Could Heir Hunters Be Coming Your Way By Michael Challiner At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

If someone dies without leaving a will, there's a certain way which their estate is handled, according to the laws of intestacy. In most cases it's a long drawn out process but something that has to be done. The fact is that, although the people nearest to them, but not related, may not get anything at all (even if the deceased person would have wished them to benefit) there are enough close relatives to be able to sort out the distribution of the estate. We stress though, that this may not have fitted in with the deceased persons wishes.

Where there are no relatives to be found, the estate may come to the attention of a solicitor who is in charge of the estate of the deceased or from a firm of heir hunters. Heir hunters make every effort to track down family members and work on a commission basis if they are successful.

Some 300,000 estates produce around 85 million pounds to be shared out in this way, where there is no will and no apparent heirs. Heir Hunters is a general name for professional probate genealogists - although somewhat easier to get your tongue round - who make a living by finding surviving relatives of the deceased persons family and signing them up to act for them in making the claim.

A representative of one of the larger firms of heir hunters tells us that a lot of his firms work comes via solicitors who are making attempts to track down surviving next of kin in order to distribute the estate. Other work comes from going out looking for it by trawling through weekly lists of people who have died under the conditions of no will and no known next of kin. There is a special unit known as Bona Vacantia, the legal name for ownerless property which passes to the Crown.

Heir hunting firms employ a variety of staff including former police officers and their combined skills and knowledge can save solicitors from spending many very expensive hours in trying to trace individual. They choose cases where it appears that the estate may be worth significant amounts and then go hunting for surviving relatives. There is a lot of research at this early stage, as the Crown no longer publishes the value of the estate in their lists.

There's a strictly adhered to order of relatives when it comes to who inherits. The surviving spouse or legal partner comes first, then any children, or their children if they are deceased. After this come surviving parents, siblings, half-brothers, grandparents, aunts and uncles and finally, if the trail is exhausted, everything goes to the Crown.

Although the amount which individuals receive may not be life-changing for many people being able to trace their relatives back is invaluable. There are cases where family may have been living in the same town and were unaware of each others existence. Your whole estate could be handed down to the children of an estranged blood relative or even go to the State.

It's a simple enough matter to make a will. You can even make your own, although I don't think we'd ever recommend that. There are will-writers who will be happy to give you help in writing your will and if there are any complications, they'll get exactly the right sort of help from a solicitor who deals in that particular aspect of your estate.

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