General Chat

Thanks
Maryanna,

My Husband spoke to the firm he is most likely to go with and they are charging 5% plus vat.
He spoke to them by phone and asked about photo's etc and they have made a note of his interest for the administrator.

We were so sad to hear of this persons death as we would like to have met him and his Mum. The firm is also going to find out where he is buried or his ashes were scattered so that we can pay our respects.

Thanks again for the very useful input

Blue1

I was contacted by two companies,the big one shown on TV and a smaller one. They had both found me through my GR tree.

The deceased was a cousin of one of my grand parents, I had their parents on my tree but not them.

I went with the smaller firm as they didn't charge VAT,but it seems that they passed most of the work over to the larger company as they didn't seem to obtain any certificates. They took 15% of my inheritance as payment.

With hindsight, I could probably have done it myself as I have all the relevant certificates apart from the deceased.

It took just over a year from start to finish, I was given a very basic tree at the end, nothing I didn't already know. As well as t a list of the other heirs names and how much they were entitled to.

I have no idea who dealt with the property or what happened to the contents, so no chance to look at old family photos and such like, presuming there were some, it would have been a fantastic opportunity to glean further family information.

There were around twenty heirs altogether, we all got quite a decent sum of money, one person more than the rest of us as they were of the deceased's generation.

M.

Thanks for answering my post.

My oh has not yet signed up with any one,so will definitely try for a better deal.
Would be great to get back in contact with his family members who he hasn't seen for years, were talking about trying to arrange a memoriàl service,so would be nice to include all of the heirs
Wish we could do it ourselves but we don't feel confident. If I had been contacted however I think I would have given it a go.

Thank you again
Blue1


:-)

If you know who the deceased is, you should be able to find out who is dealing with the estate and deal with them directly. Heir hunters typically take one third of your entitlement.

I was contacted by 'heir hunters' some 8 years ago about a great uncle ( that i never knew about) that had died. It is a long story but the outcome was that I received quite a lump sum from them even after they took their fees and also they got me back in touch with my sister who I had not seen or heard from in 52 years and who lived in south africa.The outcome of that was that with the money I received I was able to go out there and meet up with her and her family who I knew nothing about until then. Hope your outcome is as good. best of luck. xx <3 <3 <3

Unless you've signed up already, see if you can negotiate a reduction in the fees.If several firms have contacted you, it must have been fairly easy.

My in-laws were benificiaries to a distant cousin. They were given a copy of the FH focusing on their side. There must have been about 15 heirs on that. Goodness knows how many on the other! Although they never told us the exact amount they were given, it equalled a good meal out.

Thanks so much for the reply.

Thanks
My husband has also been contacted by a couple of firms.

We have no experience with this sort of thing, so your input has been very helpful.

We didn't know the deceased although we knew about him. So maybe after all the commissions and fees we maybe will be able to toast the deceased with a pkt of crisps and a pint

Thanks again
Blue1

My husband was contacted a few years ago by one of the main London firms re the estate of a cousin of his late mother. He was able to provide a detailed tree of the relevant branch of his family as well as addresses for many of the potential beneficiaries. As a result of his help the company did not take a percentage of his share of the estate.

All the legal requirements were carried out by a firm of solicitors appointed by the heir hunters. The whole thing took several months to complete.

At the end my husband received a copy of the whole tree compiled by the heir hunters and, as far as I remember, copies of bmd certificates.

It was a very interesting experience even if the proceeds turned out not to be life-changing!

Hi
has anybody had any experience with these firms please.

Blue1 :-S :-S