Heir Hunters TV programme

[Spidermonkey]

That is similar to an experience I had Jaywit - as you say within about 15 minutes I had found parents siblings and chased one line forward to a descendant (and found his address and place of work!).

Are these really unsolved cases, or are they teases for the general public?

[Redroger]

Await F&F's response to that.

[LizzieW]

LizzieW - for England & Wales "full blood" relation comes before their "half-blood" equivalent. There's a guide on the Court Service website that explains the rules (they changed in 2009) for England & Wales at:
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/civil/probate/why_will.htm#chart
I'm aware that the rules differ elsewhere in the UK.

As regards the 1970 will - again assuming England & Wales it will cost £5 from the Court Service:
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1176.htm
(After Ancestry added older probate calendars to their website last year the service via post slowed down - it used to be around 2-3 weeks, I don't know if they're back to those levels).

Thank you for the info.

[LizzieW]

Has anyone else noticed that during one of the F&F "stock shots" there's a large bound ledger-type book with the wording "1921 Census" on the spine?  (And I have rewound my Sky+ several times to check this!)

Wonder what that's all about?

I posted a similar query on 10 August on the previous Heir Hunters thread.

I might have been seeing things but on yesterday's programme (which is obviously a repeat, one of the items was doing research to find the heirs to a £250,000 estate and finding out that there literally were no heirs), I thought I saw a file on a shelf marked 1921 census.  Was I seeing things Neil, or do you have access to the 1921 census already?

Nick29 though the book might have contained stats from the census as only personal details are subject to the 100 year rule, or it was a 1921 US census.

Neil Fraser from Fraser and Fraser said that the US census was 1920 and when I queried the book again just replied, without further comment "The book does say 1921 census on it".

I have no idea whether F & F have access to later census, it would certainly seem so as in one of the programmes I recorded last week and watched last night, someone in the office said that from census they had found the siblings of the deceased.  As his/her parents hadn't married until about 1921 I found that telling too.

Lizzie

[LizzieW]

I've just watched part of the relevant prog on iplayer and in the case, the deceased's mother had been married twice.  The first time in 1922 when she had 6 children, the first one born 4 years after the marriage.  These 6 children would be the deceased's half siblings.

Then there was a comment "Using census records, he thinks he may have found a half brother".  This brother was aged 84 so if the programme was made last year, that means the half brother was born in 1926.  So how could he or any of the others be seen on a census

Your guess is as good as mine as to what is going on. 

Lizzie

[Heir Hunters tv]

That is similar to an experience I had Jaywit - as you say within about 15 minutes I had found parents siblings and chased one line forward to a descendant (and found his address and place of work!).

Are these really unsolved cases, or are they teases for the general public?

Hi these are real unsolved cases as advertised by the Treasury Solicitor.

Some may never have been investigated by Heir Hunters because they believe they have little to no value or they may have just been ignored - it is a long list

It is also possible that they have now been solved and are in the process of being approved by the Treasury. All cases were on the unclaimed list at the time of the programme being made.

Hope this helps

[Heir Hunters tv]

One quick query to Neil.  Are the meetings with the heirs reconstructions?  My husband was watching a programme with me last week and commented on the fact that surely the people in the cars can't have a camera crew with them every time they knock on someone's door.

Lizzie

Hi - the meetings with the Heirs are all real - we DO have people in all the cars on Thursdays - If heirs do not want to be on TV we do not film.

We do film the actual moment the Heir Hunters knock on the door - but wait to be invited in.

[Heir Hunters tv]

I've just watched part of the relevant prog on iplayer and in the case, the deceased's mother had been married twice.  The first time in 1922 when she had 6 children, the first one born 4 years after the marriage.  These 6 children would be the deceased's half siblings.

Then there was a comment "Using census records, he thinks he may have found a half brother".  This brother was aged 84 so if the programme was made last year, that means the half brother was born in 1926.  So how could he or any of the others be seen on a census

Your guess is as good as mine as to what is going on. 

Lizzie

they will have been using census records in combination with BDM records - the Heir Hunters have the same Census records as everyone else.

[Spidermonkey]

That is similar to an experience I had Jaywit - as you say within about 15 minutes I had found parents siblings and chased one line forward to a descendant (and found his address and place of work!).

Are these really unsolved cases, or are they teases for the general public?

Hi these are real unsolved cases as advertised by the Treasury Solicitor.

Some may never have been investigated by Heir Hunters because they believe they have little to no value or they may have just been ignored - it is a long list

It is also possible that they have now been solved and are in the process of being approved by the Treasury. All cases were on the unclaimed list at the time of the programme being made.

Hope this helps

Thank you for answering.  I do realise that it is a long list, and firms can't research every case.  However, when they do the voice over bit, it sounds to me as if they are implying that teams have tried to find the heirs but have failed.  Not to worry - a minor thing in an otherwise excellent programme