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Heir hunters track down families of people who have died without leaving a will. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:07 | |
They hand over thousands of pounds to relatives who had no idea they were in line for a windfall. | 0:00:07 | 0:00:13 | |
Could they be knocking at your door? | 0:00:13 | 0:00:16 | |
Today, two very different cases for the heir hunters, involving big money and family secrets. | 0:00:28 | 0:00:37 | |
Why Marie Smith's refusal to take advice... | 0:00:37 | 0:00:41 | |
-She should have made a will. -..resulted in her fortune passing on to someone else. | 0:00:41 | 0:00:47 | |
She's left several thousand pounds. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:49 | |
And why for Paul Matthews, heir hunting is like poker. | 0:00:49 | 0:00:54 | |
-Can you spare me 30 seconds? -You can never be sure you have a full house. | 0:00:54 | 0:00:59 | |
Plus a number of unclaimed estates worth nearly a quarter of a million pounds. | 0:00:59 | 0:01:05 | |
Could you be in line for some money? | 0:01:05 | 0:01:08 | |
Every year in Britain, over 300,000 people die without leaving a will. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:17 | |
When no family is found, their money goes to the government. That's when the heir-hunting companies step in. | 0:01:17 | 0:01:24 | |
Using birth, death and marriage records, they race each other | 0:01:24 | 0:01:29 | |
to be the first to track down any relatives entitled to inherit. | 0:01:29 | 0:01:34 | |
Fraser & Fraser is one of the oldest firms of heir hunters in the UK. | 0:01:34 | 0:01:40 | |
We've found the brother's death. | 0:01:40 | 0:01:43 | |
In its 30-year history, the company has tracked down over 50,000 heirs, | 0:01:43 | 0:01:48 | |
entitled to a whopping sum of over 100 million pounds. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:52 | |
It's just after 7am and at Fraser and Fraser's central London offices, the staff are already hard at it. | 0:01:59 | 0:02:06 | |
Thursday's the day that the Treasury releases the Bona Vacantia, a list of unclaimed estates. | 0:02:06 | 0:02:12 | |
Under the guidance of Andrew Fraser, the heir hunters are lining up their choices. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:18 | |
Number seven sounds like a possible, don't it? | 0:02:18 | 0:02:22 | |
I'll look into it until we get the death certificate. | 0:02:22 | 0:02:27 | |
Senior case manager Tony Pledger is running the case of Mrs Marie Smith, assisted by Marcus Herbert. | 0:02:27 | 0:02:35 | |
By searching Frasers' data on births and marriages, he's already found out information. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:41 | |
We've identified that Marie Smith was married to James Smith. | 0:02:41 | 0:02:46 | |
And before she married, she was called Huggett. Born in 1914. | 0:02:46 | 0:02:50 | |
We know her husband pre-deceased her, so that's all sorted out. | 0:02:50 | 0:02:55 | |
What we need to do is actually find out if they've got any issue. | 0:02:55 | 0:03:00 | |
We've got people working on that. And find out if she had any siblings. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:06 | |
After her husband's death in 1988, Marie Smith lived in the family home in Hampshire for another 19 years. | 0:03:06 | 0:03:15 | |
Towards the end of her days, she suffered from dementia, but refused any help. | 0:03:15 | 0:03:21 | |
When the police found Marie, her home had fallen into a sorry state. | 0:03:21 | 0:03:26 | |
Despite the condition inside, it is a large property in a good area. | 0:03:26 | 0:03:31 | |
The heir hunters researched the property ownership and find that it's worth around £350,000. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:38 | |
As property makes up the bulk of someone's fortune, they can estimate that this is the estate's value. | 0:03:41 | 0:03:48 | |
If Frasers can find any of Marie's relatives, they will be entitled to everything she left behind. | 0:03:48 | 0:03:55 | |
One of those will be the death of her husband. | 0:03:55 | 0:04:00 | |
Because the estate is so large, it will attract a lot of attention | 0:04:00 | 0:04:05 | |
from rival heir hunters, so Tony needs to work fast. | 0:04:05 | 0:04:10 | |
Marie P.E.E. Huggett. It's on the land registry. | 0:04:10 | 0:04:14 | |
The researchers will do a sweep of Huggetts by searching through birth, death and marriage records. | 0:04:14 | 0:04:22 | |
But the most valuable document will be Marie Smith's death certificate. | 0:04:22 | 0:04:27 | |
And they're hoping the informant may be a potential source of information or even a relative. | 0:04:27 | 0:04:35 | |
David Pacifico puts in a call to one of Fraser & Fraser's travelling heir hunters, Bob Smith. | 0:04:35 | 0:04:43 | |
Bob's one of a squad of mobile agents employed by Frasers. They spend their Thursdays at the wheel, | 0:04:43 | 0:04:50 | |
ready to follow up leads and sniff out clues. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:54 | |
They also aim to get to any heirs before rival firms | 0:04:54 | 0:04:58 | |
and sign them up, earning the company a share of the claim. | 0:04:58 | 0:05:02 | |
At home in East Grinstead, traveller Bob Smith is ready to leap into action. | 0:05:06 | 0:05:13 | |
And even more so when he hears the value of the estate. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:17 | |
OK, mate. OK. Cheers, Dave. Bye. | 0:05:17 | 0:05:20 | |
This morning I'm off to the Register Office in Guildford to pick up a death certificate | 0:05:25 | 0:05:32 | |
of our deceased Marie Smith who died about 18 months ago. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:38 | |
Luckily, we won't be researching the name Smith as she was married and her maiden name was Huggett, | 0:05:38 | 0:05:46 | |
which strikes me as a reasonably unusual name. So in research terms that helps a little bit. | 0:05:46 | 0:05:53 | |
Certainly there are fewer Huggetts in the world than Smiths, so it will be easier to trace potential heirs. | 0:05:53 | 0:06:01 | |
Speaking of Huggetts, back in London, Tony and Marcus are getting to grips with that family's tree. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:09 | |
The first step is to identify Marie's parents. The heir hunters spend days writing family trees. | 0:06:09 | 0:06:17 | |
They use them like maps to find hidden treasure, working out how a family fits together | 0:06:17 | 0:06:23 | |
and who is in line to inherit. | 0:06:23 | 0:06:26 | |
After searching through UK birth, marriage and death records, | 0:06:26 | 0:06:32 | |
they may have found Marie's parents. | 0:06:32 | 0:06:35 | |
We found a marriage in 1895 of Walter Thomas Huggett to Clarissa Rapley. | 0:06:35 | 0:06:40 | |
-But Tony's found a problem. -We might have found the marriage of the parents, | 0:06:40 | 0:06:46 | |
but 20 years before she was born. | 0:06:46 | 0:06:49 | |
It's unlikely they were married for 20 years and just had one child. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:54 | |
So a little bit more time has got to pass before we get a definite idea. | 0:06:54 | 0:07:00 | |
As most people would have children soon after marrying, | 0:07:00 | 0:07:04 | |
a 20-year gap should mean older brothers and sisters and possible stems to investigate. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:11 | |
But they have to find them first. | 0:07:11 | 0:07:14 | |
But with three heir hunters on the case, the puzzle is soon solved. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:19 | |
So we've got Walter J Huggett, Clarissa, Ruby M Huggett, a sister of the deceased, | 0:07:19 | 0:07:25 | |
and Thomas W W. Right. There could be a shed-load of more of them. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:31 | |
Soon the heir hunters have filled in a few blanks on the Huggett family tree. | 0:07:31 | 0:07:37 | |
Marie's parents were Walter and Clarissa Huggett. And she had a sister Ruby and brother Thomas. | 0:07:37 | 0:07:44 | |
But there's a 16-year space before Marie's birth. So are there any more siblings to add to the list? | 0:07:44 | 0:07:51 | |
In Guildford, Bob's got some news for Tony. | 0:07:51 | 0:07:55 | |
-I've got the death certificate of Marie. -What did she die of? -Cancer. | 0:07:55 | 0:08:01 | |
-But there's a fly in the ointment. -Anglia Research rang up and asked for a copy of the death certificate. | 0:08:01 | 0:08:08 | |
OK. Ta. Bye. Bye. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:10 | |
That's upped the ante. The heir hunters now know a rival company is chasing the same job. | 0:08:12 | 0:08:19 | |
They need to find an heir fast. Bob's on his way to Marie's house. | 0:08:19 | 0:08:24 | |
I'm going to go down now to the address on the death certificate where she lived | 0:08:24 | 0:08:31 | |
and make enquiries there with the neighbours and such. | 0:08:31 | 0:08:36 | |
With the competition hot on their heels, Frasers are pulling out the stops. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:45 | |
Another travelling heir hunter, Bob Barratt, is sent to Reigate Register Office, | 0:08:45 | 0:08:52 | |
where Marie, Thomas and Ruby Huggett's births were recorded. They hope he'll find more siblings. | 0:08:52 | 0:09:00 | |
Frasers have to cover every branch of the family tree. | 0:09:00 | 0:09:05 | |
We've got an elderly decedent whose grandfather was born in about 1847. | 0:09:05 | 0:09:10 | |
They want to ensure they have explored every possible heir, | 0:09:10 | 0:09:15 | |
so they are checking Marie's parents to see if they had any siblings. | 0:09:15 | 0:09:20 | |
If Marie's siblings had died with no offspring, her cousins inherit. | 0:09:20 | 0:09:26 | |
The plan is to see who was in the Huggett and Rapley family households when Marie's parents were children, | 0:09:26 | 0:09:33 | |
so the heir hunters need to go back in time. | 0:09:33 | 0:09:37 | |
Every ten years since the year 1801, | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
the British government has taken a national population survey called the Census. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:46 | |
From 1841, this listed the names of all the people living at every address in Britain. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:52 | |
They are only released 100 years after they were taken. Marcus is looking at the 1891 Census. | 0:09:52 | 0:09:59 | |
The mother appears as a 15-year-old nursemaid on the 1891 Census. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:04 | |
So I've now got the 1881 Census, I've got that family. That's Rapley, Clarissa Rapley. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:12 | |
I've always liked doing Censuses. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:15 | |
We always do this even if we've got nearer kin or it looks like we have | 0:10:15 | 0:10:20 | |
because if the nearer kin have all died off, we need to look at the cousins. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:26 | |
And we can't wait as the competition would've got the cousins. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:31 | |
The race is on for just about everyone. | 0:10:31 | 0:10:35 | |
-Coming up - Marie Smith's secrets are revealed. -She might've done a will and left in the wardrobe. | 0:10:40 | 0:10:46 | |
And the heir hunters have a case of half-brothers separated by time. | 0:10:46 | 0:10:51 | |
-And when was the last time you saw him? -17 years ago. I went looking for him to find him for my mother. | 0:10:51 | 0:10:59 | |
Heir hunters follow clues to find heirs to unclaimed estates, | 0:11:02 | 0:11:07 | |
ensuring the money goes to them. Could you be due an inheritance? | 0:11:07 | 0:11:12 | |
Ellen McDonald died in Welwyn Garden City at the age of 75. | 0:11:12 | 0:11:17 | |
She left £28,000. Are you part of Ellen's family? | 0:11:17 | 0:11:22 | |
Or do you know someone who might be? | 0:11:22 | 0:11:24 | |
Pattie Fenella Lawson passed away in Halifax in 1996 at the age of 73 | 0:11:24 | 0:11:30 | |
and left £42,000. | 0:11:30 | 0:11:32 | |
Are you related to Pattie? Could you be entitled to her cash? | 0:11:32 | 0:11:37 | |
John Joseph Ryan died in Lewisham in September 2005, aged 89. | 0:11:38 | 0:11:44 | |
He left £34,000. | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
For more information, visit: | 0:11:46 | 0:11:50 | |
Often, the heir hunters reunite long-lost kin. | 0:11:56 | 0:12:01 | |
And they can come across relatives who knew nothing of each other's existence. | 0:12:01 | 0:12:07 | |
The case of William Stirling was one such story. He was a retired engineer and a bachelor | 0:12:07 | 0:12:13 | |
who had lived in Birmingham. With no obvious next of kin, | 0:12:13 | 0:12:18 | |
his name soon appeared on the government's Bona Vacantia list. | 0:12:18 | 0:12:24 | |
It's 7.30am at Fraser & Fraser's offices. | 0:12:27 | 0:12:32 | |
Neil Fraser and Marcus Herbert are examining William Stirling's case | 0:12:32 | 0:12:37 | |
as they think it may be of some value. | 0:12:37 | 0:12:41 | |
They are short on detail and everything rests on his death certificate. | 0:12:41 | 0:12:47 | |
They hope the person who registered the death might be a friend or relative of William Stirling | 0:12:47 | 0:12:54 | |
who can tell them more about him. But other firms may be on the same case, so they need information fast. | 0:12:54 | 0:13:02 | |
OK, mate. I'm OK. Are you all right? | 0:13:02 | 0:13:05 | |
Marcus gives Frasers' Birmingham based agent, Paul Matthews, a call. | 0:13:05 | 0:13:10 | |
William Stirling - S-T-I-R-L-I-N-G. | 0:13:10 | 0:13:13 | |
He dies the 20th of October, 2007, in Birmingham. Haven't got anything else for him at the moment. | 0:13:13 | 0:13:20 | |
All right, mate. Speak to you in a bit. Right. Where are we now? | 0:13:20 | 0:13:25 | |
Still haven't got a clue where we're going. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:34 | |
Aware that other firms may be hot on his heels, Paul heads straight to the Birmingham Register Office. | 0:13:34 | 0:13:42 | |
-This one will do us. -Give us a few minutes, we'll see what we can do. | 0:13:46 | 0:13:52 | |
Hopefully it'll tell us where he was born, the date of birth, and also the informant, | 0:13:52 | 0:13:58 | |
-as we still don't know if there's value in the estate. -Right. -Any joy? -Good and bad. -What's the good news? | 0:13:58 | 0:14:06 | |
-We've got an address for you. -Nice one. -And the bad news. -OK, Glasgow. | 0:14:06 | 0:14:11 | |
-The informant was with the social services. -Social services. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:16 | |
-So we could be having a quiet day then? -Right. Is that it? -I think so. | 0:14:16 | 0:14:22 | |
So it seems there is no shortcut to finding more about William. | 0:14:22 | 0:14:27 | |
But his former address in Birmingham may be useful to the investigation. | 0:14:27 | 0:14:32 | |
Paul calls Neil to update him with William's birthplace. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:37 | |
He was actually born in Glasgow. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:40 | |
Neil phones their Scottish researcher to get William's birth certificate ordered. | 0:14:40 | 0:14:46 | |
We have a William Stirling. Now, my information is a bit confusing. | 0:14:46 | 0:14:52 | |
Paul's at the property where William Stirling lived. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:57 | |
I'm outside the address in Moseley. Looks as though he's got a flat in a big house, | 0:14:57 | 0:15:03 | |
so maybe he was renting. But we won't know till I knock on the door. | 0:15:03 | 0:15:08 | |
Could you spare me 30 seconds? Thanks anyway. Cheers. Bye. | 0:15:08 | 0:15:13 | |
It's unlikely that many people will be at home at 10am, but Paul's not giving up. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:19 | |
One last house to try. | 0:15:19 | 0:15:22 | |
Paul's persistence pays off. But it's not good news. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:27 | |
He finds out that William Stirling didn't own the flat he lived in. | 0:15:27 | 0:15:32 | |
As property forms the basis of most estates, it doesn't bode well for the value of William's estate. | 0:15:32 | 0:15:39 | |
But more than that, he never appeared to receive any visitors. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:44 | |
Could it mean that he had no close family? | 0:15:44 | 0:15:48 | |
In the office, the team have been concentrating on this very question. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:53 | |
Having found out that his birth was in Scotland, they've tracked down William Stirling's parents. | 0:15:53 | 0:16:00 | |
And it's a bit of a surprise. | 0:16:00 | 0:16:03 | |
It seems his mother Mary and his father William Carr were never married. | 0:16:03 | 0:16:09 | |
But a year after William's birth, Mary married Peter Naylor, | 0:16:09 | 0:16:14 | |
and their children would be William's half-brothers. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:18 | |
But if he had brothers, why did he die alone? | 0:16:18 | 0:16:22 | |
-Hello, Neil. -'Yes?' -It's not his property. | 0:16:22 | 0:16:26 | |
-It doesn't sound like there's much money, but we've got the brothers John and George up to date. -Yes. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:32 | |
George lives in Stoke-on-Trent, and as you're not doing a huge amount, I was going to ask you to go to? | 0:16:33 | 0:16:40 | |
-No problem. Speak to you later. -'Bye.' -Bye. | 0:16:40 | 0:16:43 | |
Neil believes the estate must be worth at least £5,000 or it wouldn't be on the government's list. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:51 | |
As Frasers operate on commission, it's worth pursuing, especially as they think they've found the heirs. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:58 | |
Now, at the moment, there's £2,500 per beneficiary. It's worth knocking on their door to see if they get it. | 0:16:58 | 0:17:05 | |
It's not really taken us that long to sort out. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:09 | |
But it's not something that's going to enable us to retire. It's a tiny bit of money we're dealing with. | 0:17:09 | 0:17:17 | |
So Paul is going to Stoke-on-Trent to meet William Stirling's half-brother, George Naylor. | 0:17:17 | 0:17:24 | |
And London-based travelling heir hunter Dave Hadley is travelling to Woolwich | 0:17:24 | 0:17:30 | |
to meet the other half-brother, John. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:33 | |
Dave reflects on what he finds to be the toughest part of the job. | 0:17:33 | 0:17:39 | |
I've got no idea how close he was to his brother | 0:17:39 | 0:17:43 | |
or if he's had any warning that his brother has passed away. | 0:17:43 | 0:17:47 | |
Even with his previous experience as a policeman, it's never easy. | 0:17:47 | 0:17:53 | |
I'll have to use lots of tact, diplomacy and some sympathy | 0:17:53 | 0:17:57 | |
cos I'll have to tell him that his half-brother is dead. | 0:17:57 | 0:18:01 | |
On the M6, as Paul is driving 40-odd miles from William's house in Birmingham to Stoke-on-Trent, | 0:18:01 | 0:18:09 | |
he questions why the brothers had lost touch. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:12 | |
I don't know if they even knew about each other. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:16 | |
So as he's illegit, has the mum put him straight out for adoption? | 0:18:16 | 0:18:22 | |
But having started something off and done some work, it's nice if you can take it to a logical conclusion. | 0:18:22 | 0:18:30 | |
But will he get a chance to resolve his case? He's arrived at George's house. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:37 | |
But he doesn't appear to be in. | 0:18:37 | 0:18:40 | |
Do you live here at all? I'm trying to get hold of Mr Naylor at No 13, George. | 0:18:40 | 0:18:46 | |
He's usually in, but he must've popped out. | 0:18:46 | 0:18:51 | |
While Paul strolls around the block, in the office, Neil's following up the Scottish connection. | 0:18:51 | 0:18:57 | |
The researchers are finding that getting information about William's father is difficult. | 0:18:57 | 0:19:04 | |
Just leave it as it is. We don't think there's much value on it. | 0:19:04 | 0:19:09 | |
We'll put through the work on the two brothers we've got. Then we may look at him later. | 0:19:09 | 0:19:16 | |
Thanks. Bye. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
Coming up - the hunt for the Stirling heirs continues. But will it be worth it? | 0:19:19 | 0:19:26 | |
There are thousands of pounds of unclaimed cash sitting in the government's coffers. | 0:19:29 | 0:19:36 | |
Perhaps some of it could be yours. | 0:19:36 | 0:19:38 | |
Peggy Louise Glover passed away in Cheltenham at the age of 77. | 0:19:38 | 0:19:43 | |
She left £50,000, but no apparent heirs. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:47 | |
If you're related to Peggy, you could inherit her fortune. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:52 | |
Lillian Anne Dennis died in Nottingham in July 2004, | 0:19:52 | 0:19:57 | |
leaving £30,000. Could you be one of her heirs? | 0:19:57 | 0:20:01 | |
Joyce Butler passed away in Broomfield, Essex, in 2006. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:06 | |
Her unclaimed estate is worth £40,000. | 0:20:06 | 0:20:10 | |
Are you related to Joyce? | 0:20:10 | 0:20:12 | |
If you know any of these people, | 0:20:12 | 0:20:15 | |
please look at our website: | 0:20:15 | 0:20:18 | |
The heir hunters are pursuing the case of William Stirling. | 0:20:22 | 0:20:28 | |
They are convinced that the case is around £5,000 | 0:20:28 | 0:20:32 | |
and they've tracked down two heirs, his half-brothers. | 0:20:32 | 0:20:37 | |
In Woolwich, heir hunter Dave Hadley is speaking to one of the brothers, | 0:20:37 | 0:20:42 | |
John Naylor and his fiancee. | 0:20:42 | 0:20:45 | |
Now, we believe that a relative of yours, from the Stirling side of the family, passed away last year. | 0:20:45 | 0:20:52 | |
I don't know how close... How close are you to the Stirling side of the family? | 0:20:52 | 0:20:58 | |
-That's my mother's side. -It was your mother's maiden name. -Yes. My middle name is Stirling, you know that. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:05 | |
Um... We lost touch with the Stirlings when my grandmother died and I was about 14. | 0:21:05 | 0:21:12 | |
The person in question is what we call a near heir, in that it's actually your half-brother. | 0:21:12 | 0:21:19 | |
-I don't know if you were aware of him? -Yes. I have a half-brother, William. He's dead? -Yes. | 0:21:19 | 0:21:26 | |
It was the moment Dave was dreading. And he can see John is shocked. | 0:21:26 | 0:21:31 | |
And it's a difficult call for Paul up in Stoke-on-Trent. | 0:21:31 | 0:21:37 | |
He's found William's other half-brother. | 0:21:37 | 0:21:40 | |
Someone from Frasers' office in London has broken the news to him, | 0:21:40 | 0:21:45 | |
but the result is the same. It's a shock. | 0:21:45 | 0:21:50 | |
-I'm sorry about the bad news. -Where was it, do you know? -In Birmingham. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:55 | |
-I've spoken to his landlady. -We were looking for him. -Really? -Yeah. | 0:21:55 | 0:22:00 | |
-Oh, dear. But he's been with this lady as a tenant for 35 years. -Yeah. We were looking for him. | 0:22:00 | 0:22:07 | |
I'm sorry about that. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:09 | |
-When was the last time you saw him? -About 17 years ago. We went looking for him to find him for my mother. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:20 | |
Both brothers had attempted to make contact with William in the past. | 0:22:20 | 0:22:26 | |
I arranged to meet him one Saturday in a pub in Birmingham, which I did. But I've never seen him since. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:34 | |
My brother arranged for me to meet him. And I met him to make sure it was him. | 0:22:34 | 0:22:41 | |
And we arranged to bring my mother to meet him and he wasn't there. | 0:22:41 | 0:22:46 | |
-So...she was a bit upset. -Were there any sort of family problems? | 0:22:46 | 0:22:53 | |
-No. -Or was he just his own man? -He just wanted to be on his own, yeah. | 0:22:53 | 0:22:58 | |
-I won't say there's any love lost between us, but... -But it's still your half-brother, isn't it? | 0:22:58 | 0:23:05 | |
That's right. I'd like to know how his life ended up and what he went through. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:11 | |
I don't know how much is involved. | 0:23:11 | 0:23:14 | |
They don't publish the figures when they advertise these things. | 0:23:14 | 0:23:20 | |
I don't know how much you'll be entitled to. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:24 | |
-This is an awkward time for us. We're getting married next week. -Congratulations. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:31 | |
I don't know if this is a good present. | 0:23:31 | 0:23:34 | |
-He was always careful with his money. He was the quiet one, really. -Oh, right. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:41 | |
-Was he a bachelor? -As far as I know, yeah. -I don't think he's the marrying type. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:47 | |
-I doubt he got married. -You don't know where he was living? -Last I knew, he was in Birmingham. | 0:23:47 | 0:23:54 | |
-So how long will it take to sort out? -Unfortunately, we don't know... -I'm not bothered about that, anyway. | 0:23:55 | 0:24:02 | |
-It's just sad that you never managed to find him. Do you know who his father was? -I've no idea. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:10 | |
We were always brought up as equals, you know. There was never... My dad never said, "You're not my son." | 0:24:10 | 0:24:17 | |
That was never mentioned. It was always just... | 0:24:17 | 0:24:21 | |
That's right and proper and the right way to do things | 0:24:21 | 0:24:25 | |
-cos there's no reason not to, is there? But he was illegitimate, yeah? -I suppose you'd call it that. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:32 | |
-We actually found that his dad was a William Carr. -William Carr? -Mean something to you? -No. | 0:24:32 | 0:24:39 | |
Paul goes through the paperwork and George agrees to allow Frasers to help him submit his claim. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:50 | |
-Nice meeting you. -Thank you. -All the very best. | 0:24:50 | 0:24:54 | |
-Thanks very much, Dave. -OK. And I hope your wedding goes well. -Thank you. | 0:24:54 | 0:25:00 | |
But things aren't all signed and sealed in London. | 0:25:00 | 0:25:05 | |
Dave's left John Naylor the paperwork as he decides he'd like to think it over. | 0:25:05 | 0:25:12 | |
George, who is closest to William in age, is still coming to terms with the news. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:18 | |
Shocked. Not expecting this at all. | 0:25:18 | 0:25:21 | |
Completely out of the blue, you know. | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
Um... We just had no... No contact. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:28 | |
We spent that long looking and never finding him, like, you know. | 0:25:28 | 0:25:34 | |
An important part of the job for the heir hunters is passing on news like this. | 0:25:34 | 0:25:41 | |
At least he knows what's happening. So now he's got some sort of closure on it. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:47 | |
Frasers continue their research into the Stirling case, wanting to ensure they find all the heirs. | 0:25:53 | 0:26:01 | |
They look closely at the William Carr branch of the tree | 0:26:01 | 0:26:06 | |
and find out some surprising news. | 0:26:06 | 0:26:09 | |
Quite by luck and pretty good research in Scotland, we were able to identify a marriage for William Carr. | 0:26:09 | 0:26:16 | |
He married a Margaret Pearson and had four more children. So these are half-blood siblings of the deceased. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:23 | |
William's father had married just two years after William was born. | 0:26:23 | 0:26:28 | |
And he had two sons, Brian and Alexander. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:32 | |
And then two daughters, Pearl and Wilma. | 0:26:32 | 0:26:36 | |
All of these children are heirs to William's estate. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:40 | |
There are now six beneficiaries. If the estate is only £5,000, | 0:26:40 | 0:26:45 | |
they won't get much each. But there's a twist in the tale. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:49 | |
We've had some great news, virtually. Whereas we thought it was maybe £5,000, £6,000, £7,000, | 0:26:49 | 0:26:56 | |
the confirmed value now is £29,000. | 0:26:56 | 0:26:58 | |
William's paternal half-siblings will receive a welcome windfall. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:03 | |
But did they know about their brother, William Stirling? | 0:27:03 | 0:27:08 | |
We've spoken to them and they weren't aware that their father was in a relationship | 0:27:08 | 0:27:14 | |
prior to him marrying their mother. | 0:27:14 | 0:27:16 | |
John Naylor has a few ideas of what to do with the money. | 0:27:16 | 0:27:21 | |
If I get any inheritance, I might take the family on holiday or just generally look after the family. | 0:27:21 | 0:27:28 | |
And celebrate it a bit. And buy those luxuries that we haven't had. | 0:27:28 | 0:27:34 | |
Maybe buy myself a nice motorbike. | 0:27:34 | 0:27:36 | |
But George is more philosophical about it. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:40 | |
I'd sooner have him than the money. | 0:27:40 | 0:27:43 | |
Yeah. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:45 | |
It's 11 o'clock on a Thursday in Fraser & Fraser's office | 0:27:52 | 0:27:58 | |
and the heir hunters are four hours into the case of Marie Smith. | 0:27:58 | 0:28:03 | |
It's a valuable estate of £350,000. But they haven't made much progress. | 0:28:03 | 0:28:08 | |
Anglia Research asked for a copy of the death certificate. | 0:28:08 | 0:28:12 | |
With rival companies in the race to find heirs, they need results fast. | 0:28:12 | 0:28:17 | |
Case manager Marcus Herbert has received some exciting news from Bob Barratt at Reigate Register Office. | 0:28:17 | 0:28:25 | |
Bob's phoned and he's done a general search and managed to identify three other siblings of the deceased. | 0:28:25 | 0:28:32 | |
That brings the total to five. Lillian Mabel Huggett born in 1901, | 0:28:32 | 0:28:37 | |
but after the '01 Census, which is why she didn't show up. Mum was probably pregnant at the time. | 0:28:37 | 0:28:44 | |
Dorothy Winifred C Huggett - the C must be Clarissa after her mum. | 0:28:44 | 0:28:49 | |
There's a Leslie Scott SJK Huggett. I don't know what the "SJK" is. | 0:28:49 | 0:28:54 | |
So we've got five siblings of the deceased. And we now know that the deceased didn't have any issue, | 0:28:54 | 0:29:01 | |
so we're hoping of one of her brothers or sisters, there'll be children from there. | 0:29:01 | 0:29:08 | |
It's a breakthrough. That crucial information takes the case to a new level. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:14 | |
The heir hunters have completed the second tier on the family tree. | 0:29:14 | 0:29:19 | |
They found that Marie had five brothers and sisters - | 0:29:19 | 0:29:23 | |
Ruby, Thomas, Lillian, Dorothy and Leslie. | 0:29:23 | 0:29:27 | |
But all five of them are dead. | 0:29:27 | 0:29:29 | |
However, there's still hope. If any of Marie's siblings had children, | 0:29:29 | 0:29:34 | |
they would be her heirs. | 0:29:34 | 0:29:37 | |
Frasers must get to them before the competition. | 0:29:37 | 0:29:42 | |
Mobile agent Bob Smith is in Marie Smith's old neighbourhood. | 0:29:42 | 0:29:47 | |
He's hoping her neighbours can shed more light on Marie's family connections. | 0:29:47 | 0:29:53 | |
Nobody home. | 0:29:53 | 0:29:55 | |
Sorry to bother you. I'm enquiring about the lady who lived next door. | 0:29:56 | 0:30:01 | |
-There is a niece somewhere. -Right. Interesting. | 0:30:01 | 0:30:05 | |
It's confirmed their hopes. | 0:30:05 | 0:30:08 | |
There was a niece who never visited. But a neighbour used to visit Marie, so we'll try and contact her. | 0:30:08 | 0:30:15 | |
So Marie did have one regular visitor, but it wasn't a relative. | 0:30:15 | 0:30:20 | |
Perhaps she can fill them in on possible family members. But Bob's not sure how to find this woman. | 0:30:20 | 0:30:28 | |
By luck, another local provides the answer. | 0:30:28 | 0:30:31 | |
-She's moved over to Firglen Drive. -Called Pat? -That's right. | 0:30:31 | 0:30:36 | |
-There's an entry to an unmade road. -Oh, right. | 0:30:36 | 0:30:41 | |
A simple task, or so it would seem. | 0:30:41 | 0:30:45 | |
Negotiate all the potholes. | 0:30:50 | 0:30:53 | |
He's beginning to wonder if he should have packed his wellies. | 0:30:53 | 0:30:58 | |
They're all up that road there. | 0:30:58 | 0:31:00 | |
They're not called travelling heir hunters for nothing. | 0:31:00 | 0:31:05 | |
Bob may not be making progress, but in the office they're forging ahead. | 0:31:05 | 0:31:11 | |
They've tracked down a marriage | 0:31:11 | 0:31:14 | |
for Marie's brother Thomas to Dora Miller. | 0:31:14 | 0:31:18 | |
Then they've traced a daughter, Vera. Could this be Marie's niece? | 0:31:18 | 0:31:23 | |
Born in 1920, this would make her rather elderly, | 0:31:23 | 0:31:27 | |
which may explain why she stopped visiting Marie. | 0:31:27 | 0:31:31 | |
Oh, it's a lake, a fishing lake. | 0:31:35 | 0:31:38 | |
Eugh! | 0:31:38 | 0:31:40 | |
Beats walking on a farm. | 0:31:40 | 0:31:43 | |
Bob's arrived at Marie Smith's former neighbour's house. | 0:31:43 | 0:31:47 | |
Success. | 0:31:47 | 0:31:49 | |
He hopes she'll know more about Marie's niece. | 0:31:49 | 0:31:53 | |
-Mr Johnstone? -Yes. -I was hoping to speak to your wife. | 0:31:53 | 0:31:57 | |
The husband of the ex-neighbour is home. | 0:31:57 | 0:32:01 | |
-Apart from having a key to get in and out... -There was no other real communication about the family? | 0:32:01 | 0:32:08 | |
-No. She is aware that there is a niece. -But I'll leave my card with you. -If we come up with anything... | 0:32:08 | 0:32:15 | |
Yes, particularly about the niece. | 0:32:15 | 0:32:18 | |
There's that mention of the niece again, but no name. And Bob's had his fill of country lanes. | 0:32:18 | 0:32:25 | |
In the office, Tony Pledger's been doing some research | 0:32:28 | 0:32:33 | |
into two of Marie's sisters, Lillian and Dorothy. | 0:32:33 | 0:32:37 | |
We knew Dorothy married Arthur Baker. We knew there was a Lillian as well. | 0:32:37 | 0:32:43 | |
It turns out that Lillian has also married a Mr Baker. So Lillian has married John Baker. | 0:32:43 | 0:32:50 | |
Dorothy's married Arthur Baker. There's two brothers married two sisters. | 0:32:50 | 0:32:56 | |
But their children would all be called Baker. | 0:32:56 | 0:33:01 | |
But until you got their certificate, you wouldn't be able to tell which couple the children went with. | 0:33:01 | 0:33:08 | |
Through records on file, the heir hunters have found a Gwyneth Baker, | 0:33:08 | 0:33:13 | |
another niece, and she was born nine years after her cousin Vera. | 0:33:13 | 0:33:17 | |
But as Lillian and Dorothy Huggett married two men called Baker, | 0:33:17 | 0:33:23 | |
they can't tell her exact parentage, making it difficult to trace her. | 0:33:23 | 0:33:28 | |
They cross-reference the birth and marriage records, and it's not long till they find something. | 0:33:28 | 0:33:35 | |
Roger's found a Gwyneth L Baker, born in 1929, in... | 0:33:35 | 0:33:40 | |
Wandsworth. So we will be doing a marriage for that in a moment. But that is a niece of the deceased. | 0:33:40 | 0:33:47 | |
So unless she's died off as an infant, | 0:33:47 | 0:33:51 | |
we'll get nieces, nephews, which is great so we don't have to go back on it. | 0:33:51 | 0:33:57 | |
So that now means they have two possible nieces for Marie Smith. | 0:33:57 | 0:34:03 | |
But as they were born in the '20s, they may be already deceased. | 0:34:03 | 0:34:07 | |
Bob's back at the car and phones his news through to Tony. | 0:34:07 | 0:34:11 | |
I finally spoke to Mr Johnstone. Apparently the deceased was not a very popular person | 0:34:11 | 0:34:18 | |
-and nobody really wanted to know her, sort of thing, so... -OK. Bye. -'Bye.' | 0:34:18 | 0:34:25 | |
It's just after lunchtime and at HQ, Marcus is feeling just fine. | 0:34:30 | 0:34:36 | |
Trawling marriage records has got a result. | 0:34:36 | 0:34:40 | |
Roger's found a marriage of Gwyneth Baker to a Mr Ward, niece of the deceased. | 0:34:40 | 0:34:46 | |
Tony calls the woman he hopes is Gwyneth Ward. | 0:34:46 | 0:34:51 | |
This could be their first heir. | 0:34:51 | 0:34:53 | |
-'Gwyneth Ward.' -Mrs Ward, it's Tony Pledger from Fraser & Fraser. | 0:34:53 | 0:34:58 | |
He's found his woman. She is the niece and the sole survivor of the Huggett clan. | 0:34:58 | 0:35:05 | |
The other niece, Vera, died and there were no other children. | 0:35:05 | 0:35:10 | |
So Dorothy had a sister, Lillian? Right. OK. | 0:35:10 | 0:35:15 | |
Tony has to break the news of Marie Smith's death. | 0:35:15 | 0:35:19 | |
Unfortunately, your Auntie Marie has passed away. | 0:35:19 | 0:35:24 | |
We think that she's left possibly several thousand pounds, but doesn't appear to have left a will. | 0:35:24 | 0:35:31 | |
Well, she might've done a will and left it in the wardrobe! | 0:35:31 | 0:35:36 | |
But we don't think there is a valid will. I was wondering if one of our researchers could call and see you? | 0:35:36 | 0:35:44 | |
As the last of her generation, | 0:35:44 | 0:35:47 | |
she is now the only heir and is entitled to the whole of her aunt's £350,000 estate. | 0:35:47 | 0:35:55 | |
Tony needs to get someone out to sign Gwyneth up fast. | 0:35:55 | 0:35:59 | |
Have you been approached by anybody else? Yeah? Um... There is a possibility. | 0:35:59 | 0:36:05 | |
That's lovely. We'll make your acquaintance later on. Thanks. Bye. | 0:36:05 | 0:36:11 | |
She's confirmed that she's the only heir. Made an arrangement for us to go and see her at three o'clock. | 0:36:11 | 0:36:18 | |
Excellent. Who are we sending? | 0:36:18 | 0:36:20 | |
I don't know. I've got to find out where everybody is. But that's something to firm up on. | 0:36:20 | 0:36:27 | |
They have no time to waste. Tony phones Bob Barratt, who is searching for Huggett births in Reigate. | 0:36:29 | 0:36:36 | |
-Hi, Bob. Whatever you're doing we want you to stop as we've got one niece entitled on this job. -Right. | 0:36:36 | 0:36:44 | |
-She lives in Loughton, Essex. -Right. -So we need you to go out there, hopefully for three o'clock. -OK. | 0:36:44 | 0:36:51 | |
Right. | 0:36:51 | 0:36:53 | |
But just as Bob Barratt hits the road... | 0:36:57 | 0:37:02 | |
the intrepid Bob Smith gets wind of the race. He wants in on the action. | 0:37:02 | 0:37:07 | |
-Bob? -'Hello.' -Bob, hi. It's Bob Smith. -'Hello, mate. How are you?' | 0:37:07 | 0:37:12 | |
Do you want me to do this appointment because I've done all the enquiring? | 0:37:12 | 0:37:18 | |
-That would be even better, wouldn't it? -Yeah. Cheers. | 0:37:18 | 0:37:22 | |
So as Bob Barratt returns to base, one hour and several hairy traffic moments later, | 0:37:24 | 0:37:31 | |
Bob arrives at Loughton. But has he made it before the competition? | 0:37:31 | 0:37:37 | |
Hi, Mr Ward. Hi. It's Robert Smith. | 0:37:41 | 0:37:44 | |
The first job is to check a few family details. | 0:37:44 | 0:37:48 | |
Now, Mrs Ward, I understand you spoke with Mr Pledger, and he explained to you | 0:37:48 | 0:37:55 | |
-that your Aunt Marie who was Mrs... -"Mairi." -"Mairi", sorry. She was Mrs Smith. | 0:37:55 | 0:38:02 | |
-She died sometime last year. -Mm-hm. -If I may, I'd like to go through a little questionnaire with you | 0:38:02 | 0:38:09 | |
to ask you what you know about your family and Marie herself. And you were born as Baker? | 0:38:09 | 0:38:16 | |
-Your date of birth? -23rd November, 1929. | 0:38:16 | 0:38:21 | |
-And what was your mother's name? -Lillian Mabel Huggett. | 0:38:21 | 0:38:26 | |
Marie Smith is seen here in the blue suit at Gwyneth's wedding in the 1940s. | 0:38:26 | 0:38:32 | |
Bob wonders why they didn't keep in contact. | 0:38:32 | 0:38:36 | |
-She was a very nice person and at other times she was horrible. -Yeah. -She was super to her friends. | 0:38:36 | 0:38:43 | |
-Very, very generous. And then she told us never to contact her again. -Really? -This is why we haven't. | 0:38:43 | 0:38:50 | |
-We haven't been neglecting her. -Sure. -It was her request. -Really? -She thought we were after her money. | 0:38:50 | 0:38:57 | |
Gwyneth was once very close to her aunt, seen here together when she was a little girl. | 0:38:57 | 0:39:03 | |
A neighbour said she would upset people | 0:39:03 | 0:39:06 | |
-and it had put off people wanting to help her. -She couldn't be close with two people at the same time. | 0:39:06 | 0:39:13 | |
-But she did suffer from dementia. -We said she ought to make a will and she got uppity about it. | 0:39:13 | 0:39:20 | |
And so we left it. We thought, "If she makes a will, that's fine. Her money will go somewhere else. | 0:39:20 | 0:39:27 | |
"But if she doesn't, I shall get the last laugh." And I had it today. | 0:39:27 | 0:39:33 | |
But lots of people do think making a will spells the end for them. | 0:39:33 | 0:39:39 | |
-Anyway... -It's a pity. It really is. | 0:39:39 | 0:39:42 | |
Gwyneth is obviously upset that her aunt was so prickly. | 0:39:42 | 0:39:47 | |
There's a terrible irony to why she lost touch with Marie. | 0:39:47 | 0:39:52 | |
We wondered what would happen. And I thought, "Well, if she's made a will, I'll hear no more. | 0:39:52 | 0:39:59 | |
"If she hasn't, I wonder if anybody will ever contact me because I am her only living relative?" | 0:39:59 | 0:40:06 | |
So when I heard this, I was rather thrilled to think that I had won | 0:40:06 | 0:40:11 | |
and she didn't do what I told her to do! | 0:40:11 | 0:40:15 | |
-Thanks very much. -Thank you very much indeed. -Thank you. -Bye-bye. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:20 | |
Bye-bye. | 0:40:22 | 0:40:24 | |
Despite fierce competition from at least two companies, Bob was first to meet the heirs, | 0:40:24 | 0:40:31 | |
and he's left the paperwork for them to consider. | 0:40:31 | 0:40:35 | |
-'Hello, Bob.' -Hello, Andrew. I've just finished the interview. | 0:40:35 | 0:40:40 | |
I haven't signed as they've got an appointment tomorrow with Kin UK. | 0:40:40 | 0:40:45 | |
It went as well as I think. It went very well, yeah. It went very well. Yeah. Yeah. | 0:40:45 | 0:40:52 | |
It's a month later. Gwyneth Ward has agreed to sign with Frasers. | 0:40:59 | 0:41:04 | |
And today, partner Andrew Fraser is meeting her at her Aunt Marie's house to discuss its sale. | 0:41:04 | 0:41:12 | |
-Morning, Gwyneth. -Good morning. -Welcome to your aunt's house. -Yes. | 0:41:12 | 0:41:17 | |
-Please be warned, it's not great inside. -Yes. OK. | 0:41:17 | 0:41:21 | |
The house is still in the same state as when Marie lived and died there. | 0:41:21 | 0:41:26 | |
Thank you very much. Oh. It is a bit of a mess. There's flies around. | 0:41:26 | 0:41:32 | |
It's a shame that people are allowed to live like this and it's left as it is. | 0:41:34 | 0:41:40 | |
But everyone probably offered help, but she wouldn't accept it. And unfortunately, that is what happens. | 0:41:40 | 0:41:48 | |
-I often think this is so sad, really. -Yes. | 0:41:52 | 0:41:56 | |
In the office, there's the excitement of trying to find people. | 0:41:56 | 0:42:02 | |
And it all starts with very sad stories. | 0:42:02 | 0:42:05 | |
Despite the bad blood between her aunt and herself, Gwyneth would like to honour her memory. | 0:42:05 | 0:42:12 | |
You must've thought about what to do with this large sum of money when you actually do receive it? | 0:42:12 | 0:42:19 | |
Some of it I'll give to charities that my aunt would've liked it to go to. | 0:42:19 | 0:42:25 | |
I'll do that. Then I shall give it to my son and my daughter, the majority of it. | 0:42:25 | 0:42:32 | |
And then I shall go to South Africa. | 0:42:32 | 0:42:34 | |
This is a chance for her to reflect on her relationship with her aunt. | 0:42:34 | 0:42:40 | |
I don't feel guilty about it because I did what I could. And it was her choice. | 0:42:40 | 0:42:46 | |
It's a shame the place is in the state it's in when she was so careful with it. | 0:42:46 | 0:42:52 | |
But that's one of those things, isn't it? | 0:42:52 | 0:42:56 | |
Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2008 | 0:43:17 | 0:43:21 | |
Email [email protected] | 0:43:21 | 0:43:24 |