Heir Hunters Q - Genealogists' Forum

Merry · #1 19-02-14, 16:53

What happens when they dish out large sums to "the only heir", but I can see another person they haven't investigated?

JBee · #2 19-02-14, 17:17

They take out insurance to cover in case someone else turns up with legitimate claim.

Merry · #3 19-02-14, 17:45

This woman was really sad that she had thought she was the only person left in her family, then the heir hunters come along and tell her of a first cousin who she never knew, but of course he's dead. She said she would have loved to have known of another living relative. This program was made in 2008 so they didn't have access to the 1911 census, so the heir hunters didn't know the lady's mother had one further sibling than the ones they had looked at. I don't know if this other sibling married/had children as the name is too common without getting certs etc, but I feel sorry the beneficiary probably won't ever get the chance to find any other close relations as the heir hunters wrongly told her there was no one else out there.

Merry · #4 19-02-14, 17:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBee

They take out insurance to cover in case someone else turns up with legitimate claim.

I've just realised she turned down the heir hunters deal and made the claim on the estate herself. Could she also take out a similar insurance? I wonder if she did????

Margaret in Burton · #5 19-02-14, 17:59

I've been watching this older series too Merry. CBS Reality. I've seen none of them.

In answer to your question then I suppose that if the person that should have been found realises then they could claim against the sole benificiary. Hope she hasn't spent it.

Merry · #6 19-02-14, 18:30

Quote:

Hope she hasn't spent it.

Exactly! This lady got 200K, so if her other aunt had descendants they would claim 100K from her! Maybe she wouldn't be so keen to discover further relations under those circumstances.??!

I'd never watched the program before a couple of weeks ago and now I'm hooked. I'm amazed at how unprofessional some of the heir hunters come across!!

Olde Crone · #7 19-02-14, 19:24

Even though the programme was made in 2008, professional heir hunters could make a search of the 1911 census, well, not a search, but they could identify an address and look at that.

I'm not sure, but I think if you do the claim yourself, the Treasury advises you to take out an insurance but they cannot force you to - and it's your loss if you don't.

OC

Merry · #8 19-02-14, 19:39

They wouldn't have got far searching an address in 1911 as the family were travelling showmen!

Olde Crone · #9 19-02-14, 21:10

LOL!

Actually, thinking about it, it is the Treasury which examines the claim and passes it, so it ought to be the Treasury which insures against an unknown claimant coming forth!

OC

Margaret in Burton · #10 20-02-14, 08:00

They have stressed in this series that the 1901 census is the latest one they could look at.

I'm amazed at how many I haven't seen. I found out it was on by accident when channel hopping. That was about 3 weeks ago. The first ones I saw had Nadia Sawhala as the presenter. They were from 2005 or 2006. They had the amount the estate was worth on the Bona Vacantia.