A Lost Legacy

Dr Richard Soulsby, CEO of the Katharine House Hospice, explains the fundamentals of palliative care.

David de Menezes, of probate specialists Title Research, highlights the growing concerns over excessive fees charged by ‘heir hunters’, and provides advice on how to ensure you receive your full entitlement.

So-called ‘heir hunter’ firms are snatching millions of pounds out of British inheritance pots each year, through an unfair and exorbitant charging method that sees relatives sign away around 20% of their entitlement - just for having it found for them. These fees can rise to as much as 40% of the inheritance. Informed estimates from within the heir hunter industry estimate that the firms concerned have raked in as much as £100 million in percentage fees over the last ten years.

In many cases, heir hunters (or probate genealogists) work with solicitors or executors to track down all beneficiaries to an estate, before it is then lawfully distributed. However there is another side to the industry, in which many probate genealogists also research unclaimed, intestate estates advertised by the Treasury Solicitor, a Government department. They then compete in a race against time to piece together a family tree, find the relatives who are in line for the inheritance and reach them first, securing themselves up to 40% of the money in the process. You can see them in action on daytime TV.

Richard Grosberg, a partner at Nelsons Solicitors in Nottingham, explains that beneficiaries are taken advantage of because they believe the only way to get their share is to sign away a large proportion of their inheritance. ‘In fact they are entitled by law to receive their entitlement,’ he says. ‘Sadly, it seems to be common practice for these heir hunter firms to charge high percentage fees.’ But there is an alternative. ‘As with other probate fees, heir locators should charge a fixed fee, or a time based fee, which fairly reflects the amount of work involved, and not an arbitrary and excessive percentage of someone’s entitlement.’

Title Research, which does charge time based fees, is campaigning for better regulation to protect consumers, and believes the working practices of the Treasury Solicitor need to be modernised. Julia Szczepanski, General Manager at Title Research explains: ‘Beneficiaries should have an independent body to which they can take complaints if they feel they have been overcharged or treated unfairly by heir locators, in the same way they do for other financial complaints.’

Contrary to popular belief, the Treasury is not able to ‘grab’ unclaimed estates and estates will only pass to the Government if they remain unclaimed for up to 30 years. As Julia puts it, ‘If the Government is dealing with an unclaimed estate, it needs to make greater efforts to locate beneficiaries. Their existing practices allow heir hunters to trace beneficiaries first, and charge percentage fees which can verge in the ridiculous.’

How to get a fair deal:

What should you do if you approached by an heir locator and they ask you to sign-up to a percentage fee of your entitlement? Title Research offer the following advice.

1.   Ask for the name of the deceased and your relationship to them.

2.  Ask for contact details of the executor or administrator.

3.   Ask if a solicitor has been appointed to handle the estate and ask for their contact details.

4.  Ask for the value of the estate and the number of beneficiaries. This will help you to understand what your share in the estate will be.

5.   Ask exactly how much the percentage fee equates to in pounds, otherwise you are being asked to sign away a percentage of an unknown amount.

6.  Ask how much time in hours the heir locator has spent on finding you including their published hourly rates for their work so you can assess if their charge is reasonable.

7. Contact the Government’s Treasury Solicitor (www.bonavacantia.gov.uk) to find out if the estate was advertised by them as unclaimed. They can tell you the Administrator of the estate if they are no-longer dealing with it.

8. If the heir locator does not provide you with this information, you should seek legal advice. The agreement may be unlawful if you have not been provided with this information, as the heir locator cannot withhold key information to secure your signature.
 
9.  Concerns about overcharging and unfair trading can be reported to your local trading standards authority. Don’t feel under any time pressure to sign an agreement. There is no risk of you not receiving your share. Estates only pass to the Government if they remain unclaimed for up to 30 years. You are entitled to receive your share under the Administration of Estates Act 1925, which sets outs the rules of intestacy.