Inheritance scam?

[Womanborn]

My 88 year old British Mil, who is a long time resident of the US, was contacted after the death of her first cousin in England, as she is the closest living relative. The cousin had been Mil's maid of honor 70 years ago in London. They were close, but had lost contact after Mil moved to the US.
A man claiming to have lived with the cousin for 60 years wants all of the estate and is willing to give Mil "a gift". There is no will.
His lawyer states that he didn't know she had a family and never met any of them.
After 60 years, with family close by, and Mil's photos of her as maid of honor, it seems unlikely that the cousin shared nothing of her past. Am I being unreasonable to be suspicious of this man's purported connection to the cousin? Could he have read the obituaries, randomly selected a deceased, single elderly woman and hired an attorney to get the estate?
Any thoughts appreciated.
PS Happy Independence Day to us Yanks!

If she is the proper beneficiary then you can contact the probate office directly. The non-related bloke can have ‘a gift’ from the estate if your MIL chooses.

https://www.gov.uk/unclaimed-estates-bona-vacantia

Mil needs to communicate with Cousin’s solicitor. It would appear that Mil is heir to cousin’s assets.

If there isn't a will, then there are rules as to whom can have the estate - and it won't be some random man claiming to live with her.

The best thing she can do is find out if this person has died, then contact a solicitor in the uk or a reputable company probate hunters.

https://www.gov.uk/unclaimed-estates-bona-vacantia

If there is no will, then it goes to the next of kin. Which may well be your MIL. I'm not sure that this random bloke has a right to anything!

@Froniga

if the person didn't have a will, why would the person have been likely to have a solicitor?

Surely if he was her partner they'd have some photos together?

@Womanborn contact a solicitor in the area in which she died! at the very least they should be able to verify if mil is to inherit anything

Ignore the bloke. Go through channels to verify the death of the cousin and go from there.

I mean if there was no will and no relatives, he wouldn't have got anything anyway. It would have gone to the state unless he managed to challenge it claiming to be a dependent or something.

YANBU it is a scam.

If there is no will, then the estate is distributed according to what are called the rules of intestacy. This is a legal requirement. It doesn't matter what this person wants, even if he was her partner, the rules must be followed.

The inheritance won't be released to him if he isn't related and isn't named in a will.
It would end up with the heir hunters searching for relatives.
Tell her not to sign anything he sends her.

Tell her not to sign anything he sends her

Or better yet, tell her to throw away anything he sends her and have nothing to do with him at all.

Thank you all for your advice and comments.
DH and I find them very concise and pertinent.
It helps to have one's instinct affirmed.