Atkinson/Weatherill Heir Hunters

Heir hunters spend their lives tracking down families

of people who've died without leaving a will.

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

who had no idea they were in line for a windfall.

Could they be knocking at your door?

On today's programme - the Frasers' team take on two cases

about people with relatives they never knew they had -

one whose birth was a shameful secret...

He was bought up in the Salvation Army, as well.

I don't know, maybe in that time, because she was unmarried.

..and the other, a woman who thought she was the last of her line,

when her family lived just a few miles away.

Plus, a list of unclaimed estates worth over £200,000.

Could you be due to inherit some money?

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 against each other to be the first to track down

any long-lost relatives entitled to inherit.

Fraser and Fraser is one of the oldest firms 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 Thursday,

the day the Treasury publishes the list of unclaimed estates.

At Fraser and Fraser's office in London, it's all hands on deck.

Everyone is primed ready for the race

to solve each case before rival heir hunters.

It's always frantic, but today the atmosphere is tense,

as for the first time,

the Treasury have published the list without the crucial figure

of how much each estate is worth.

Partner Neil Fraser has responsibility for choosing the cases

he thinks have the highest value and therefore worth investigating.

We're not really sure of the value of these cases.

It's really increased our workload.

Instead of doing two to three cases like we probably would do today,

I think we're going to have to nine, ten, 11 cases.

Because of the added pressure,

he's having to be strategic about his choices.

I've been looking at the case of Derek Paul Gordon Atkinson,

cos it's got two middle names which should enable us

to work it fairly quickly.

The more middle names someone has, the easier they are to find

in the birth and death records,

as they stand out amongst those with the same first and last names.

Aside from his full name, the only thing the heir hunters

know about Derek Atkinson

is that he ended his days in this care home in East London.

Very hard to say what the value is.

It doesn't look like there is going to be a huge amount of value on it,

but as we've got Bob free,

I want him to really do the enquiry and then see where it leads us to.

Travelling heir hunter, Bob Smith,

has been with Frasers for over 23 years.

In the race to find heirs and sign them up, Fraser and Fraser

employ a crack team of experienced researchers across the UK.

Lovely. Thanks a lot, mate.

They spend every Thursday poised to travel the length and breadth of the country, following the clues.

Bob's detective work is second to none and Neil's hoping that he will

find out information that's crucial to the case.

Bob, it's Neil. Mate, we've got a new case for you this morning.

Atkinson. So if you can just make your way to East London

-and I'll give you the address when we're confirmed up on it.

-Yeah.

I'll ring you as soon as I can.

Cheers, mate.

So, I've been asked to go along to the nursing home and obviously make

enquiries there to see if they have any information about his family.

In the office,

Neil has asked senior case manager, David Pacifico, to man the fort.

He'll need his 39 years' experience to keep ahead of the game here.

He's also concerned about the value of the case.

It all depends what we can get from the nursing home which will find out

whether, for example, did he have

his own property or did he come from a council flat.

If he owned his own property, then it would be of some value.

Property constitutes the majority of people's wealth,

so if Derek Atkinson did own a flat, that would be a good indication

of the estate's value, but even if he wasn't a home owner, he could

have had investments tucked away. At the very least,

the estate must be worth £5,000, because that's

the minimum value to make it eligible for the bona vacantia list.

David calls Bob Smith.

Hello, Bob. You're on the way to the nursing home, are you?

I am, yep.

'Hope this one's got money then, eh?'

How do you find that out?

You want me to ask the nursing home... did he have any money?

'Well, we have to find out.'

That rather tickled me.

Me turning up asking questions

about this guy and asking if he's left any money.

I'm sure that's going to meet with a frosty response.

In the office, David and research director, Noel McHugh,

are poring over the files, trying to find any links for the name Atkinson.

Over the years, Fraser and Fraser have built a huge library of birth,

death and marriage records.

The heir hunters will use them

to track down any potential family members of Derek Atkinson.

By putting the data together, they will build a family tree,

breaking it down generation by generation, they will see who he

is related to and who's in line to inherit his estate.

The parentage of Derek Atkinson is proving to be a bit of a mystery.

We understand he was born in Wandsworth in 1927 and it looks

like he might be an illegit because the mother's maiden name is the same.

If Derek Atkinson was illegitimate,

things could get complicated.

If the birth just shows the mother then we can only work

the mother's side of the family.

We won't know who the father is. You know, it could look

as if it's illegitimate when it's not, so we need to obtain a copy of the birth certificate.

But that means going to Wandsworth,

which is on the other side of London from where Bob Smith is.

Perhaps someone at the care home

will be able to confirm whether Derek was born out of wedlock.

From the outside, it actually looks quite nice.

So maybe it is a private nursing home and he did have some money.

But we'll see.

We'll see.

Bob struck it lucky.

Elaine Robertson knew Derek well and she's on duty today.

We're making enquiries about a gentleman that was a resident here.

A gentleman by the name of Derek Atkinson.

I understand you were one of the staff members that looked after him...

-Yeah.

-Yourself. Did he ever have any visitors at all?

-No.

Any family members or any friends at all?

-No.

-I understand you went to the funeral.

-Yes.

-Was it just yourself?

-Just me and another carer went.

-Right.

-Only the two of us.

-So he literally had really died on his own.

-Yeah.

Yeah. He never mentioned any family?

-He did have a father but they lost contact many, many years ago.

-Right.

He used to have, like, his mum.

-He hadn't seen his mum since he was about 18 years old.

-All right.

But he was brought up in the Salvation Army, as well.

I don't know maybe at that time, cos she was unmarried.

-Unmarried mother.

-Yeah.

-Well, thanks for all your help. That's lovely.

-You're welcome.

-OK. Nice to meet you.

-Thank you.

Elaine's confirmed that Derek was definitely illegitimate

and she knew a little about his background.

And Bob is a bit more hopeful about the value when he calls in to the office.

-Hello, Bob.

-Hi, Dave. You all right?

-Yeah. And you? How you doing?

-Yeah. Not too bad.

Do you know whether he owned his own flat or what?

They wouldn't tell me...

but it's a private care home. It's a very nice care home.

-It's a private care home.

-Yeah. Yeah. It's not a council one.

It's a private care home which means he may have had some money.

Information that I did get

was that he was brought up by the Salvation Army,

but he lost contact with his mother when he was 18.

Last saw her at Liverpool Street Station.

After that, she never came to visit him any more and he lost contact with her.

We need a copy of that birth... in Wandsworth.

-So you want me to go over to Wandsworth?

-I think so.

Yeah. Let's get over there.

All right.

So, this case looks like it's worth following.

And its likely rival companies are hot on their heels.

Bob needs to get to Wandsworth fast,

to pick up Derek's birth certificate.

Once they get the mother's name, they'll be able to take

their research to the next level and track down Derek's grandparents.

In the meantime,

the researchers are desperately scanning the birth records to see if

there were any other Atkinsons born in Wandsworth

a couple of years either side of Derek.

If they find anyone, they could be

a likely candidate for a sibling, but so far, they're having no luck.

They need those details from the birth certificate.

The question is, of course, if the mother's on it, whether

or not she ever got married afterwards or died a spinster,

but at least we'd have a name.

It's midday and Bob's arrived in Wandsworth.

Brilliant. Thank you very much. Lovely. Thanks very much.

He's found out some surprising news.

-Hello.

-David, hi. It's Bob.

Hello, Bob. How you doing?

Hiya. Yeah. We're at Wandsworth Register Office.

When I first applied for the birth certificate,

the superintendent came out and said that another company had been here

looking for it as well, and told them that they couldn't find it.

-Right.

-Yeah. He said... I'll go and get someone else to check again.

-Yeah.

-They did and they found it this time.

-They found it.

-Yeah. So it is here.

So the other company don't know that it is actually here.

-So they've gone away then... the other company.

-Exactly.

May well give us a head start.

Good. We'll see what it says on the birth certificate.

There's nothing you can do without the birth, is there?

Frasers were lucky this time, but they can't take it for granted.

Their rivals will soon be back on track.

The heir hunters need to get a move on,

but for now, all they can do is wait for the red tape to unravel.

Let's hope the staff at the Register Office

are feeling merciful.

Coming up, will David's gamble to back the Atkinson case pay off?

You know, he left over £800 in 1930, which by today's standards,

would have been a lot more, you know.

Or has he backed the wrong horse?

-I mean...

-It's dead, isn't it?

Well, I don't know. I don't know.

Heir hunters put the puzzle of missing family members together piece by piece.

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

Can you help find the missing links?

Muriel Brooks passed away in Ipswich, Suffolk.

She was 86 years old when she died,

leaving an estate totalling £40,000.

Can you prove you were related to Muriel?

Irene Walker died in 2005, in West Yorkshire, at the age of 78,

leaving nearly £28,000. Are you a relative?

Could you be entitled to her cash?

Kenneth George Edwards died in Birmingham, in 2003,

at the age of 73.

Although he had £30,000, he didn't leave a will.

Are you entitled to his cash, or know someone who is?

If you have any information which could help solve

any of these unclaimed cases,

then take a look at our website -

and follow details on what to do next.

In the race to find heirs,

Frasers use everything to speed the process and their sophisticated IT resources are second to none.

But at the end of the day, these cases are all about people.

My name's Robert Smith. I'm from a company called Fraser and Fraser.

And the travelling heir hunters

are the human face of the company, often managing delicate situations.

He's actually your half brother.

-He's dead? Is he?

-Yes.

-And sometimes even reuniting long-lost kin.

-Hello.

-Hello, Beryl. Lovely to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, as well.

-Thank you very much.

Their investigations can take them down some unexpected paths

as Bolton-based traveller, Dave Mansell, found one freezing

Thursday morning a few months ago,

when he was asked to investigate the case of Ethel Weatherill.

Looking back at the Weatherill case,

from memory now it seems like it was a really strange start to a day.

It may have been strange for Dave,

but for the office, it was business as usual.

Ethel Weatherill, seen here in her 30s,

left a substantial sum of £112,000.

A retired cleaner, she was 89 when she passed away at home.

Ethel was always very close to her family.

In fact, she bought this house in Marple

as it was next door to her mother, and brother, Alan.

Now, the deceased, Ethel Weatherill,

had a brother, Alan, who died aged 19, a bachelor,

and had another brother, Maurice, who died when he was very nearly 60.

He was married but had no children.

Frasers knew that she was the eldest of three and had outlived

her two younger brothers, Alan and Maurice.

As she had never married, there were no obvious heirs.

The team needed to find her parents' names to see if there was

extended family who may be in line to inherit.

Case manager, Frances Brett, was running the investigation.

I've spoken to her next-door neighbour

who knew her extremely well.

She'd lived there for some 30 years.

She'd always said that she had nobody once her last brother died.

Believing herself to be alone in the world, Ethel had

made a special request to her neighbour before she passed away.

Now, the next door neighbour was able to tell me

that she insisted, that the deceased, when she was cremated,

had her remains put with the rest of her family

who were buried in Cheadle Cemetery.

Ethel's dying wish proved invaluable for the heir hunters,

as the family plot might include her parents' names.

And for Dave, this freezing Thursday morning

was about to take a turn into the unexpected.

We've sent Dave Mansell along to go and have a look in the cemetery

to see if he can find the grave to get all the information

about the family.

Keep your eyes skimmed now for Cheadle Cemetery.

This don't look right.

'You have arrived at your destination.'

Cemetery gates.

But finding the gates was the easy part.

Oh, dear. How are we going to find...

..the gravestone here? There are millions.

The words needle and haystack sprang to mind here.

Dave thought he might be in for a long, cold morning.

Fortunately, there were signs of life amongst the gravestones.

Morning, gents.

I don't want you laughing when I say this. I'm looking for a grave.

Ethel Weatherill. What was the date?

30th October 2006, in Stockport.

Thank goodness for grave digger, David Hazelhurst.

Hiya. Could you find me a grave, please?

He called Stockport Council

who have a master plan of the cemetery on their system.

87, section 16.

Thank you very much. Bye.

To go to a graveyard, one as large as that one in Cheadle,

without the grave digger that happened to be on site that morning,

I think six months later

we'd have still been looking for the right grave.

The forward-thinking Weatherill family

are all buried together and the graves go back several generations.

For Dave, it was perfect...

just like a family tree, written in stone.

Hi, Fran.

Ethel's brother's dates were on the gravestones,

but Dave was there for the parents' names.

Benjamin Weatherill,

died 23rd August 1950.

And then his wife, Beatrice,

died 2nd December '66...

..aged 79.

Once they had this information,

the office had a fighting chance of finding an heir.

Ethel's parents were Beatrice and Benjamin Weatherill. If her

parents had any brothers or sisters, there was a possibility that Ethel

might have cousins who were still alive.

If so, they would be in line to inherit.

That's it. We're going to go and wrap

our fingers around a warm cup of coffee somewhere.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.

After a morning in sub-zero temperatures,

all Dave could do was wait while the office worked the clues.

This is the first time in ten years

I've had a chance to get a cup of coffee.

Pull the other one, Dave.

Frances was right to send Dave to the cemetery, as the vital details

from the gravestones did fast-track the investigation.

In less than an hour,

they had built a family tree and had identified several heirs.

-Hiya, Gareth.

-'Do you want to go and see someone?'

Well, it'd be a starter for ten.

'Have you got anything on the maternal side of the case?'

No. I've got mother and father and the three children.

'Right. OK. Well, there's quite a lot to it, now.'

It seemed at that point

that all the heirs were on the maternal side of the family.

Ethel's mother, Beatrice, had a sister called Elizabeth

and she married and had seven children.

They have all since died,

but their offspring would be entitled to inherit.

Frasers had tracked down two children of Ethel's cousin, James...

Doreen and her brother, also named James.

It seems Ethel did have relatives and on top of that,

they only lived a few miles away.

We're off to see a gentleman who was born in 1932.

Dave arrived to see the first heir, James, just after lunch.

His father was Ethel's cousin.

As the office had already briefed James, Dave was able

to get straight down to the paperwork.

Easier said than done.

What date did he get married?

-11th of...

-12th.

12th. 12th of... I always get this wrong...

12th March.

It's always the lady that gets it right.

Were it 50?

-Five.

-55.

1955. And your wife's full name is?

Frances...

..you haven't got a middle name, have you?

-No.

-You know,

I'd never thought of that.

Been married 53 years, nearly.

It's like a comedy of errors, this.

-At least we can laugh.

-Yes.

Now, does Weatherill mean anything to you?

-Weatherill. Yeah.

-Right. What do you know about Weatherill?

Not a lot, but I think, actually, he was a cousin to my father.

They lived in Cheadle.

Well, it's descendants of them where the person's died

-without leaving a will.

-Oh.

It was hard work, but they got there in the end.

-Reds or blues?

-What?

-Football.

-Oh, reds.

For Dave, meeting the heirs is always the icing on the cake.

Pleasure to meet you.

They are pleased, very pleased, to see you and it's not always

because of the money that they're going to get.

It's because of the fact that they can discuss families, family members,

people they've not seen for many years.

It was very interesting

and as Dave said,

it got the old grey cells working.

And it's made my day, really.

After signing James, Dave called on his sister, Doreen.

She recalled her distant cousin, Ethel, from her youth.

It brought back a lot of memories.

Lots of things I could remember and lots of things I couldn't...

because I only met him

twice, I should imagine, at the most.

-Ethel's aunt and uncle were Doreen's grandparents.

-He was a very

nice, dapper little gentlemen and he always waxed his moustache...

and that's Grandma and her sister

was mother to Ethel.

But whatever we get,

it's more for the family than for ourselves.

Since that freezing Thursday in January, Frasers have continued

the hunt for heirs to Ethel's estate with surprising results.

We've ended up with a massive family tree,

and we've seen absolutely dozens of people

who will be heirs to this estate.

They've also discovered the case was worth a lot more than they thought.

The estate's valued at about £140,000.

Very few will get an absolute life changing sum,

but everybody will get something.

So the case has been well worth doing.

It's been a really interesting case to do.

A lot of work but worth it in the end.

The great sadness here, is that

in life, Ethel Weatherill believed she didn't have any family left.

Perhaps she would draw comfort from the fact that her legacy

is being shared by so many.

It's Fraser and Fraser's business to track down heirs

to unclaimed estates, giving relatives the inheritance

that is rightfully theirs.

Today, senior case manager, David Pacifico, is pursuing

the case of Derek Atkinson who died alone in this care home.

It's proving to be a tough case.

At the moment, we don't know what the value of it is.

And it's possible that he might be illegitimate.

The heir hunters are desperate to get his mother's name from his birth

certificate, so they can start the family tree and the hunt for heirs.

And there's another pressure.

They know that a rival company is chasing the same case.

Bob, are you back in the Registry Office yet?

Yeah.

Travelling heir hunter, Bob Smith,

has been at the Wandsworth Register Office for over an hour.

But has the wait been worth it?

Thanks a lot. Bye.

Bob calls in with the news.

I've got the birth of our deceased.

-Born...

-Yeah.

24th January 1927.

-Yeah.

-No father shown.

-Right.

-The mother is Nellie Atkinson.

We've got the birth of the deceased and it is illegit.

No father's shown on the birth and the mother is Nellie Atkinson.

It's a major breakthrough,

as the mother, Nellie Atkinson, is the lynchpin to the case.

And now the heir hunters can put a family tree together.

So, can we see if there's any for Nellie?

Do you want to do marriages? I'll just check deaths.

By searching the birth, death and marriage records, they are hoping

they will find Nellie's parents and possibly, if she had any siblings.

But David's got another idea.

Good afternoon. I'm trying to check an old electoral roll address

for an address in Lambeth SE5.

David's using the electoral roll

to see if the address from the birth certificate had any other

Atkinsons living there in 1927,

the year that Derek was born.

Noel, I've got something for you.

That address, I've just heard back from the...

and we've got two Atkinsons there.

Alice Emma Atkinson and Walter Alexander Atkinson.

I think these may be the grandparents.

David's inspired piece of research has saved

precious minutes in the race to find family members.

The heir hunters can now build their family tree.

They know that Derek's mum was called Nellie Atkinson

and they believe her parents were Walter Alexander Atkinson

and Alice Emma Atkinson,

so they need to see if they can find any brothers or sisters for Nellie.

Travelling heir hunter, Bob Smith's

at Wandsworth Register Office, waiting for news.

-David has a job for him.

-Yep. Yeah.

So, David's asked me to get a copy of the marriage of the grandparents,

which is here and perhaps try and see if we can do a birth search

to see if there are any other siblings.

Back in the office, research director, Noel,

has uncovered a basic death record, which might reveal a lot more about Nellie.

Methinks she may have died a spinster, in 1985, in Worthing,

and what I want to do is to find out if the death coincides with the birth

and who the informant is on that death.

Maybe it might have been a nephew or niece of the mother which...

better for us.

David needs to get a man down to Worthing to pick up Nellie's death certificate.

With Bob Smith in place at Wandsworth, trying to find potential siblings to Nellie,

he calls another travelling heir hunter, Bob Barrett.

-Hello.

-Bob. Hello. It's David.

-Hello, mate.

-May need a death certificate picked up from Worthing.

-Okey-doke.

-Can you get there in an hour? They close at four.

It's about half past two now,

just after half past two and it's about 40 miles away,

so I should be able to get there in time,

provided they're not too busy when I arrive.

Back in the office, Noel and David have come up with a cunning plan.

They're going through the census.

This is a national population survey which has been conducted

by the government every ten years since 1841.

It's a comprehensive list of the names of all the people living at every address in Britain.

They are only released 100 years after they were taken, so the latest

census the Frasers' team have is from 1901. Nellie and her

family were living at this house in South London in that year.

She would have been eight and the census may reveal other siblings in the household.

The good news is that it confirms they have the right family,

but it looks like Noel's uncovered a problem.

Right. Do you want to fill me in? You say it's a

-potentially dead case.

-Because...

-01 census...

-01 census of Walter...

-living with who?

-Alice, and Nellie.

-She's eight years old.

She's eight years old, with two servants and they're both 37.

Noel is concerned because he believes that Nellie's the only child listed.

And has her parents were in their late 30s at the time,

it is less likely there would be more offspring.

Well, there's a possibility there may not be any heirs on this case,

if the mother was an only child and on the 01 census there was no other siblings of her shown...

but, and it is a big but,

there may well be other births after 01.

But David's not about to give up. He's determined to find an heir.

Can you check to see if there are any births after 01 of Atkinsons in Wandsworth or Lambeth?

The census has revealed something else about Nellie's parents,

which could prove beneficial to the case.

If he's got servants that makes it even better.

If he's got servants, the grandparents, then the deceased, hopefully, he's got money.

This has opened up another area to investigate.

David has decided to order up a copy of Nellie's father,

Walter Atkinson's will from the Registry of Probates,

which is a few miles from their office.

We need to know what's on the will and this is where we'll know, probably, how many children he had.

In Wandsworth, travelling heir hunter, Bob Smith's been asked to do

a birth search on possible siblings for Nellie, but there's a problem.

So we can't...

-definitely can't do it today.

-No.

-Can't do it tomorrow.

And, obviously, probably closed, aren't you?

-We're just closed for the holidays.

-Yeah.

With the Christmas holidays looming, it will be weeks before they can do the search.

They really need Nellie's death certificate.

Luckily, Bob Barrett's made good progress on the road to Worthing.

He's just arrived at the Register Office in the nick of time.

In the office, David's stuck in limbo.

He's waiting for the grandfather's will and the information from the death certificate.

The stress has pushed him to comfort eating.

I'm going to have a bad lunch today. I'm going to have my croissant and a mince pie.

But before he can digest his first mouthful, it's action stations.

The will has arrived. This document could blow the whole case wide open.

I've got the will of the grandfather here.

You know, he left over £800 in 1930,

which, by today's standards, would be a lot more, you know.

£800 in the '30s is the equivalent

of £22,000 in today's cash.

So there was some money in the family,

but who did Derek's grandfather leave it to?

Three or four of my children.

It doesn't actually give details of any of his children.

The date of the will was 1892.

He only got married a year before that.

So he made the will just after his marriage.

So Walter made the will a long time before he had any children.

His forward thinking hasn't helped David, though.

-Research director, Gareth Langford can't resist having a dig.

-I mean,

-I'm not...

-It's dead, isn't it?

-I don't know. I don't know. Who knows?

It seems this case has stalled and they really need a break.

David's pinning all his hopes on Nellie's death certificate

which Bob Barrett has just collected in Worthing.

-Hello.

-Hello, David.

-Hello, Bob.

The very obliging staff at Worthing have produced a certificate for me.

-Right.

-It's Nellie Atkinson.

-Yeah.

-Died 18th March 1985.

And the informant...

-Yeah.

-..was Nancy Joan Darlow Atkinson.

-Sister-in-law.

-Sister-in-law.

That's an astounding piece of news.

It seems that Nellie may not have been an only child.

Well, basically, the informant on what I believe is the mother's

death, is a sister-in-law,

which means that she may well have had a brother.

Because Nellie had a sister-in-law,

she must have had a brother.

If he has had children, they would be Derek Atkinson's cousins

and therefore, heirs to his estate.

We need to pick up the death of Nancy Joan Darlow Atkinson.

It would show who she was the wife or widow of, and then,

obviously, check to see if there's any issue of that marriage.

But at just after 4pm, they're cutting it fine.

The sister-in-law's name is the key to finding Nellie's brother.

Is there a way we can find that marriage?

Perhaps we could work it back. Alexander.

Noel's looking for the marriage details on their system.

And David starts scanning the electoral roll for the address

sister-in-law Nancy gave on Nellie's death certificate.

That ties in with this.

Suddenly, he hits gold.

There's somebody called Johnny Atkinson living at the same place

as where the sister-in-law lived until she died.

Also living there was Alexander Atkinson,

who we now know was Nellie's brother.

So, it looks like Nellie had a brother called Alexander Atkinson.

He was born in 1901,

just after the census when Nellie was eight years old.

But what about the third name listed at the address?

Was John Atkinson, Alexander and Nancy's son?

One way to find out is to get Nancy's death certificate.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to get Bob Barrett to go

to Leatherhead Register Office to pick up a death in 1995,

of the mother's sister-in-law, to see who the informant is.

It's gone 4pm

and after four hours stuck in Wandsworth,

Bob Smith's feeling a little jaded.

Hello, Bob. David. I just want to update you.

'I'm using Bob, obviously, to get the death.'

I'm missing out again, Dave.

-'What?'

-I'm missing out...

I'm getting withdrawal symptoms.

I haven't been to see anyone for such a long time. OK. Thanks, Dave.

-'Cheers, Bob.'

-Thanks a lot. Bye.

'Bye.'

Well, self explanatory. I'm not needed any more now.

Well, Bob can go home, but David's going into overtime.

He's determined to crack this case

before the day is out. In one last ditch attempt,

he phones the house listed for Nancy on Nellie's death certificate,

hoping to gather information.

I'm going to phone up somebody now owning the property

where the family used to live and something might come up.

Oh, hello. Mrs O'Brian?

I'm sorry to trouble you. I wonder if you can help me.

We're trying to trace a family that used to live at Corner Cottage.

People by the name of Atkinson.

We think there might have been children, or at least a son.

Two children, a son and a daughter.

It's a lucky strike and a cracking piece of news.

That last minute phone call has uncovered another heir.

Heather and John are both cousins to the deceased, but they've still

got a long way to go if they're to find them before the competition.

But at least we've done a lot of work today

and it's paid dividends, I think.

Dave got results, but it's time to down tools.

Tomorrow, they need to track down John and Heather.

Nothing is over until the heirs have signed on the dotted line.

Government coffers are overflowing with cash that is yet to be claimed.

Is it possible that you are due some inheritance?

Arthur Colin Parker died in Flintshire, at the age of 71.

He left a tidy sum of £76,000.

Are you entitled to his fortune?

William Isles passed away in the Borough of Westminster,

at the age of 72, leaving £20,000.

Are you related to William?

Can you prove you're entitled to his cash?

John Martin died in July 2005

in Exeter, Devon, at the age of 61.

He left behind a small estate of £22,000.

If you are related to John Martin and can prove it,

you could be in line for a windfall.

If you have any information on these cases,

then take a look at our website -

It's Friday, the second day on the case of Derek Atkinson,

who died with no known family, in a care home in East London.

He never mentioned any family.

-He did have family but they lost contact many, many years ago.

-Right.

Senior case manager, David Pacifico and his team, still

don't know the value of the case,

but they have found out that Derek was illegitimate.

Through dogged pursuit of the clues, they discover

that his mother, Nellie, had a brother called Alexander.

Well, basically, the informant on what I believe is the mother's death

is the sister-in-law, which means that she may well have had a brother.

They know that Alexander Atkinson

and his wife, Nancy, had two children and they will be heirs.

And today, the race is on to track them down.

In the hope that it will contain details on the heirs,

Bob Barrett's just collected Nancy's death certificate.

-'Morning, Bob.'

-Hiya.

I've just picked up Nancy Atkinson's death certificate.

-'Oh, yeah.'

-Widow of Alexander Herbert Bramley Atkinson.

Informant, John Edward Alexander Atkinson.

Son in attendance.

Nancy's death certificate confirms their first heir,

but the office has already been hard at work

and David has some news for Bob.

'We think he's now down in Chichester.'

-Right.

-'Do you fancy a trip down there?'

-Sure.

-'What we don't know is where Heather is, the sister.'

-Right.

While the office keep hunting for Heather, John's sister, and also

a cousin of Derek's, Bob races to Chichester to meet John Atkinson.

They're hoping he's in and that he hasn't been approached by a rival company.

At the moment, the way it stands,

we've only got the possibility of two beneficiaries unless we get

more information from the family, because we can't be certain that

the deceased mother may not have had other brothers and sisters,

although I think it may be unlikely,

but nonetheless, if anybody should know,

hopefully he and/or his sister or his cousins.

John may be able to shed some light on other possible heirs,

but will he have any idea he had a cousin called Derek,

who was brought up by the Salvation Army?

I'm not sure what knowledge they'll have about the cousin,

because the deceased was brought up not by the mother, it would seem,

from the initial enquiry.

In Chichester, it's good news.

John Atkinson is in.

I'm Bob Barrett, from a firm called Fraser and Fraser.

-We're probate researchers.

-Yes.

And even better, Bob's got there before the competition,

thanks to the heir hunters' hard work.

We believe that you are an heir to some money and we'd like to act

-for you to claim the money.

-Right.

So what is this particular estate?

Unless it is a very close relative,

-we don't disclose who it is until a person has become a client.

-Right.

Bob's keeping his information close to his chest and to double check

if John is their man, Bob asks him some basic family questions.

-Your father was Alexander Herbert Bramley Atkinson.

-That's right.

So far so good, but John has a surprise for Bob.

He had two sisters who lived in Worthing.

Do you remember the names?

One was called Winifred.

That's a turn up for the books.

Frasers thought Nellie only had a brother, Alexander, John's father,

but now they know she also had a sister, Winifred...

but did Winifred marry or have children?

-Did she marry?

-No. She didn't.

-Any children?

-No.

So John is confident there are no heirs through Winifred,

but does he know about his cousin, Derek?

And the other sister was called Nellie...

Atkinson.

Did she marry?

No. No children.

So John has no idea about Derek.

Clearly, he was a family secret and Bob decides to leave it that way,

as John says he'd like to speak to his sister, Heather, before signing.

-Nice to meet you.

-And you.

Thanks. Thanks very much for seeing me at such short notice.

-It's been very interesting.

-Hope we meet again.

-I shall be in touch, anyway, give the company a ring and take it from there.

-Thanks a lot. Bye-bye.

Bye then.

The Atkinson case is a prime example

of why heir hunting can be so challenging.

Secrets that have been hidden for generations are uncovered

and laid bare through the simple act of ordering up a birth certificate.

Bob Barrett phones the news in to David.

What did he know about the family?

Very little. There was another sister.

-Right.

-The other sister, Winifred, was also a spinster.

Now, she died sometime in the '70s in Worthing.

-Yeah.

-And Nellie, who he believed was a spinster with no issue.

So he didn't know that Nellie had any issue?

-No.

-He'll be surprised when he learns that his aunt may have been a spinster with a child.

Exactly. Yeah.

-So that's it then. Thanks, Bob.

-Cheers.

Bye.

After a day and a half of solid investigation, they found the heirs to Derek Atkinson's estate.

If Winifred dies, no issue, then we're left with just John

and his sister as the only two claimants on this.

In the end, John did find out that he had a cousin, Derek,

and decided to file his own claim.

Because of this, Frasers will never know how much

Derek Atkinson left behind.

The minimum value of any estate on the government's list is £5,000,

but as far as the exact amount,

rather like Derek Atkinson himself,

it remains a family secret.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd