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Original poster

Have you ever been contacted by an heir hunter?

60 replies

Alldelicious · 25/08/2022 11:04

You have to agree to them having a cut of any inheritance and then they set about proving you are heir to some far distant relative you've never heard of.

A friend has been contacted by two different companies regarding the same "relative". Presumably these companies know there is money to chase?

No one has ever heard of the relative and one sibling has done considerable family tree research without coming across them, but I suppose that's the point, they'll be on a distant branch (if connected at all).

Would you get involved or assume it's a scam? Obviously it's going to mean sharing a lot of personal data.

OP posts:
ItsnotaHenryMoore · 25/08/2022 23:15

The wife of a colleague has just been told that the last of her grandfathers 3 sisters has passed away - she seems to be the sole beneficiary of 3 houses! She didn't know of their existence!

TotallyKerplunked · 26/08/2022 01:21

My DM has been recently contacted, we were a bit surprised as we discovered it was her aunt who we knew and thought she died penniless over 20 years ago.

I researched the company before contacting them and have done all the dealing with them so far. As I've done an extensive family tree I knew more than they did and was able to give them contact details for other beneficiaries. We could do it ourselves but as we think the estate is very little we'll let them crack on.

lemonyellows · 15/04/2023 09:04

@LoveToWearADress @Nagado @PinkArt @Lurleene

Could I ask if any of you have experience of Estate Research? My mum has just received a letter about a relative in USA. The name given is plausible although we don't know them. Just wanted to check before I contact them myself. Website looks ok. They are on Companies House etc.

Thanks

DeadOrchid · 15/04/2023 09:23

Yes we have. Estate was around £300K spilt between several relatives. DH got around £16K. Fees for the HH were significant and came out of the estate.

Lurleene · 15/04/2023 09:46

@lemonyellows Yes that was the company that wrote to me in the first instance. :)

GettingThereCharleyBear · 15/04/2023 09:52

I always find that programme quite sad when the person who died sometimes has incredibly close friends who were loyal to them for years and then because they didn’t write a will all their money goes to family who’ve never heard of them.

So so so important to write a will!

BestIsWest · 15/04/2023 10:04

I was contacted recently by the company featured on the programme because a neighbour has sadly died and appeared on the Bona Vacantia list. I presume they were trying to establish whether there was any reason to research him.
I found it quite sad, he had no family that I know of and the house is empty.

Neverplayleapfrogwithmrpipes · 15/04/2023 10:04

We are in the process of waiting for one of these to go through. I recognised who the man was and he was my MIL's first cousin she hadn't seen since the age of 5.

The house has been empty for a year as we are still waiting for the interstate to go through the courts.
Which is really saddening in a housing crisis!

lemonyellows · 15/04/2023 10:05

Lurleene · 15/04/2023 09:46

@lemonyellows Yes that was the company that wrote to me in the first instance. :)

That's good to hear and that you had a positive experience with them. I think we will probably go with it but I need some clarity on the signed agreement so I'll call the case manager next week!

BestIsWest · 15/04/2023 10:07

DH was contacted recently and ended up with about £300. I think the estate was split between over 50 relatives. Must have taken some doing to untangle. He was quite sad because he never knew the relative in question (a cousin of his grandmother) so we visited his grave and made a donation to charity in his name.

lemonyellows · 15/04/2023 10:09

Do they give an estimate of the total estate upfront? I know it depends on how many people it will be shared with but wondering what they share and how early on

I have been given the name, possible relationship and location where this person lived.

Thursdayafternoon · 15/04/2023 10:10

it happened to an ex colleague, they thought it was a scam, got several hundred thousand £.

BestIsWest · 15/04/2023 10:20

DH wasn’t given an estimate at all, no. We had already done the family tree as I love genealogy so we could work out for ourselves roughly how many people would benefit (lots) so we knew it wouldn’t be much. They did tell him it wouldn’t be a huge amount.
What was nice is that they gave him a copy of the family tree when they finished so we could fill in gaps in ours.

MaJolie · 15/04/2023 10:21

No. Literally no one in any branch of my family has ever had two pence to rib together.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 15/04/2023 10:29

Having watched Heir Hunters many times, I wouldn’t assume it’s a scam. It happened quite often that the beneficiaries weren’t even aware of the relative, or had completely lost touch decades previously.

You do wonder why on earth people (at least if they’re elderly) don’t make wills, though! I particularly remember one case where next door neighbours of over 20 years, who’d been very friendly with the person and had helped them no end as they became more frail, got nothing, while it all went to relatives who’d never even heard of him.

Moveoverdarlin · 15/04/2023 10:34

It’s extremely plausible. My DM is executor on a distant relatives will. It’s going through at the moment and there are about 8 beneficiaries all we think have died. So it goes to their next of kin, who are also going to be about 70 / 80 ish. If some of them have also died then it goes to their children. They will have no idea who the lady that died was. The amount is substantial, about 40k. They’re going to get a call out the blue in the next six months. Sure it’ll be a lovely surprise.

Rubyupbeat · 15/04/2023 10:56

I remember seeing a Heir hunters programme and there was a man who died, who lived in a tiny village, no relatives, lots of caring friends, his estate came to over a million, no will, the government got it all, arghhhh. He was all set for a paupers funeral (or whatever the correct term is nowadays) but the villagers all chipped in for a good send off.

TheFormidableMrsC · 15/04/2023 11:03

Moveoverdarlin · 15/04/2023 10:34

It’s extremely plausible. My DM is executor on a distant relatives will. It’s going through at the moment and there are about 8 beneficiaries all we think have died. So it goes to their next of kin, who are also going to be about 70 / 80 ish. If some of them have also died then it goes to their children. They will have no idea who the lady that died was. The amount is substantial, about 40k. They’re going to get a call out the blue in the next six months. Sure it’ll be a lovely surprise.

This happened to me with a very distant relative in Ireland. We got £50 each. I was very touched and spent it on something for the house in order the remember this chap that I never knew!

Mardiarse · 15/04/2023 13:24

Yes my mum got a share of an inheritance this way.
I would check out the company and don’t pay anything upfront, but it’s a legitimate business.

AutumnCrow · 15/04/2023 13:31

My friend received one of these letters. He did a fair bit of legwork for the company, detailing other relatives and tracing addresses (very fractured, complicated family full of half siblings and multiple surnames), and at the end of it was given the grand sum of four hundred quid!

He could have made more money doing some overtime Grin but he thought it was quite interesting.

justanotherdrama · 15/04/2023 14:40

I wish!!!!
Love the programme tho and the stories it's so interesting

FannythePinkFlamingo · 15/04/2023 14:56

Yes about 20 years ago. The estate was worth about £250k and I got £1500. There were about 50 relatives who got a share. I was way down as the person who died was a cousin of my grandmother.

titchy · 15/04/2023 15:26

I was many years ago. Estate was bankrupt it turned out so no money to inherit, but dm was given contact details of some long lost cousins that she is now in touch with so ended well.

OrangeBananaFish · 15/04/2023 16:00

Do they tell you straight away that they are heir hunters? Or just say we are trying to find you?

Once I got a letter saying that someone was looking for me and they couldn't give me any more information. The letter was sent to my parents address in my maiden name (I had been married over 15 years by this point) and they wouldn't tell me why on my gmail that I set up specifically to contact them.

GettingStuffed · 15/04/2023 16:27

I got about £80