Finding living relatives

[maffie]

Wonder if some people can help shed some light.

The deceased : George Edward Starley b24.April 1911

We believe his mother to be Ann Starley b1886

My dad and 2 of his cousins have received a letter from a company in Bridgewater, England claiming to have the estate of the above mentioned George.  The 3 cousins are related to George as 1st cousins once removed.

My question is :- How did this company find them ?  No one has Starley as a surname and without intimate knowledge of our tree, can't really see how they made the connection.  We don't think it's a scam, but just curious to know.


Many Thanks
Matthew Leslie Starley Wright

[patrish]

If its of any help the same thing happend to my husband a few years back, these are Probate Research Companies that trace relatives of the deceased and distribute the estate.

They normally charge a fee for this, thats how they make thier living.

We decided it was worth it as we would never have found out about it ourselves as we did not know of this realtives existance.


Patrish.

[casalguidi]

It's quite easy to trace people - they just use the same methods as us ie. trace George's birth, look for any siblings (and their families) and if there are none then go back a generation hence the cousins if all aunts and uncles are deceased.  These companies (assuming that they are legit - have you looked them up?) are usually very thorough - they have to be.

Casalguidi

[KathMc]

Did someone else hire them or are they expecting you to pay them? Be sure to research them thoroughly before you send any money.

And please keep us posted.

Kath

[patrish]

In our case ,

they are companies which approach you, they are not hired, its what they do for a living, they normally charge a percentage, which I assume varies from company to company.

We were never asked to pay any money up front, only if they were sucessful in proving that we were entitled to the money.

Ours was done through  a solictior.

[suey]

There was a short series of programmes on BBC a while ago about such companies.

Anyone reputable won't ask you for money, they take a percentage of the estate.

I was amazed, one company featured (I beleive it was Fraser & Fraser) seemed to have all GRO records at their finger tips!

Here's a link to their website which might explain things better
www.fraserandfraser.com/uk/heirs/probate_research.html

Suey

[madpants]

I LOVED heir hunters

they all use a website of unclaimed estates that the government publishes every thursday.

I like to have the odd look just in case 

http://www.bonavacantia.gov.uk/forms/estate_search.asp

[patrish]

Anyone reputable won't ask you for money, they take a percentage of the estate.

Thats exactly what I was explaining happend in our case  which was" bona fida "   

Thanks for link Suey   

We might get lucky and find another one eh 

[KathMc]

That's all fascinating. I have heard of some scans here (in the US) where they just take money and disappear. It makes one become jaded very quickly, to hear these stories. Is it usually money or items? How wonderful would it be to out of the blue inherit photo albums, family documents, etc. I am excited to hear of the outcome on this one Matthew. Please keep us posted.

Kath