Atkins Heir Hunters

Heir Hunters spend their lives tracking down families of people who have died without leaving a will.

They hand over thousands of pounds to long-lost relatives.

Could they be knocking at your door?

On today's programme, the Heir Hunters bring news of a hidden past.

-You didn't know your father had brothers or sisters?

-No.

-He didn't speak about anybody?

-No. He never spoke of anybody.

-By introducing one woman to a family she never knew she had.

-Fabulous!

And why you should leave a will - how a man with a £1 million fortune narrowly escaped a pauper's funeral.

This man had got a medal for the things that he had done.

Yet they were prepared to take all his money and bury him in a plain coffin without any ceremony.

And I thought that he didn't deserve that.

Plus a list of unclaimed estates worth nearly half a million pounds.

Could you know anyone on the list?

Every year in Britain, over 300,000 people die without leaving a will.

When no family is found, their money goes to the government. That's when the heir-hunting companies step in.

Using birth, death and marriage records,

they race each other to be the first to track down any relatives entitled to inherit.

-Who do you think? Lily or Ruby?

-Fraser & Fraser is the largest firm of Heir Hunters in the country.

In its 30-year history, the company has tracked down over 50,000 heirs

entitled to a whopping sum of over £100 million.

It's 7am on a cold Thursday morning at Fraser & Fraser's central London office.

Partner Neil Fraser arrives long before sun-up.

It's a crucial day for the company

as every Thursday, the Treasury releases its list of unclaimed estates.

It's always a tense time as the staff will race against other companies to find the missing heirs.

The team investigates several cases at once. Neil goes through the list deciding which ones to pursue.

-West Derby?

-That's the Atkins.

-Death in Sutton?

One has caught his eye.

The deceased is Rose Lillian Atkins.

She dies on the 1st of January, 2006, so New Year's Day, 2006.

That's registered in Carshalton in Surrey. We know she's a spinster.

But that's as far as we've got.

Rose Atkins was 85 years old when she died.

A spinster with no children, she kept herself to herself.

Neil has found the value of the estate on the Bona Vacantia list.

It's £33,000, so it's pretty small for us. It's near our lower limit.

But we've still got to do everything exactly the same as if it was three, four, five million.

Neil wants to find out more about the case.

He searches for the name Rose Atkins on the Land Registry records.

Although she died in Carshalton, there is a flat registered under her name in South London.

They need to find Rose's family connections before any competing Heir Hunters.

So Neil asks Senior Case Manager Tony Pledger to take the lead in the hunt for Rose's heirs.

We covered it all yesterday.

If he can't find it, that's not my problem, is it?

But Tony, for all his 28 years' experience in heir hunting, has never got used to the mornings.

I take it first thing in the morning on a Thursday. Tony won't be looking forward to anything!

But when we get on a roll and start producing bits of research for him, then I'm sure he'll cheer up a bit.

That's all very well, but Tony has to get going soon

if they're to find Rose's family connections before the competition.

Over the years, Frasers have built up a huge library of birth, death and marriage records.

They aim to find all they can about Rose Atkins to build a family tree.

By breaking it down generation by generation, they will see who she's related to

and who's in line to inherit.

Neil uses Rose's age when she died to work out the year of her birth - 1921.

Using their basic birth records, he does a search

and finds two Rose Atkins, both born in the northwest of England.

The birth he's got is plain "Rose".

-She died plain "Rose".

-Yes, but she's on the list as "Rose Lillian".

And something else is puzzling Neil.

The deceased dies in Sutton

and both the birth in December 1921, which is plain "Rose",

and March 1922, which is "Rose L", they're both in West Derby which is a long way from Sutton.

This is odd because the first rule of heir hunting is that people often die near to where they were born.

-If you're living in Clapham, why do you die in Carshalton?

-You're out on a bus and you get run over.

While Tony gets into the frame of mind to face the day, Neil continues the research.

At the moment, they have the record of two Roses born around 1921

and both registered in the West Derby area of Liverpool.

They need those birth certificates to ensure they have the right Rose and to find out her parents' names.

They need someone to get up to Liverpool fast.

Fortunately, Fraser & Fraser have more than just a dedicated team of researchers.

They employ a squad of experienced travellers who spend every Thursday chasing the clues on the ground.

Senior Case Manager David Pacifico calls Birmingham-based Paul Matthews to get on the road

to Liverpool to be ready to collect any certificates.

Can you go up to Liverpool Register Office and see if you can pick up Rose Atkins' birth?

-Yeah, lovely(!)

-I know, Liverpool are very difficult.

Paul is not happy about facing a two-hour journey on the M6.

The family come from West Derby up in Liverpool,

so I'm on a car park called the motorway just heading up north.

Although Rose died in Carshalton nearly 250 miles to the south,

there's a good chance she may still have family near where she was born in Liverpool or the West Derby area.

Normally, Liverpool would be covered by my colleague Dave in Manchester, but he's abandoned me.

For some strange reason, he wanted to go to Tenerife for a fortnight(!)

I'd rather stop here and do this, I don't think!

Neil is trying his luck with the Sutton Register Office in Surrey.

Good morning. Is Marian still superintendent there?

It covers the district where Rose's death is registered.

He's sent Bob Smith to collect the certificate, but it could be an hour before he gets there.

You don't accept credit cards or anything, do you? It's cash only?

Although he can't pay over the phone, Neil hopes some sweet talk

will save him precious minutes in the race to get information on Rose.

My colleague's on his way out there, but can you give me any details before he pays for it?

You're not allowed to.

But Neil can't afford to take no for an answer.

While he perseveres, Bob Smith is on his way to pick up the certificate.

As Lambeth is en route to Sutton, he's made a short stop in a desperate bid for more information.

This is the address where our deceased lived till two years ago,

so I'll try the neighbours and ask what they know about her family.

Rose died alone, but her neighbours may have seen her with family.

This kind of legwork can produce surprising results.

But on this occasion, it's all come to nothing.

I've tried all the houses next to where our deceased lived and nobody seems to be in,

so there's not really a lot I can do now. We'll just go and pick up the death certificate.

The Heir Hunters really need a break here.

Rose Atkins must have come from somewhere and they need that death certificate to fill in the blanks.

Coming up - is Paul going in the right direction? And if he is, will he ever get to his destination?

It's been three hours and we're still not there.

And a cautionary tale - how a man who left a million pound fortune

faced the indignity of a pauper's funeral.

It was suggested that his funeral would be quick and he would be in a pauper's grave.

We were shocked and horrified and didn't want this to happen.

Heir Hunters put the puzzle of missing family members together piece by piece,

but there are often parts of the picture that don't add up.

Maybe you can help find the missing links.

Kathleen Marian Coomer died in Dartmouth, Devon, aged 79 years.

She passed away in February 2006,

leaving a huge estate of £300,000.

Are you related to Kathleen? Could you be in line to inherit the fortune she left behind?

William Arthur Kerridge died in Canterbury in March 2005, aged 96.

He passed away leaving no known relatives

and an estate of £60,000.

Do you know William Kerridge? Should his money go to you?

Richard Douglas's death was registered in Hammersmith, London.

He was 74 when he died. He left behind £33,000.

Are you part of Richard's family? Do you know someone who is?

If you think you may know any of these people

or someone who may be entitled to their money,

please look at our website for details on what to do next.

The Heir Hunters are pursuing the case of Rose Atkins who died leaving £33,000 and no apparent heirs.

They are not having much luck in finding any information about Rose.

I've tried all the houses next to where our deceased lived

and nobody seems to be in, so there's not a lot I can do.

Neil thinks she may have been born in Liverpool and has dispatched Paul in the hope his research is right.

Running round getting nowhere fast.

Neil is trying to get information from Rose's death certificate from the Sutton Register Office by phone.

They've refused to issue the details without payment,

so Neil lays his cards on the table. Will they help him out?

The problem we've got is we think she dies in Carshalton,

but the birth we've found is in West Derby, which is Liverpool,

so we want to sort of see if we've got the right birth really before we...

She was born in Liverpool. OK, that is good news.

That's fantastic news. It confirms Neil's predictions

and it means they've got Paul Matthews heading in the right direction.

But there is one small cloud on Neil's horizon.

Whereas most registry offices we can get stuff within 24 hours,

Liverpool we find that we can be waiting weeks and weeks.

But Frasers need the information today to solve the case

and get to the heirs ahead of the competition.

The office is counting on Paul to charm his way into the good books in Liverpool, if he gets there on time!

Well, it's been three hours and we're still not there.

We've got a mile to go. Very, very slow progress. Very frustrating.

Lots of traffic, so it's been a bad start to the day.

While Paul faces bad traffic and tricky negotiations with the Liverpool Register Office,

Neil has been getting on with the detective work.

Now he knows that Rose was born in Liverpool, he wants to see if he can get any clues about her parents.

He comes up with something that could help crack the case.

Although we still haven't found the parents' marriage, we have identified a child born in 1916.

This child is a Maude MF Atkins.

She was born in June quarter in 1916,

also in West Derby, Liverpool.

It leads us to conclude that we're dealing with siblings here, with Maude and Rose being sisters.

Using an inspired piece of deduction, Neil has made a calculated guess,

based on the fact that Maude Atkins is the right age to be a sibling and was also born in West Derby.

Maude should be their first heir,

but Neil's discovered that she was married to a Thomas Kellett and passed away 25 years ago.

So if that's right, she dies in 1983 in Liverpool.

So we'll see if they had any children from the marriage.

Or if those children are still alive or the husband's still alive or someone may have known Maude.

We've got another area to look for.

It's a great lead and there's a lot riding on this.

Tony looks up the Liverpool phone directory and finds a Thomas Kellett

but did he have a sister-in-law called Rose Atkins?

We've found the birth record of your wife Maude Atkins in 1916

and of course you were married in 1951. Now, I think your wife passed away in '83?

Did she have any siblings at all? Any brothers and sisters?

Rose? Right, OK.

That's good news. They've found a connection, but will he find any potential heirs?

In Sutton, Bob Smith's visit to the Register Office has revealed an important piece of the puzzle.

As I suspected, the reason she hadn't died in Lambeth is she's actually died in hospital in Carshalton.

Deaths are always registered in the area where someone dies. This shows Rose no longer lived in Lambeth.

In fact, she spent her final years in this rest home in Carshalton.

In the office, Tony is still on the phone to Mr Kellett in Liverpool.

He's found the family, but are there any heirs?

Did your wife have any children?

Yeah, your daughter Jean, she would be an entitled heir,

being a child of your wife, you see.

It's a major breakthrough. The Heir Hunters have found their first heir.

The phone call has confirmed that Rose did have a sister called Maude.

She died in 1983, but daughter Jean, Rose's niece, is alive and well.

Would you have a work number for her?

Mr Kellett has not only told Tony about his daughter Jean,

but filled in a few more blanks on the Rose Atkins family tree.

Rose's parents were Henry Atkins and Maude Nicolas.

They had four children - Henry born in 1909, John born in 1911,

Maude in 1916 and Rose Lillian born in 1921.

But while the Heir Hunters now have all this information, there's a whole new set of riddles to solve.

It seems as if this family, like so many of those the Heir Hunters deal with,

is a casualty of a bitter family feud.

So he's lost touch with them and he doesn't know a great deal about them and he probably doesn't want to. OK?

-Right, Neil...

-Congratulations. Have a can of chicken soup.

-Thanks ever so much.

A family fall-out means the Heir Hunters aren't just looking for heirs entitled to money.

They may be people who know nothing of aunts, uncles and cousins. It sheds a whole new light on the case.

The pressure is on to find Rose's siblings Henry and John and get them signed up before rival companies.

And they still have to make contact with Maude's daughter Jean.

We've got to try and figure out where the niece of the deceased works. She works in a benefit agency.

Coming up - so near, yet so far.

The race is on to track down Rose's heirs, but will Tony be able to get through?

Of course there's a problem!

Will family disputes thwart Frasers' attempt to track down heirs?

-Do you know anything about Henry?

-Nobody knows anything about Henry.

60 miles south of London in the sleepy town of Burgess Hill

is a rather different heir-hunting organisation.

-If you rang the post office, they'd tell you who he was.

-I'll do that.

-Today?

-Yes.

-Thank you very much.

Husband and wife Charles and Mary Teviot run their his-and-hers probate research company

from two bedrooms in their home.

Funny thing this morning, you can hear me and I can't hear you.

A wardrobe doubles up as their national records archive.

-Can you find it?

-No, not yet.

And they're not your average Heir Hunters.

Charles and Mary are a Lord and Lady, but don't advertise it.

I wouldn't suddenly say I'm Lady Teviot on the telephone. And Charlie wouldn't say he's Lord Teviot.

They acquired their title through Charles's father who was made a hereditary peer in 1940.

My father was born in May '74 and Winston Churchill was born on St Andrew's Day, November 30th, '74.

They knew each other for most of their lives, I think.

Charles and Mary have been tracking down heirs for 30 years,

but they usually research cases under £40,000.

My policy is to do old cases of fairly low value, so hopefully we don't get competition.

But three years ago, Charles stumbled upon a million pound case that was just too hard to resist.

80-year-old Peter Eberall died at his home in Hassocks, Sussex.

Peter was one of many brave men who went to the beaches of Normandy and took part in the Allied invasion.

For services to his country, he was awarded the British Empire Medal.

Later, he worked as an accountant for London Transport

and through a lifetime of astute saving and frugal living, he left behind an estate worth £1 million.

But Peter never got round to writing a will and with no known relatives,

the Eberall case seemed destined for the government's Bona Vacantia list.

But as the Teviots used to live in Hassocks, Charles was called upon by a mutual friend, Simon Strange,

to try to track down heirs before the case went to the Treasury.

After Peter had died, I realised that he had not made a will,

so I did suggest that I could get in touch with Charles Teviot to see if they could trace his ancestry.

This was a head start as it usually takes months for probate researchers to hear about unclaimed estates.

He was well placed to find heirs before his competitors.

Once in a blue moon, this happens

when a really big case comes up and people know that you are interested.

The poor fellow was hardly cold, or not cold,

and one felt, "This is a bit awkward." One's becoming more of an ambulance chaser, you know!

But still, it's their business, and it would have been very nice to have had a slice of that.

But Charles's potential gain was a loss for one of Peter's closest friends, Tony Belching.

Peter's death came as a shock.

One of his neighbours noticed his curtains hadn't been drawn. This was unusual.

Eventually she went round to see him and couldn't get in, the door was locked.

Eventually, they got a policeman, I think - I'm not quite sure about anybody else -

to open the door and they found him semi-conscious lying in bed.

They called an ambulance. He was obviously ill. They wheeled him off into hospital,

but by that time it was too late to save him.

He died of heart failure, basically.

Even though they were good friends, Tony had no idea that Peter had been a rich man.

To be frank, I was quite surprised to learn that he was, in fact, comparatively wealthy.

He lived very simply. He cooked for himself, looked after himself.

He lived alone. And his house was, to say the least of it, a little bit dusty.

With no known relatives, the task of going through Peter's belongings fell to neighbour Sue Porter.

Our first concern was to try to find a will,

which proved absolutely impossible.

We did have the keys for a period of time, we searched the house.

And could find absolutely nothing.

When we were looking through papers, there were three suitcases.

In one of them were his father's papers and documents and a copy of his will.

In another one there was a copy of his mother's will and her papers.

And in the third one was his aunt's papers and her will.

The very fact that we can't find Peter's is just unbelievable.

Although they couldn't find a will, there was a passion in Peter's life that could have benefited.

Ironically, the night before he died, he'd said where he wanted some of his money to go.

And the biggest thing he wanted done was his money to go to the Sussex County Cricket Club

and, we understand, for a scoreboard. I'm not quite sure what this involves,

but they cost a great deal of money.

Tony Belching knew about Peter's commitment to the club, as did club archivist Rob Boddie.

-He was a life member, wasn't he?

-Oh, yes. It was almost his home from home during the summer season.

Had he lived, I'm pretty sure that he would have done something about the scoreboard.

All county cricket clubs struggle for finance, so it would have been most welcome. A great pity.

Mind you, it just goes to show that if you do make a will, it makes itself felt.

With Peter's fortune destined to go to the Treasury, Charles Teviot continued to scour the archives

in the hope of finding an heir.

One worked his family tree in the normal way and looked for the marriage of his parents.

I knew he had no brothers or sisters, but nevertheless checked a few years

in case, as you find in some families, there was an estrangement or people get forgotten.

Knew he hadn't been married, but checked to be sure.

In fact, E-B-E-R-A-L-L, he was the only one in the whole country.

Now there are none. It is one of those lines that has rather bred out.

And there was another tragic consequence to being the end of the family line.

As there were no relatives and no will, the council took over Peter's funeral arrangements.

It had been suggested that his funeral would be quick and he would be in a pauper's grave.

We were quite shocked and horrified about this and didn't want it.

Sue was determined to do something about this.

There was an address book.

We managed to write to everybody in that address book.

Peter's community clubbed together to pay for a decent send off for their friend.

At his funeral, we had over 60 people attend.

So we feel we did the right thing. The pauper's funeral would have been absolutely terrible.

With no relatives around, it fell to Tony to write Peter's obituary for the church magazine.

He was a keen follower of Sussex County Cricket Club, as am I.

He was aged 80 when he died.

He was not himself a churchgoer, but I am sure the trumpets will sound for him on the other side.

Still saddened by it.

His friends may have saved him from a pauper's grave, but with no will, they couldn't save his fortune.

I think Peter would have been horrified if he'd known his whole estate went to the government.

So probably the Treasury would have over a million.

It's hard to believe that a man with a million pounds nearly got buried without ceremony,

but without a will, every penny has to go to the Treasury.

This man got a medal for the things he had done,

yet they were prepared to take all his money and bury him in a plain coffin without any ceremony much

and I thought that he didn't deserve that.

When an inheritance comes out of the blue, it can change a life.

Could you be due to come into some money?

Richard John Henry Powell passed away in Redditch in 2005 at the age of 67.

He left an estate valued at £24,000.

Did you know Richard Powell or anyone related to him?

Theresa Hirschberg died in Finchley, North London. She was 94.

When she passed away, she left £17,000.

Are you part of Theresa's family? Are you in line to inherit her cash?

Do you know of Ethel Roberts? She passed away in July, 2004, in Tipton at the age of 95 years,

leaving £15,000, which hasn't been claimed by family.

If you're related to any of these people, you may inherit their money.

For further information, take a look at our website:

Follow the details there.

It's Fraser and Fraser's business to track down heirs to unclaimed estates to give their inheritances.

Today, senior case manager Tony Pledge has been glued to the phone trying to find their first heir,

the niece of Rose Atkins, who left a £33,000 estate.

I'm in London and I've been put through to you by half a dozen calls, so I don't know who I'm talking to!

After finding out that she worked in a benefit office in Liverpool,

he had systematically gone through the phone book and each centre.

Too much like hard work!

As Tony's scant patience is wearing thin, Paul arrives in Liverpool,

steeling himself for the Register Office. He needs them to confirm they're researching the right family

and he needs it today, but is that going to happen?

-We have three districts.

-West Derby.

I thought I was going to Derby at the crack of dawn!

-Always well-mannered, Paul outdoes himself with politeness here.

-We'll pay for it, right or wrong.

But will the staff be as fast as they are pleasant?

-If you'd like to wait...

-I'll leave you to deal with it.

-OK.

Thank you very much. Cheers.

Money paid, it's now a waiting game.

Back at Frasers, Tony's hard work pays off - he finds the niece.

Sorry to bother you...

-But she's on the phone.

-If she could give me a phone back in the next hour or so, it'd be super.

There's plenty to keep him busy while he waits for the call back.

From his earlier call to Thomas Kellett, Tony knows that Rose's brother John Atkins died in 1988,

leaving three children - John, Beryl and David.

He now calls John Atkins' wife, also named Beryl, for some more information.

-Hello?

-Sorry to trouble you. Is that Beryl?

Would you be the wife of Mr John Atkins or his sister? He might have a sister Beryl.

-I'm hoping your husband would be an entitled heir.

-And suddenly Tony's surrounded by heirs!

I've got another call coming in. Can I call you back in a few minutes?

Would that be OK?

Rose's niece Jean has returned his call. She's set to get a third of her aunt's £33,000 estate.

You are an only child, I assume? You're entitled to all of what your mother would have been entitled to.

But, unfortunately for Tony, Jean doesn't want to sign up with Frasers immediately.

We hoped to see her tonight, but she doesn't want anybody coming.

Jean hadn't heard from her aunt in many years and is now a little overwhelmed by news of her death.

She has said she needs time to take the information in.

To make matters worse, Paul is still no nearer to getting those certificates.

Leaving empty-handed isn't an option.

After not securing an appointment to sign the first Atkins heir,

pressure is on to sign up the heirs on the John Atkins branch of the family tree.

Tony phones John's wife, also named Beryl.

Could you recollect anything about Uncle Henry that...?

She's told him a little bit more about the family, but there's still one piece of the puzzle missing.

He seems to be a bit of a bloke. Nobody knows much about him.

Beryl has confirmed that no one knows where Rose's brother Henry is.

Would it be possible for somebody to come and see your husband at about half past 12?

Would that be OK?

On the upside, Tony puts some appointments in the diary for Paul,

if he's not still at the Register Office, that is!

-So we got lucky.

-Very lucky there.

-Absolutely brilliant. Thank you.

It's a result. Paul's finally got what he came to Liverpool to get.

The birth certificate confirms the names of Rose's parents and that their information is correct.

As soon as he's back at the car, he gets the news that his long day is about to get longer.

-I've got an arrangement for you to see a nephew of John in the Wirral.

-Yeah.

And then swing over to see Beryl, that's his sister,

and she lives in...Windsford - not a million miles away - at three o'clock.

Even with the appointments, they can't rest on their laurels until the heirs sign on the dotted line.

Paul needs to get to the Wirral.

In the London office, Gareth Langford has found their first piece of information about Rose's brother,

the elusive Henry. He now has to cross-reference birth and marriage data to see if Henry had children.

I've come across a Julia E Atkins, born in Southport in 1944.

That looks to be a daughter of Henry and Margaret.

Next step is find the marriages and see if we can find her around. It would be good to talk to her.

While Gareth continues the research, Paul has finally arrived at John Atkins' house.

John is Rose's nephew. His share of her £33,000 estate is more than £3,000.

Paul needs him to sign up to Frasers if they are to help pursue his claim.

Mr Atkins? Paul Matthews. Nice to meet you.

John hasn't seen Rose in many years and doesn't know much about her. Paul verified his details.

-What's your full name, please?

-John Louis - L-O-U-I-S - Atkins.

The date you got married? Better get this right! No looking!

-The seventh of the ninth... Was it '64?

-1963.

1963. I knew it was somewhere about then!

He was only a year out!

Having signed on the dotted line, this windfall will mean a lot to John and Beryl.

We might have a holiday.

Because we've got a caravan in Wales, we haven't been to Spain for a number of years, you know.

So we might do that with the spare cash.

Whilst Paul's been with John and Beryl, there have been some developments in the office.

They've located the daughter of Henry. As Rose's niece, Judith is an entitled heir.

Tony gets her number through Directory Inquiries.

If I can make arrangements for someone to come and see you at 9.30 tomorrow,

at your home in Maidenhead, hopefully we can take it from there? Is that OK?

It's approaching three o'clock. Frasers have finally got a completed family tree.

We're fairly happy we've got the full extent of the family and nothing will give us a shock later.

Rose had three siblings - Henry, Maude and John.

Henry and Maude had an only child each, but John had three children.

The Heir Hunters have already signed the eldest son, also called John.

Paul has arrived at John's sister Beryl's house.

-Paul Matthews from Fraser and Fraser.

-Thank you.

As one of three children, her entitlement will be around £3,000.

It's not life-shattering, but it's still worth having.

Paul gives Beryl some surprising news about an uncle she never knew she had.

The office seem to think there was a Henry George and he's got a daughter, Judith, in Berkshire.

-Obviously means nothing to you.

-No. I've never even met him.

She's still not really sure how the family lost touch.

I used to keep in touch with Rose for a number of years

-and then she went down to London...

-Paul takes Beryl through the paperwork.

-Bye. See you. Nice meeting you.

-And you.

-All the very best for the future.

-Thank you very much. Bye.

I've just seen Beryl. She's signed up with us.

Thanks to Paul's perseverance, Frasers can help the two heirs put in a claim on Rose's estate.

At the end of a long day up and down the M6, he finally gets home.

Thank you and good night!

It's 8am and Ewart Lindsay is on his way to see Henry's daughter Judith in Maidenhead.

-Mrs Percy? Hi, how are you?

-Hi there.

Judith is the daughter of Rose's eldest brother, Henry Atkins, making her Rose's niece.

As her father never discussed his background, Judith can only guess at why he broke away from his family.

He was very determined. He only had one hard and fast rule and that was his own.

He wouldn't bear any compromise. I don't know what the rift was over.

That is still a mystery. Why did he split from his family?

Judith had no idea of how big her family was, but she'd always hoped to discover some relatives.

-You didn't know your father had any brothers or sisters?

-No.

-No.

-So he didn't speak about any brothers...?

-Oh, no. He never spoke of anybody.

I'm just, em... I'm just glad to know that I have relatives there.

-Ewart suggests that she contact her relatives through Frasers.

-I'll see if they accept a letter.

-I'm delighted that you're happy.

-Thank you. That's lovely.

-Thanks a lot, safe journey.

-Thanks.

Judith's share of the inheritance is £11,000, but for her it's about more than just the money.

She's now found out about her family.

It'd be lovely to see if we can meet up and just match up photographs, too.

Now that she's signed up, Frasers can help her submit her claim to Rose's £33,000 estate.

Hi, Tony. I've just seen...Judith Percy.

Mm.

-And she has signed.

-What? Sorry? Hello? Right.

"Thank you, Ewart, for doing that"(!)

-Received in an hour or two, right?

-Probably about an hour or two.

Cheers, Tony. Love you, bye(!)

So within 28 hours, all the Atkins heirs have been traced and the legal process can begin.

For Frasers, it's just another day at the coalface, but for Judith Percy it's a life-changing event.

Despite his acid humour, Tony must have a soft spot.

He passes Judith's information to the Liverpool Atkins and they agree to meet up.

I think it will be fascinating for both of us, really,

finding out all sorts of little bits of family history that we need to catch up on, I suppose.

It's nearly three months later and Judith has made her way up to Windsford, Cheshire,

-to meet her cousins for the very first time.

-Hello! Nice to meet you.

-And you.

-Hello, John!

-Yeah, I'm John.

-How lovely. A thank you for all the trouble you've gone to.

-No trouble, no trouble. Come in.

-Thank you.

Lead the way.

Before Frasers did the research, Judith did not even know that John and Beryl existed.

Now they have an opportunity to share all the memories they were denied.

I think those... The two little boys in the background are my father and your father.

I've got a better one than that. I had a copy made for you.

-Oh, lovely!

-The grandma as well.

-How wonderful!

-That's your father. And mine.

-Isn't that lovely?

-You can have these.

-Isn't that gorgeous?

The photos show Rose Atkins' older brothers Henry and John as little boys with their parents.

Judith couldn't have asked for a better meeting.

It was fabulous. We've put together so many family traits,

all the characteristics that family pass on from one to another.

They're all there. And they're so welcoming. It's been absolutely glorious.

When Neil Fraser chose to work this case, he could never have imagined such a rewarding ending.

One direct outcome of Rose passing away is the beneficiaries will get a small inheritance, not huge,

but along with that they've been put back in contact with their family,

which is probably worth more than the money in the long term.

But it wouldn't have happened without one person.

It's just so sad that Rose needn't have died alone.

I wasn't that far away. I just didn't know of her existence.

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media 2008

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