enjoy the unexpected money.

Yes, it was a huge amount of work for the 'heir hunters' and they had to deal with a lot of nutty relatives too. I think it was my DP's great uncle? Something like that.

He paid for a car repair out of his 'loot'. Bonus.

I had this. My family members and I signed up and the company made 10%. They don't know value of the estate until they apply with your permission. but it is at least 500 quid to get listed in the first place. My share turned out to be £80 but a 2nd cousin got about 1500.

I agree with @UpaladderwatchingTV
Watch a few episodes of Heir hunters and see. They do put a lot of work in.

As you weren't expecting it in the first place, and it's obviously not someone you knew, or have had contact with in recent history, then I would just sign up and get the company to do the work, otherwise, it will fall to you to find any other remaining relatives in order to ensure that the estate is split between all the people who may be eligible to claim. These companies don't even tend to take up the job unless there's a reasonable sum involved, and even if you only get £100, at the end of the day, you wouldn't have even got that, had they not sought you out.

Have a look at the contract that the company are offering. How much money is involved, and what percentage are the company hoping to take? If it's only a small amount that you might inherit, it might not be worth the hassle.

I’m assuming it’s someone like Heir Hunters?
I would ask them approx how much is the estate in total, how many beneficiaries do they think there are, and what their fee is.

Have you checked the relative? Is it someone you knew of?

Is it a solicitor that has written to you?

My DP had one of these contacts. I think he ended up with about £200 after 6 months, and one of his siblings fell out with him, which was nice.