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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Notaclue on Saturday 21 May 11 13:36 BST (UK)
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Hi to all! My first post here (so please be gentle!) :)
I found this forum whilst trawling through search engines, trying to answer a related question I have. Hopefully someone here could easily tell me the answer? I did try the Search feature, but couldn't find the answer.
The question is: What are the minimum steps required to find out (or get some idea of) the value of an estate from an intestate death that's featured on the BV list?
I should perhaps tell you some background to my question...
I was recently contacted by an heir hunter, telling me I had a relative who's died intestate and that I could possibly be a beneficiary. No name, no value, only that if I sign the contract I will find this out. I do know that my siblings are also potential beneficiaries, as he told me that much.
Since this revelation, my sister and I have done some research of our own (sister would also be entitled, and is no newcomer to genealogy).
We've now discovered who it is (she died many years ago, yet only v recently appeared on the BV list), and how we're connected. A claim has been registered with the Treasury, as per their Bona Vacantia website instructions, and we're still waiting for info to come back from them. Spoken with them also, but can't get any crisp answers. It seems they're in no great rush to track down or confirm heirs, nor answer all the key questions.
We're assuming (or hoping) that once the TO have confirmed entitlement, they'll then divulge the estate value, or a rough idea at least (???). Or, must we ultimately obtain Letters of Administration before the value can be known? It seems like such a simple question, but so far we've drawn a blank on finding the answer. Would rather not fork out £100+ for a grant, only to then find out the estate is hardly worth pursuing after all (which is highly possible)..
We'd be most grateful for any help & advice.
Thanks in advance. :)
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Are you ABSOLUTELY SURE that this person is related to you.
Sounds suspiciously like a scam, especially if you can get no information from the BV people.
What is the BV list anyway? Here in the 'antipodes' we don't have a BV (but undoubtedly have an equivalent like the Public Trustee).
If the BV is an government dept, or even a quango, they would be looking for you themselves wouldn't they?
Dawn M
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An addendum:
On no account give this 'heir hunter' access to your bank account details, or you might find you suddenly have an empty bank account.
Dawn M
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Thanks for responding Dawn. Yes, absolutely certain the deceased is related, and how, and which other relatives are entitled (as per the order of intestacy). Thankfully, the genealogy aspect has been (fairly) easy to determine, helped by the surname being unique. Glad it's not Smith! ;)
Apologies for saying BV, that should be Bona Vacantia (ownerless goods). That's the name of the list that's published regularly here in the UK on the Treasury Office website, briefly detailing all outstanding intestacies.
Please be assured we won't be rushing into any agreements with anyone before we've established the ins & outs of it.
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To add to that... the HH rang my parents, telling them he was trying to track us down, and gave them his number. I then rang him, which wasn't very revealing as it turned out.
I do have his address also, though I realise that alone is no reason for trusting it's not a scam.
At the moment my greater concern is the question I posted.
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You might want to try posting in this thread. Its about the Heir Hunters tv prog.
Some knowledgeable people on there and Neil Fraser from"Fraser & Fraser"
sometimes posts there.
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Forgot the link
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,522458.0.html
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I may be wrong but I think the Bona Vacantia only lists estates of £5000 and above.
Perhaps someone can confirm this.
Cathy
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I thought that, but looking at this it looks as if it could be as low as £500.
http://www.bonavacantia.gov.uk/output/estates-list.aspx
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Sit tight and so nothing is my advice.
If you have registered your claim with the Treasury Solicitor they will not release any information until such time as they decide who is going to get admininstration of the estate. At that time they will tell you who that is and the projected value of the estate.
....... or at least that is my understanding of how it works.
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Sit tight and so nothing is my advice.
If you have registered your claim with the Treasury Solicitor they will not release any information until such time as they decide who is going to get admininstration of the estate. At that time they will tell you who that is and the projected value of the estate.
....... or at least that is my understanding of how it works.
If they do tell us even a projected value, that would be great. I doubt the precise value would normally be known ahead of the administration being done, since full valuation is all part of that process from what I can gather.
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Hi,
I used to know a chap who worked for an heir hunter. Lost contact now so can not ask him. However, I recall he said that it is easy to claim. Just contact the Treasury informing them you wish to claim on the estate of xyz. They understand not all are in to family history. Any documentation, proof etc will then be requested.
DO NOT sign with these companies, what they do not tell on TV is they claim 60% of your payout!!!
At least that was 6 years ago when he worked for them.
Geoff
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If both your parents are still alive, then one of them is the beneficiary not you.
Dawn
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Sorry should have said.
These companies work on a percentage. Hence they look for what they feel is a "high value estate". They do not know the value either, but look at the person's background etc. and decide which to persue.
The fact they have contacted you points to a "high value estate" in their opinion. Assuming it is not a scam.
Good Luck
Geoff
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If both your parents are still alive, then one of them is the beneficiary not you.
Dawn
Oops, sorry Dawn, I can see my comment about my 'parents' could confuse things here. To clarify, that's my Dad and step mother. Our own mother has been dead for several years, and our inheritance is via links through her, her being a close blood relative to the person whose estate has been left.
More precisely then, the HH contacted my father only in order to locate me, as we share the same surname. I'm ex-directory but he's not, so would be easier to track down I'd think.
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Hi,
I used to know a chap who worked for an heir hunter. Lost contact now so can not ask him. However, I recall he said that it is easy to claim. Just contact the Treasury informing them you wish to claim on the estate of xyz. They understand not all are in to family history. Any documentation, proof etc will then be requested.
DO NOT sign with these companies, what they do not tell on TV is they claim 60% of your payout!!!
At least that was 6 years ago when he worked for them.
Geoff
Yes, we already did register a claim with them thanks Geoff (mentioned in my OP) and we've spoken with them. But scant info to show from that so far. Apparently they're now "waiting for the file to come up from downstairs" before they can tell us anything at all.
It's been more than a week so far. Trouble is, we're now finding it hard to wait & see what the situation is - pure impatience of course!
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And although the television programs make it look easy and quick, you may have to wait quite a while for all the missing entitled heirs to be located and contacted and then for your application to be processed.
Don't go out and order that brand new Ferrari just yet ;D
Dawn