Any legal bods please?

[rolex]

My elderly father has received mail from a company called "Finders" who are a firm of international probate genealogists. Below is a copy of the first paragraph.

Re INHERITANCE
We are a firm of genealogists specialising in tracing missing heirs.
It appears from our research that you would stand to benefit from an
estate on which we are currently working.

Initially thought it was a scam, but their website looks genuine
http://www.findersuk.com/ and no scam warnings against their name on
internet.

Could anyone vouch for their athenticity please? They obviously want a fee
They quote 25% of the value of the estate but require no advance payments

[OllieWinchester]

I'm sure I've heard of them before, legit as far as I know. Call them....

[paoloh]

If they want no upfront fees, it sounds legit. Just get payment handled by a solicitor to cover yourself.

[Fatboy]

If they are asking for no money up front whatsoever, I'd be inclined to think they are genuine - google certainly turns up lots of references to them.

You've nothing to lose by calling them, just be careful about handing out non publically available information - as long as they are genuine they will have no problems proving their ststus etc.

[Muntu]

Almost sounds too good to be true...

[jbswagger]

rolex said:

My elderly father has received mail from a company called "Finders" who are a firm of international probate genealogists. Below is a copy of the first paragraph.

Re INHERITANCE
We are a firm of genealogists specialising in tracing missing heirs.
It appears from our research that you would stand to benefit from an
estate on which we are currently working.

Initially thought it was a scam, but their website looks genuine
http://www.findersuk.com/ and no scam warnings against their name on
internet.

Could anyone vouch for their athenticity please? They obviously want a fee
They quote 25% of the value of the estate but require no advance payments

I used to work in this industry (although not for Finders I may add) and they are a legit company.

Tell your father NOT to sign anything yet, there is a chance he may not need to use their services or can get a beter deal. How much is the case worth?
Email me via the forum if you would rather not discuss it on here.

[paoloh]

Muntu said:

Almost sounds too good to be true...

There is a program on one of the Discovery channels called Heir Hunters I think that is all about these sorts of companies.

[IforB]

There are legitimate companies out there doing this. If I remember rightly they are all competing against eachother to get the beneficaries to sign to them, or another company will get the deal.

Might be worth it to try and negotiate a lower fee than 25%.

[dickymint]

I doubt if much money is involved or they would of called in person straight away to beat off the competition.

[paoloh]

dickymint said:

I doubt if much money is involved or they would of called in person straight away to beat off the competition.

Ex directory maybe

Others haven't found the link they have

etc etc

Edited by paoloh on Saturday 22 November 12:02

[dickymint]

paoloh said:

dickymint said:

I doubt if much money is involved or they would of called in person straight away to beat off the competition.

Ex directory maybe

Others haven't found the link they have

etc etc

Edited by paoloh on Saturday 22 November 12:02

Ex directory - I meant knock on the door.

From the programmes i've watched the details of these "unclaimed probates" are put into the public domain periodically. The larger estates would be poured over and researched by many companies and it's a race to get the leads. They would hardly send a letter and wait for a response.

[paoloh]

dickymint said:

paoloh said:

dickymint said:

I doubt if much money is involved or they would of called in person straight away to beat off the competition.

Ex directory maybe

Others haven't found the link they have

etc etc

Edited by paoloh on Saturday 22 November 12:02

Ex directory - I meant knock on the door.

From the programmes i've watched the details of these "unclaimed probates" are put into the public domain periodically. The larger estates would be poured over and researched by many companies and it's a race to get the leads. They would hardly send a letter and wait for a response.

Can you imagine how much it would cost to send people to knock on the door of every lead??

[dickymint]

paoloh said:

dickymint said:

paoloh said:

dickymint said:

I doubt if much money is involved or they would of called in person straight away to beat off the competition.

Ex directory maybe

Others haven't found the link they have

etc etc

Edited by paoloh on Saturday 22 November 12:02

Ex directory - I meant knock on the door.

From the programmes i've watched the details of these "unclaimed probates" are put into the public domain periodically. The larger estates would be poured over and researched by many companies and it's a race to get the leads. They would hardly send a letter and wait for a response.

Can you imagine how much it would cost to send people to knock on the door of every lead??

Commissioned reps? Also they try and sign people up "on the night". A letter would give the recipient time to think about and "shop around". A large amount of money would warrant a house visit IMO.

[rolex]

Thanks for the input guys, Just heard this evening the Company phoned my uncle yesterday. No specific details.They want a document signed and a copy of my fathers birth certificate prior to disclosure. All fascinating stuff. I had a chat with my father earlier about our family history. My late grandfather(fathers side) survivor of the Somme died at a grand old age of 94.
He was one of six children. Four are accounted for, but two disapeared. One brother went to live in South Africa after the First World War, and a younger sister left home to become a domestic servant in London.
Hopefully his sister married a Lord or the brother became a diamond farmer Whatever the outcome I just find this totally intriguing

[Simpo Two]

DO NOT part wth any money up front.

About 10 years my phone rang and it was a genealogist. He aksed me to confirm my middle name, which I did. He asked me to confirm my uncle's name, which I did. There was an audible sigh of relief - he'd found me. He'd managed to trace the descendants of a distant relative who'd died intestate.

He took his fee from the estate, not me.

ETA the fee was about £5K; the estate was £120K.

Edited by Simpo Two on Saturday 22 November 22:36