Heir Hunters List of Unclaimed Estates

Heir Hunters List of Unclaimed Estates

 

What to do if an Heir Hunter Contacts You

A phone call comes out of the blue and someone introduces themselves claiming to be representing an heir hunting company. They say you might be entitled to a share in an unclaimed estate. And yet you do not know the person they say you’re related to… what now?

It does happen. In our experience, we have been in contact with people about cases on our heir hunters list of unclaimed estates. We can prove their relationship to someone who has died intestate, i.e. without leaving a will. On many occasions, the person can’t recall the relative they are set to inherit from.

Here is What to do If an Heir Hunter Contacts You

The story often sounds too good to be true, and you believe it may be some kind of con. We don’t blame people for being wary of such calls and not believing the news. But it can and does happen.

Here is some advice from us on what to do if you are suddenly contacted by an Heir Hunter.

• Ask for details of their website and ask to call them back. Ideally, they will give you an office number you can then verify.

• Check their website. We all know it is easy enough to set up a fake website—one that looks professional enough to pass muster for the real thing. But what you are looking for is credentials; testimonies not only from members of the public but law firms or public sector bodies that have used the services of the firm.

• Additional things to look for are qualifications. Is the firm regulated by the International Association of Professional Probate Researchers, for example? This association is for highly-experienced, professional companies and those who belong to it are committed to safe and ethical standards.

• Another good place to check is how many members of the Association of Professional Genealogists the Heir Hunter firm has. The APG is a globally-recognised association for genealogists and it promotes high ethical standards.

• You might also want to check with other relatives. They could have been contacted by the same firm going through the heir hunters list of unclaimed estates, or another firm. Your other relatives might also know about the relative you share. People often keep in touch with different branches of their families.

• Ask them to explain the heir hunter firm to explain their processes and fee structure. A responsible firm will have nothing to hide and in most cases, the firm can’t be paid until you receive your share of the estate.

• We know it can be bewildering to discover you had a relative on an heir hunters list of Unclaimed Estates, but it does happen more often than you think. Check carefully before you hand over any information and you could find yourself the heir to an unexpected and very welcome sum of money!

If you have any other questions following sudden contact from an Heir Hunter, contact a member of our team who will be happy to assess your case and put your mind at rest.