Inheritance out of the blue

[UmbrellaEllaEllaAyAy]

Unexpectedly, we have been contacted by a company informing us of a family member that passed without a next in kin and there is an estate to be passed down. I have no experience at all and no idea where to start, if we chose to go with the company they will take a fee once the estate is released. What happens if we do not go with said company, how do we access the estate? I understand once the estate is settled, funds will be held in trust for anyone in the line to inherit.

Since we have no experience of probate and inheritance ….

AIBU to pay the fees and let company handle it all

or

YANBU to do the leg work yourself, unnecessary to pay the fees as the funds will eventually end up where they should be anyway?

Any advice would be much appreciated if you have been in this position

I'm a professional heir hunter. We have no way of knowing the size of the estate until the assets are ingathered so it simply isn't possible to trick people by saying it's a small estate. But it is extremely important to manage expectations as lots of people think they're getting a huge windfall when in fact they're sharing fifty k with forty cousins. And you're unlikely to see a penny within two years.

https://www.theprobateservice.org/interstacy-rules-flowchart/

if the deceased has no children it goes to their siblings, if not grandparents, then aunts/uncles, then cousins etc.

Depends I guess on how distant the relative is. Remember the more distant the relative the more likely there will be significant numbers of people to inherit.

Heir hunters do tend to take a significant percentage.

I would do a bit of a trawl first to try to find out who the relative actually was. There are ways of doing this. You can check unclaimed estates for example.

If you cannot find the relative within a few weeks maybe it is worth going back to the heir hunters.

As was explained up thread, it’s not just about explaining your link to the deceased is it? It’s about identifying ALL the heirs to the correct legal standard of proof.

What happened OP? Did you get some money, or is it still ongoing?

Why would you need to do that ? It is your claim that is the key one. Not everyone elses.

Lets say heir hunters take 50% of the estate and the estate is £1 million.

Alternatively you can find out who died and then approach solicitors privately to act on your behalf, or engage people to do the work on your behalf a lot cheaper than the 50% of your share the heir hunters will charge.

Most of their charges are opportunistic based on retention of information.I would want some evidence that their services are worth the money/return they are getting before signing up to them. Sure they may be doing a lot of work for little return. Or they may be doing next to nothing for a jackpot.

Because it’s about making sure everyone gets the right amount of money. If you’ve missed a cousin off a child from a first marriage, the money is paid out and this person later appears with a claim, you are the one who pays them. Unless you have indemnity insurance. People seem to think that all these firms do is sit on ancestry clicking a few records and that’s it.

No firm charges 50%. We used to charge 30% before the Internet exploded, these days 20% will usually be the maximum, then downwards depending of closeness of kin eg we won't take 20% of your estranged brothers estate, but we will aim for that if you're a cousin or descended from a cousin. We're an extremely competitive industry and can't just make up fees as we go along. We wouldn't survive.

The insurance may well be cheaper than the commission.

And yes. It can just be a few clicks on the internet. Like most things it's knowing where to click is the key.

Signing away something before you know how big that something is going to be and before you have attempted to make investigations yourself is stupid IMO.

These people withhold information and use it to justify payment. I wouldn't mind paying someone a reasonable fee for their time and services (daily rate). What I do mind is paying a huge lump of cash out when I have no idea how much work they have put in for it and have not even made cursory investigations myself.

It turned out, Family Wise (the heir hunter company) found a valid will in the end. They were pretty unpleasant after signing up with them to be honest

Did you actually end up with any money after you paid them? I'm always suspicious these firms are like no win no fee solicitors and leave you with nothing at the end.

Assuming your late GP and their siblings were the deceased's nearest living relatives then the inheritance will be split 3 ways between them, as if your GP was still alive. Then your GP's third share will be split between their children, and likewise if any of their children has already died then the grandchildren split their deceased parent's share.

So yes either you or your parent probably are entitled to a share of the estate. You don't lose out because your GP died before their siblings.

Yes - my family did - not huge amounts, but the company took 10% - there was a statement clearly showing who got how much.

@MorrisZapp Hi do you mind if I ask a question? I can pm if you’d prefer or ask here if op/nobody minds? Thanks