0:00:02 > 0:00:05'Today the heir hunters face one of their toughest challenges yet.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08'They are searching for the beneficiaries
0:00:08 > 0:00:13'to an unclaimed estate worth an estimated £400,000.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16'Somewhere out there are some long-lost relatives
0:00:16 > 0:00:20'who have no idea they're in line for a windfall.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23'Could the heir hunters be knocking at your door?'
0:00:23 > 0:00:26KNOCK ON DOOR
0:00:42 > 0:00:44'On today's programme...'
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Can we concentrate on the Bernstein side?
0:00:48 > 0:00:53'The Heir Hunters need all their skill to investigate a case that refuses to be cracked.'
0:00:53 > 0:00:55This could be a real biggie!
0:00:55 > 0:01:00'And the incredible story of a man who grew up in a chocolate box town
0:01:00 > 0:01:03'surrounded by family, but died alone.'
0:01:03 > 0:01:06It was quite amazing that in all that time,
0:01:06 > 0:01:09he'd never ever been mentioned.
0:01:09 > 0:01:15'Plus, how you may be entitled to inherit an unclaimed estate held by the Treasury.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18'Could thousands of pounds be heading your way?
0:01:21 > 0:01:28'Every year in the UK, an estimated 300,000 people die without leaving a will.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30'If no relatives are found,
0:01:30 > 0:01:34'then any money left behind will go to the Government.
0:01:35 > 0:01:41'Last year, they made £12m from unclaimed estates.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44'That's where the heir hunters come in.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48'They make it their business to track down missing relatives
0:01:48 > 0:01:52'and help them claim their rightful inheritance.'
0:01:52 > 0:01:56I love the fact I can put families back together. I can re-unite people.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00I tell them secret histories about their family which they don't know about.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11'It's Thursday morning in the office of heir hunters, Fraser & Fraser.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16'The Treasury has just released its weekly list of unclaimed estates.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20'Today, there seem to be several potentially high value cases,
0:02:20 > 0:02:25'but one in particular has caught boss Neil Fraser's eye.'
0:02:25 > 0:02:29The list is looking fairly big today, good for us. Quite a few valuable cases.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32We are going to be concentrating on David Bernstein.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Dies down in Brighton.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Definitely owns his property so guessing it's going to be quite valuable.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41Competition wise, it's going to be fierce.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Quite a few firms will be working on this one as well.
0:02:48 > 0:02:55'David Bernstein died aged 68 on 8 February 2010 in Brighton.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58'He left no will and only one photograph of him survives
0:02:58 > 0:03:03'taken when he was five years old.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08'Before his parents passed away, David lived with them in this Edwardian terraced house.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13'His neighbour, Chris Dawson, knew him for many years.'
0:03:13 > 0:03:15David was a gentleman,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17he'd always give you the time of day.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Conversations weren't long
0:03:20 > 0:03:22but we discussed the house,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25the weather and that was about it.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27He worked at Gatwick,
0:03:27 > 0:03:33very smart fellow with a uniform like an aircraft captain.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37'David commuted to Gatwick every day
0:03:37 > 0:03:40'where he worked as a ground traffic controller.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42'David Slack, an ex-colleague,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44'remembers him as a distinctive figure.'
0:03:44 > 0:03:47He was about 5 foot 7 tall,
0:03:47 > 0:03:52of medium build, and he had shocking red hair.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Of course, he wore heavy-rimmed glasses.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58He was quite dour, using the Scottish expression.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02Over time, we got to know each other and he would chat,
0:04:02 > 0:04:03mainly setting the world to rights.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Didn't talk much about social activities
0:04:06 > 0:04:08because he didn't seem to have too much.
0:04:08 > 0:04:14'When David retired from his career, he withdrew from society
0:04:14 > 0:04:18'and sometimes wouldn't leave his house for days on end.'
0:04:18 > 0:04:23I became concerned when I hadn't seen him for about a month.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26I got a funny feeling that something wasn't right.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30So, I put a note through his door, saying if you're OK,
0:04:30 > 0:04:32pop the note back through my door.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36Didn't receive the note, so I called the police
0:04:36 > 0:04:40and they came, broke in the door at the front,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43and then they found his body.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48'It turned out that David had been dead for a few weeks.'
0:04:51 > 0:04:55I would imagine that as he got older, he couldn't be bothered
0:04:55 > 0:05:00to go to the tip and just used the rooms to put things in.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Apparently, they couldn't get the body out,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06they had to remove a lot of items before they could get to him.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10'It was a sad and lonely end to a life.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14'But for Chris, it was not a true picture of the man he knew.'
0:05:14 > 0:05:17The smart chap going to work early in the morning
0:05:17 > 0:05:23with his pristine suits and his cap and uniform.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27That would probably the best way that he'd be remembered.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31'In the office, the investigation is already under way,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34'with case manager David Pacifico in charge.'
0:05:34 > 0:05:39This case of Bernstein, we know, is value to the case.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43'The team knows that the deceased owned the house that he died in.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47'Property in Brighton can be very expensive.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49'So this means this could be a valuable estate.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54'Their investigations have already established that David's parents
0:05:54 > 0:05:57'were John Bernstein and Gwendoline Chidgey.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01'Emily has been working the maternal Chidgey side of the family
0:06:01 > 0:06:06'since first thing this morning, and she's done a very impressive job.'
0:06:06 > 0:06:10- Which side are we up to date on? - This side. The Bernstein.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13- Is the Chidgey all finished? - It's up to date, yeah.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16'David's mother, Gwendoline,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20'was the daughter of James Chidgey and Dora Webb.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23'Between them, they had six other children,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27'two of whom, Thomas and Edith, have descendants who are eligible to inherit.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31'It looks like the family are based in the West Country.
0:06:31 > 0:06:38'It's still only 7:30am, but David decides it's time to mobilise the troops.'
0:06:39 > 0:06:44Can you aim westwards towards Somerset on a case called Bernstein?
0:06:44 > 0:06:50I am getting two people down towards Somerset and Bristol.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55'Heir hunters rely on senior researchers on the road
0:06:55 > 0:07:00'like Paul Matthews and Bob Barrett to travel all over the country chasing down leads
0:07:00 > 0:07:05'and making sure that they reach the heirs before the competition.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08'But Paul Matthews has got a long journey ahead of him
0:07:08 > 0:07:12'and he knows the stakes are high.'
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Obviously, the race is on. We've identified heirs.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19So, if there's value and we've identified people already
0:07:19 > 0:07:22our rival companies will have done likewise.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Just as I'm heading down to Bristol to see them,
0:07:25 > 0:07:29they've probably got somebody also heading down to see them.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33So, it's whoever gets there first. Hopefully, us.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36'Heir hunters work on commission,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40'taking a percentage of the money received by each heir that they sign.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43'With a potentially high value case like this one,
0:07:43 > 0:07:49'they need to throw a lot of resources at it to make sure they get to the heirs first.'
0:07:49 > 0:07:53I've committed two people down, Paul and Dave Hadley.
0:07:53 > 0:07:58'As well as sending two travelling heir hunters to the West Country,
0:07:58 > 0:08:02'David's also sending Bob Barrett to Brighton
0:08:02 > 0:08:08'to size up the deceased's property, and do some detective work with the neighbours.'
0:08:08 > 0:08:12She marries, Sep 1939, in Exmoor.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19'The maternal side of this job has come together incredibly quickly.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23'Now David wants the team to focus on the deceased father's family
0:08:23 > 0:08:27'which he thinks will prove to be a lot harder to research.'
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Can we concentrate on the Bernstein side?
0:08:30 > 0:08:33'Researcher Dominic
0:08:33 > 0:08:35'is tasked with cracking the paternal side of this case.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39'After scanning the registers of births, marriages and deaths,
0:08:39 > 0:08:44'he's discovered that David's father John was one of nine siblings.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49'The children of Hyman Bernstein and Fanny Alban.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51'Now he needs to identify these children
0:08:51 > 0:08:54'and trace their descendants.'
0:08:54 > 0:08:56We're struggling a little bit
0:08:56 > 0:08:58despite my earlier confidence that we'd be OK.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01There's an awful lot of people with the same surnames
0:09:01 > 0:09:04in the same areas really.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08'But it's not just the surnames that are proving to be an issue.'
0:09:08 > 0:09:12One of the brothers is supposedly on the census, Abra Bernstein,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15which you'd expect to be a shorter version of Abraham.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Which isn't really good news
0:09:17 > 0:09:22because it is not going to be particularly easy to identify.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26There's an awful lot of Jewish Abrahams, obviously.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29'Even for experienced genealogists like Dominic,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32'this is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35'David's father, John Bernstein,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38'was born in Whitechapel in the East End of London.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41'An area with a large Jewish population
0:09:41 > 0:09:43'and hundreds of Bernstein families.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47'Looks like he's going to have to try another route.'
0:09:47 > 0:09:50One of the important things on this is going to be people's deaths.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53With deaths, you've got exact ages so it's a bit easier
0:09:53 > 0:09:55and potentially, if they leave things like a will,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59they might actually tell you exactly who they married,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01who their kids are, etc.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04The deaths are going to be really important in this case, I think.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08'Death certificates also contain the name of the person
0:10:08 > 0:10:11'who informed on the death, who often turns out to be a son, daughter
0:10:11 > 0:10:14'or close relative of the deceased.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18'Providing the heir hunters with another crucial lead.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22'Time for David Pacifico to step in.'
0:10:22 > 0:10:24I'm sending somebody from the office to Whitechapel
0:10:24 > 0:10:28with regards to the Bernsteins because we need to obtain
0:10:28 > 0:10:31a number of certificates, identify the births and so forth.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36'Going the certificate route generally takes longer,
0:10:36 > 0:10:38'but on a complicated case like this
0:10:38 > 0:10:42'it's the only way that the heir hunters can be 100% sure
0:10:42 > 0:10:44'they have got the right person.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48'David's got a problem with the Bernstein side of this case,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52'so he desperately needs the maternal side to run more smoothly.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57'Sure enough, travelling heir hunter Paul Matthews
0:10:57 > 0:10:59'has arrived in Bristol
0:10:59 > 0:11:03'at the address of one of the deceased's maternal relations.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07'He's hoping he's about to sign his much-needed first heir on this case.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14'But no-one is at home.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16'At least the neighbour is in.'
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Hello, I'm trying to contact your neighbour.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21I don't really know the neighbours, to be honest.
0:11:21 > 0:11:22- Is she an elderly lady?- Yes.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26'He tries another house but still no joy.'
0:11:26 > 0:11:28Yes, we made the early breakthrough and found the people.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33Unfortunately, frustratingly, there is no reply at the door.
0:11:33 > 0:11:34There you go.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38'This is a real setback for the heir hunters.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41'The research on the maternal side of this case
0:11:41 > 0:11:43'was carried out super-fast,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46'but if they can't meet an heir and get a signature on an agreement,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49'it counts for nothing.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52'The best Paul can do is post an agreement through the door
0:11:52 > 0:11:54'and head off to his next appointment.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00'Meanwhile, Bob Barrett has finally arrived in Brighton
0:12:00 > 0:12:02'and is looking for the house
0:12:02 > 0:12:05'where the deceased, David Bernstein, lived.'
0:12:05 > 0:12:07They are really nice properties up here.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11Having said that, I haven't found the house I'm looking for yet.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15'But it's not long till he spots it.'
0:12:15 > 0:12:17It was fairly easy because it's the one with the tree
0:12:17 > 0:12:20growing out of the roof.
0:12:20 > 0:12:27I'd better see if the neighbours know anything about Mr Bernstein.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31'It looks like the upstairs bay roof has fallen in
0:12:31 > 0:12:34'and the whole house is in a terrible state.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38'Bob goes to see what else he can find out...'
0:12:38 > 0:12:39I knew he wasn't very well.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43He didn't really leave the house. That's all really.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46'..before reporting back to the office.'
0:12:46 > 0:12:50Hello, Neil, I've just been making some enquiries.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Very nice property.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55It would be if it didn't have a tree growing out of the roof.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57It's a three-storey house. I would imagine it's got to be worth,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00in good condition, 400,000.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02'This is fantastic news for the team
0:13:02 > 0:13:08'who are pinning their hopes on this property being worth a lot of money.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12'£400,000 is a great result, but high-value cases
0:13:12 > 0:13:15'attract a lot of interest.'
0:13:15 > 0:13:19One of the neighbours I spoke to got a call at 7:15 this morning.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23She didn't know which company it was
0:13:23 > 0:13:26and thought perhaps it might have been the police at one stage.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29It was obviously some competition.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34'Bob has confirmed what the office suspected. The competition
0:13:34 > 0:13:36'are hot on their heels.'
0:13:36 > 0:13:38Sorry, let me just look at the tree.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42'But with no heirs signed on the maternal side
0:13:42 > 0:13:45'and the paternal side still completely unsolved,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48'David desperately needs a breakthrough.'
0:13:48 > 0:13:54We need certificates from Alan Jackson who's gone to Tower Hamlets.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57This could be a real biggie.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03'Coming up, the search for David Bernstein's heirs hots up.'
0:14:03 > 0:14:05We have got this rolling a little bit now.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08'But it's going to push David Pacifico to the limit.'
0:14:08 > 0:14:11This is a nightmare. This is huge.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19'When the heir hunters start investigating
0:14:19 > 0:14:20'the life of a lonely recluse,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23'they never know where the trail will lead.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27'For Gareth Langford of Fraser & Fraser,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30'it led him to the doorstep of the nation's favourite confectioner.
0:14:33 > 0:14:38'The deceased in this case was Donald Foster.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42'He died on 13th October 2008 in Birmingham,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46'leaving an estate valued at £150,000.'
0:14:46 > 0:14:53We had little information to go on. Just his name and his date of death.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Our first step would be to find his birth certificate.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58Basically, we needed to know how old he was.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05'Donald Foster was born on 3rd December 1924 in Birmingham.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09'Lifelong friend Tom Price remembers him well.'
0:15:09 > 0:15:13I met Donald when I'd be about 17,
0:15:13 > 0:15:17at the Triplex safety glass works in Kings Norton.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20We were on an edge polishing machine
0:15:20 > 0:15:23which took the glass after it had been ground
0:15:23 > 0:15:26and we put the polished edge on for car windows.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30'Donald worked at the glass factory for most of his life
0:15:30 > 0:15:33'and earned the respect of his colleagues.'
0:15:33 > 0:15:38He was a friendly person. He did a good job at work.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41He was popular with the works people.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45'In 1943, Donald joined the Army and went off to the war.'
0:15:45 > 0:15:48He served in the Royal Armoured Corps, I believe.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51He went right through from France, Belgium, Holland to Germany,
0:15:51 > 0:15:52to the end of the war.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56'But away from his work and his life in the Army,
0:15:56 > 0:16:02'Donald was a different character and led a very solitary existence.'
0:16:02 > 0:16:06He was a very shy sort of person and I don't think he had a girlfriend.
0:16:06 > 0:16:07Not to my knowledge.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12'But Donald did have one great passion in his life.'
0:16:12 > 0:16:14He was very keen on music.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17In the war years, we collected records,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20mostly dance band music at the time.
0:16:20 > 0:16:26We used to take our records to work to be played over the loudspeakers.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31He seemed to go on from that to more classical music, orchestral
0:16:31 > 0:16:33and he was very fond of that.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37'Over the years, Donald built up an impressive collection
0:16:37 > 0:16:39'of rare classical recordings,
0:16:39 > 0:16:44'and immersed himself in his music as he became increasingly reclusive.'
0:16:44 > 0:16:48Occasionally, probably we'd go to a cinema or a concert
0:16:48 > 0:16:52but he kept himself very much to himself outside work
0:16:52 > 0:16:56and I didn't see him that often. Yes, he liked his own company.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00I think if he was in a crowd, he'd feel lost.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07'When Gareth started looking into the case of Donald Foster in 2008,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10'the first thing he did was to get hold of his birth certificate
0:17:10 > 0:17:12'which told him that Donald's parents
0:17:12 > 0:17:17'were Stephen Foster and Amy Pettie.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20'His next job was to look for any siblings.'
0:17:20 > 0:17:24We quickly discovered that he didn't have any brothers and sisters.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27One of the reasons for this, is that his mother,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Amy Foster, died when he was very young. He was two and a half.
0:17:32 > 0:17:37'Donald's mother, Amy Foster, died of tuberculosis in 1927
0:17:37 > 0:17:40'when she was just 37 years old.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43'She passed away in City Hospital, Northfield,
0:17:43 > 0:17:47'which by that time was occupied mainly by TB patients.
0:17:47 > 0:17:53'During the 1920s, on average, 30,000 people died every year from TB.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55'Rates were particularly high
0:17:55 > 0:17:59'in large industrialised cities like Birmingham,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02'where overcrowded housing encouraged the spread of the disease.'
0:18:04 > 0:18:10Amy passed away on 30th June, 1927. She died of TB which at the time,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13I guess, was relatively common.
0:18:13 > 0:18:19It explains why Donald was an only child and his father went to remarry.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23'Gareth looked for any children from this second marriage
0:18:23 > 0:18:27'but when he couldn't find any, he moved the search to cousins.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30'He started with the maternal side of the family
0:18:30 > 0:18:32'and Donald's mother, Amy Pettie.'
0:18:32 > 0:18:36The first thing we wanted to do was establish her birth.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40She was born in 1889 in the Kings Norton area.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44From that, we started to look for the census.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46We struggled a little bit because
0:18:46 > 0:18:49they kept on changing the spelling of their surname.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52'The correct spelling for this family was Pettie,
0:18:52 > 0:18:57'although on Donald's mother Amy's birth certificate,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59'it was spelt with a Y.'
0:18:59 > 0:19:03We typed in the correct spelling and pretty much nothing came up.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07As a genealogist, one of the biggest problems we have is name changes.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10The reason this occurs, often or not,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13is because the people who are registering the certificate,
0:19:13 > 0:19:15either the birth, marriage or death certificate,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18don't know how to spell their name. They're often illiterate.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22'This problem was made worse by the poor handwriting of the clerks
0:19:22 > 0:19:25'whose job it was to copy the record.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28'Often the names that ended up in the official registers
0:19:28 > 0:19:31'bore little resemblance to the actual surnames.'
0:19:33 > 0:19:37It was only until we started fiddling around with places of birth
0:19:37 > 0:19:40and tweaking bits of information that the rest of the family came up
0:19:40 > 0:19:43and all the different variants of the surname.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45'Gareth had cracked it.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48'His painstaking research paid off
0:19:48 > 0:19:51'and revealed that Donald's maternal grandparents
0:19:51 > 0:19:53'were John and Elizabeth Pettie.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57'They had seven children, including Donald's mother, Amy.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00'Donald's paternal family should've been as difficult,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04'if not harder to research, because Foster is such a common name,
0:20:04 > 0:20:07'but this time, Gareth got lucky.'
0:20:08 > 0:20:11If you just have a child called John Foster,
0:20:11 > 0:20:12it is going to be very difficult.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15If however he has an unusual Christian name for the time -
0:20:15 > 0:20:20and Stephen is reasonably good as a Christian name - it makes it easier.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24'So Gareth discovered that Stephen Foster, Donald's father,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28'had six brothers and sisters. One of whom died in infancy.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31'With both sides of the family tree firmly now established,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35'all Gareth had to do was trace their lines forward
0:20:35 > 0:20:39'and find the living heirs to Donald's £150,000 estate.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47'Coming up, Gareth's hard work brings him the sweet smell of success.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49'As the search for Donald's heirs
0:20:49 > 0:20:52'leads to a chocolate lover's paradise.'
0:20:52 > 0:20:55It was just so astonishing to see this thing
0:20:55 > 0:20:58where cocoa comes in at one end, there is a mile of conveyor belt
0:20:58 > 0:21:01and out come all these wonderful chocolates at the other end.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09'Heir hunters track down thousands of rightful beneficiaries
0:21:09 > 0:21:13'every year, but many cases are still unsolved,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16'so could you be in line for a surprise windfall?
0:21:16 > 0:21:19'The Treasury has a list of over 2,000 estates
0:21:19 > 0:21:23'that have so far baffled heir hunters and remain unclaimed.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27'Estates stay on the list for up to 30 years
0:21:27 > 0:21:30'and today we're focusing on three names.
0:21:30 > 0:21:31'Are they relatives of yours?
0:21:31 > 0:21:34'Could you be about to receive a lump sum of thousands
0:21:34 > 0:21:38'or even millions of pounds?
0:21:38 > 0:21:43'Aina Austrins died on 22 December 2003, aged 79,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47'in Bingley, West Yorkshire.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52'In 1998, there were less than 100 people on the electoral register
0:21:52 > 0:21:54'with Austrins as a surname.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58'Aina is of Scandinavian origin and means "forever".
0:21:58 > 0:22:00'Does anyone remember her?
0:22:02 > 0:22:05'If no heirs of hers are found, her money will go to the Government.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13'George Raymond Jaffrey died on 2nd April 2003 in Manchester.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16'The majority of Jaffreys currently live in Scotland
0:22:16 > 0:22:18'centred around Aberdeen.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22'The surname dates back to the early 13th century.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24'George left no will
0:22:24 > 0:22:26'and so far, no-one has come forward to claim his estate.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36'Joseph Hegedus died on 6th November 2001, aged 89
0:22:36 > 0:22:38'in High Heaton, Newcastle.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42'Hegedus is a very rare name in England and likely to be
0:22:42 > 0:22:47'of Eastern European origin. Someone out there must remember him.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55'If the names Aina Austrins, George Jaffrey or Joseph Hegedus
0:22:55 > 0:22:57'mean anything to you or someone you know,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00'you could have a fortune coming your way.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07'Heir hunter Gareth Langford
0:23:07 > 0:23:13'was working on the case of Brummie music lover Donald Foster
0:23:13 > 0:23:15'and his £150,000 estate.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19'Donald was a shy, withdrawn character
0:23:19 > 0:23:21'who kept himself to himself.'
0:23:22 > 0:23:24He liked his own company,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27and I think if he was in a crowd, he'd feel lost.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31'Donald lived all his life in the Kings Norton area of Birmingham.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34'He grew up in Laurel Road,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38'and died just around the corner in Cotteridge Road.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40'Donald was an only child,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43'and lived with his father and stepmother,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46'his mother Amy Pettie having died of TB
0:23:46 > 0:23:47'when he was only two years old.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54'Gareth's research had uncovered large families
0:23:54 > 0:23:56'on both his father's and mother's sides,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00'all of whom seemed to have lived in the same part of Birmingham.'
0:24:01 > 0:24:04In 1911, the family were living in Laurel Road,
0:24:04 > 0:24:09which is the same street as the deceased was living at,
0:24:09 > 0:24:12and it looks like the family sort of didn't really migrate
0:24:12 > 0:24:13far away from the area.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17They all seem to live in the Laurel Road area.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19'It turned out there was a good reason for this.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22'Many of Donald's relations worked for Cadbury's chocolate.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26'Laurel Road is close to the Bournville village,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30'built by the company in 1893 to house their workforce.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32'In the early 1920s,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36'Donald's father Stephen joined the rest of his family
0:24:36 > 0:24:39'at the factory, when he took up a job as a chocolate grinder.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43'This was a pivotal time for the company.'
0:24:43 > 0:24:45They'd had just had success with things like Dairy Milk,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47which came out in 1905
0:24:47 > 0:24:49and was proving enormously popular,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52so what they did was, they embarked on
0:24:52 > 0:24:55the largest transformation of the cocoa works at Bournville
0:24:55 > 0:24:59since it had been created 50 years before,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02and Stephen literally arrived as this was about to happen.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05One-storey buildings were all knocked down to make way
0:25:05 > 0:25:08for a five-storey cocoa block that covered the best part
0:25:08 > 0:25:11of 80 acres, and when they'd finished,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15Bournville was voted one of the wonders of England,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18and people would come to see it because it was just so astonishing
0:25:18 > 0:25:20to see this thing where cocoa comes in at one end,
0:25:20 > 0:25:22there's a mile of conveyer belt,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24and out come all these wonderful chocolates at the other end.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27'But it wasn't always like this.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31'The mighty Cadbury's giant came from humble beginnings.'
0:25:31 > 0:25:35Cadbury's began with a little tea and cocoa shop
0:25:35 > 0:25:38in the centre of Birmingham in Bull Street,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41run by John Cadbury, in 1824,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44and at that time, cocoa was a real novelty drink
0:25:44 > 0:25:48and really something that only very rich people could afford,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52but he thought it was a nutritious, exotic new commodity
0:25:52 > 0:25:54and it might be possible to introduce it
0:25:54 > 0:25:57at prices that everyone could afford.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01'But by the time John Cadbury's sons George and Richard
0:26:01 > 0:26:05'took over in 1861, Cadbury's was a failing business.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08'John had failed to make cocoa the mass market product
0:26:08 > 0:26:09'that he dreamed of,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12'and the whole industry was looking very precarious.'
0:26:14 > 0:26:19At the time, cocoa could be this fatty, oily substance,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23and really unscrupulous dealers were adding things
0:26:23 > 0:26:26that would make your hair stand on end today -
0:26:26 > 0:26:28brick dust to make it red,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31animal fats to stretch out the cocoa butter,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33so it could actually go rancid,
0:26:33 > 0:26:38or even poisons like vermilion or red lead.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40'George and Richard's great breakthrough
0:26:40 > 0:26:42'was when they discovered a process
0:26:42 > 0:26:46'that refined raw cocoa into a lighter, purer product.'
0:26:47 > 0:26:51So their new product, cocoa essence, just took off in the late 1860s,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54and the Cadbury name was forever associated with purity
0:26:54 > 0:26:57and a better quality product as a result.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00'This reputation ultimately enabled Cadbury's
0:27:00 > 0:27:03'to build a fantastic business,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06'but they didn't forget their obligations as an employer.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09'The Cadbury brothers were Quakers, and had been very affected
0:27:09 > 0:27:13'by the appalling conditions they'd seen in the slums of Birmingham.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17'Bournville village, which Donald and his relations
0:27:17 > 0:27:19'lived adjacent to, was designed to foster
0:27:19 > 0:27:23'a healthy, happy working environment for its employees.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26'The houses were well-built,
0:27:26 > 0:27:28'and had gardens planted with fruit trees.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31'Workers' children would have gone to one of the schools
0:27:31 > 0:27:33'that were provided for them,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36'along with evening education for the adults.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38'There were wonderful sports facilities,
0:27:38 > 0:27:43'and even banks where employees were encouraged to hold savings accounts.'
0:27:43 > 0:27:44It was aspirational.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47It was allowing the workforce for the first time
0:27:47 > 0:27:49to start to see how they could improve
0:27:49 > 0:27:50the plight of their families,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53so it meant a huge amount to people.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57'Because so many of Donald's family
0:27:57 > 0:28:00'were part of the wider Cadbury's family,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03'and had all lived close to Bournville,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05'it made Gareth's search for his heirs a lot easier.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10'He managed to trace 23 heirs on the paternal side,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13'and the mother's side was just as fruitful.'
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Four stems went on to have heirs, and in actual fact
0:28:18 > 0:28:20we had 21 heirs from those.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24'Combined with the 23 beneficiaries from Donald's paternal family,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27'that made for a total of 44 heirs,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30'many of whom came from the same area as him.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33'But as Gareth began to speak to these heirs,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36'he made a surprising discovery.'
0:28:36 > 0:28:39One of the unusual parts of this case is that
0:28:39 > 0:28:42the family stayed, certainly of the deceased's generation,
0:28:42 > 0:28:43all stayed in the same area.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45In fact, a lot of them stayed in the same road,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48and yet they seem to have lost contact.
0:28:48 > 0:28:49But the family, his cousins,
0:28:49 > 0:28:52were certainly all within walking distance of each other.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56'One of these heirs was Carol Evans, Donald's cousin
0:28:56 > 0:29:00'and the granddaughter of Amy's brother Harry Pettie.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03'Like Donald, Carol had grown up in the Laurel Road area,
0:29:03 > 0:29:07'but had never even heard of her long-lost cousin.'
0:29:09 > 0:29:11We lived at 35 Laurel Road.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Donald was born at 51.
0:29:14 > 0:29:20It was a triangle of roads with quite a close community,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23and it was quite amazing that, in all that time,
0:29:23 > 0:29:26he'd never, ever been mentioned.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30He lived so close to me that I could have seen him
0:29:30 > 0:29:33practically from my bedroom window.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37It was so cruel, in a way, that he'd died alone.
0:29:39 > 0:29:44There were so many people around that could have been with him,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46helped him, if he'd have wanted.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50'Carol's feelings were shared by Roger Price,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53'another of Donald's cousins and heirs,
0:29:53 > 0:29:57'and the grandson of his uncle Arthur Pettie.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00'Roger was named as executor of Donald's estate.'
0:30:00 > 0:30:02We knew Donald had a house
0:30:02 > 0:30:05and I wanted to make sure, before it was sold,
0:30:05 > 0:30:07that it was properly cleared,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11but also, I was interested to find out who he was.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13We did find out one or two things.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18We found out that he was a music enthusiast and had
0:30:18 > 0:30:22over 700 classical records and CDs.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24He had very wide-ranging tastes,
0:30:24 > 0:30:27and he obviously not only had the records,
0:30:27 > 0:30:30but went to concerts as well.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32We did take his records to a dealer
0:30:32 > 0:30:35to find out if they would have any value,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38and although there were some very unusual records there
0:30:38 > 0:30:40that would have been worth quite a lot
0:30:40 > 0:30:42if they'd been in good condition,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45in fact, there were very few that were of any value,
0:30:45 > 0:30:47because they'd simply been played to death.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49'Amongst his personal possessions,
0:30:49 > 0:30:52'Roger found Donald's army discharge papers,
0:30:52 > 0:30:55'which came with a glowing reference.'
0:30:55 > 0:31:00"Mr Foster has an excellent record of service.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02"He is sober and honest
0:31:02 > 0:31:05"and I can recommend him to any future employer
0:31:05 > 0:31:08"for his ability and his character."
0:31:08 > 0:31:12'And what of Donald's £150,000 estate?'
0:31:12 > 0:31:15Carol, for one, had no trouble deciding what to do
0:31:15 > 0:31:18with her share of the inheritance.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21I feel totally guilty about inheriting the money.
0:31:21 > 0:31:26I have given some to my children and we're going to put some
0:31:26 > 0:31:29in trust for the grandchildren.
0:31:29 > 0:31:36We're also going to donate a sum to the Symphony Hall in Birmingham,
0:31:36 > 0:31:40just as a small memorial,
0:31:40 > 0:31:47because I understand that's where he went a lot to listen to the CBSO.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56'Heir hunters Fraser & Fraser have been looking into
0:31:56 > 0:32:01'the case of David Bernstein, who died in Brighton aged 68,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04'leaving an estimated £400,000 estate.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08'Boss Neil Fraser has been assessing the progress of the investigation.'
0:32:08 > 0:32:11So the estate now of David Bernstein
0:32:11 > 0:32:14has proven to be two totally different sort of families.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18Mother's side, we've got a family from the West Country,
0:32:18 > 0:32:22and we've got a good surname and we've got multiple middle names.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26Quite frankly, it's been quite easy for the research to pan out on that.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30The father's family, which is a Jewish family -
0:32:30 > 0:32:32totally different.
0:32:32 > 0:32:33Exceptionally hard to research.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36They have this tiny pool of Christian names.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42'It seems there are thousands of potential Bernstein relatives out there,
0:32:42 > 0:32:45'but sadly, David died completely alone in the house
0:32:45 > 0:32:47'he used to share with his parents.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49'But it wasn't always like that.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51'As a younger man,
0:32:51 > 0:32:54'David had had a very responsible and demanding job
0:32:54 > 0:32:57'as a ground traffic controller at Gatwick Airport.'
0:32:57 > 0:32:59As a dispatcher,
0:32:59 > 0:33:04he had to coordinate lots and lots of activity around the aircraft -
0:33:04 > 0:33:07loaders, cleaners, caterers, cabin crew,
0:33:07 > 0:33:09flight crew, passenger service staff.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12He was absolutely fantastic at his job.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15They had this countdown requirement -
0:33:15 > 0:33:19the cargo had to be on maybe 30 minutes before, etc.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21And he had to make sure it happened,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24otherwise the aircraft wasn't going to go on time.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28I was a little shocked to hear he'd died, and certainly intestate,
0:33:28 > 0:33:30because of his efficiencies.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34I would have thought he'd have covered that one.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37But clearly he didn't have his countdown right.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42'Back in the office, and case manager David Pacifico
0:33:42 > 0:33:45'is still struggling with David Bernstein's father's
0:33:45 > 0:33:47'side of the family.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49'There are hundreds of Bernsteins in East London,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52'and it feels like he's spoken to most of them.'
0:33:52 > 0:33:55The estate we're looking into would have concerned
0:33:55 > 0:33:57one of her brother's children.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59In other words, we believe we're talking about
0:33:59 > 0:34:00a cousin of your mother's.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03'But he just can't seem to make a breakthrough
0:34:03 > 0:34:04'with this side of the case.'
0:34:04 > 0:34:07The person I was speaking to, if it's right,
0:34:07 > 0:34:11is a cousin once removed, but he can't actually tell me
0:34:11 > 0:34:13what brothers and sisters his grandmother had.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15This is a nightmare.
0:34:15 > 0:34:16This is huge.
0:34:18 > 0:34:23'But David's concerns aren't limited to the paternal side of this case.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26'He's also got a team working on the maternal side,
0:34:26 > 0:34:30'and Paul Matthews has just arrived in Watchet, West Somerset,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33'hoping to sign his first heir of the day.
0:34:35 > 0:34:36'The pressure's on,
0:34:36 > 0:34:40'because he knows there are at least 30 other heir hunting companies
0:34:40 > 0:34:42'hat could also be working this case.'
0:34:43 > 0:34:45- HE KNOCKS - Come in!
0:34:45 > 0:34:46Okey-cokey.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51'Diane Everly, born Chidgey, who Paul's about to meet,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54'is David's first cousin on his mother's side.'
0:34:54 > 0:34:58Finally, Paul gets a chance to talk to an heir face to face.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00A cousin of yours has passed away.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03- I didn't even know. - Well, that's not unusual.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06'While he's explaining how she would go about claiming
0:35:06 > 0:35:09'a share of her inheritance, there's a knock at the door.'
0:35:09 > 0:35:11KNOCK
0:35:14 > 0:35:16'It looks like the competition
0:35:16 > 0:35:19'has finally caught up with Paul Matthews.'
0:35:19 > 0:35:21Do you want me to sort them out?
0:35:21 > 0:35:25Yeah. Oh, dear.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27How do you do? Paul Matthews.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30'Despite firms competing for business, etiquette is upheld,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33'so it's considered that the first person on the heir's doorstep
0:35:33 > 0:35:37'gets first chance to sign them up.'
0:35:37 > 0:35:40- We're just going through the process.- Right, then, we'll move on.
0:35:40 > 0:35:42We've just signed a couple, so hopefully...
0:35:42 > 0:35:44Well, there's so many companies doing it.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48'The rival heir hunter heads off in pursuit of another heir.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51'And Diane decides that she's happy to sign with Paul.'
0:35:51 > 0:35:52..went off on her trip...
0:35:52 > 0:35:54'In return for an agreed percentage,
0:35:54 > 0:35:57'the company will now help her claim her share
0:35:57 > 0:36:01'of David's estimated £400,000 estate.'
0:36:01 > 0:36:02OK, pleasure meeting you, Diane.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04All the very best. Cheers. Bye-bye.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09'It's a great result for Paul.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13'He's finally got his first signed contract on this case,
0:36:13 > 0:36:15'beating the competition by a whisker,
0:36:15 > 0:36:19'and there's plenty more Chidgey heirs to be visited.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24'Back in the office, it's a different story.'
0:36:24 > 0:36:28Has he? Oh. I didn't realise that. Has Freddy... Recently, did he die?
0:36:29 > 0:36:32'They still haven't identified a single Bernstein heir.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35'That means the company could miss out on signing
0:36:35 > 0:36:39'that whole side of the family, and lose money in commission.'
0:36:40 > 0:36:45He's supposedly a tailor, I think, as so many people in the family are.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48'The pressure's on, but all they've been able to do
0:36:48 > 0:36:52'is add a few more names to the basic family tree.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56'David's father, John Bernstein, had eight siblings,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59'several of whom they still can't identify.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03'But they have confirmed a couple of sisters, Sarah and Leah,
0:37:03 > 0:37:06'and two brothers, Abraham, or Abra,
0:37:06 > 0:37:09'and Philip, also known as Woolf.'
0:37:10 > 0:37:12If we get that Woolfs' marriage,
0:37:12 > 0:37:14at least we'll know we're on the right track.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17We need his marriage.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21't seems like David's on the verge of a breakthrough,
0:37:21 > 0:37:25'provided there aren't too many Philip or Woolf Bernsteins
0:37:25 > 0:37:27'who got married in the same area.'
0:37:27 > 0:37:31So how many marriages in East London for Philip and Woolf, for example?
0:37:31 > 0:37:38- For Philips...five, six, seven Philips.- Seven Philips?
0:37:38 > 0:37:42- Eight Philips.- And that's, we're talking about round Whitechapel?
0:37:42 > 0:37:44East End.
0:37:44 > 0:37:45It's all looking very bleak,
0:37:45 > 0:37:49but then suddenly, Alan gets a call from a researcher.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53Right, OK, then. You've given us some great info.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57Thanks for that, mate. Right, cheers.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01He's got a Rachel living with that Philip.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04'Philip Bernstein has turned up on an old electoral roll,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07'and he was living with a Rachel.'
0:38:07 > 0:38:08Right, Amy.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12Ditch all of the Philip marriages apart from that one.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16'Now the race is on to find their descendents.'
0:38:16 > 0:38:18And one child. Pearl.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20Do you want to give them a call?
0:38:20 > 0:38:22Yeah. Could you ring Jacko for me, please?
0:38:24 > 0:38:26'The trail is red hot, but Gareth is wary.'
0:38:26 > 0:38:30We're almost certainly going to end up back at the same problem.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33We're going to have a lot of marriages now for Pearl.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37Although not as many as I'd thought.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39Got one marriage, Al.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41'The team think that Pearl Bernstein
0:38:41 > 0:38:45'could be their first heir on this side of the case.'
0:38:45 > 0:38:47We've got this rolling a little bit now.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49He's had a daughter, Pearl.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53'Everything's riding on this new lead, as long as it's correct.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57'There's only one way to find out.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59'David goes off to make the call.'
0:38:59 > 0:39:03The Pearl Bernstein we're trying to locate would have been
0:39:03 > 0:39:05the daughter of a Philip Bernstein and Rachel Bernstein.
0:39:05 > 0:39:10And your grandmother's maiden name would have been Finkelstein.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14Well, I think if your grandmother was Golda,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17then I think we're talking about a different family here.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19'Sounds like it's a no,
0:39:19 > 0:39:21'and it's a crushing disappointment for David.'
0:39:21 > 0:39:26Obviously, it's the other Pearl Bernstein we're trying to trace.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30'Their best hope yet has come to nothing.
0:39:30 > 0:39:35'But this heir hunt has two sides to it, and down in Somerset,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38'Paul Matthews is arriving at the house of Karen Dyer,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41'another heir on David's mother's side.'
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Mrs Dyer? Paul Matthews, Fraser & Fraser.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49'Karen is David's first cousin once removed,
0:39:49 > 0:39:51'the granddaughter of his aunt Edith.'
0:39:54 > 0:39:57- Chidgey side, isn't it? - That's right.- She was a Chidgey.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59They had the one son,
0:39:59 > 0:40:02- and he's passed away in Brighton. - Oh, right.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05Hasn't made a will, so his estate,
0:40:05 > 0:40:07it's either going to end up going to the Government,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09- or to people like yourselves. - Oh, right, OK.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11And the tree gets bigger.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14I know! There's a fair few of us.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16I've probably got today and tomorrow
0:40:16 > 0:40:17to try and get round as many as we can.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21'Karen is also happy to sign an agreement.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25'It's been another successful interview for Paul Matthews.'
0:40:26 > 0:40:28OK, thanks very much for your time. Nice meeting you.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31- Thank you, and you. - All the very best. Cheers. Bye-bye.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33'And the day's not over for him yet.
0:40:33 > 0:40:37'There are still plenty more Chidgey heirs to sign up.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43'In the office, they're winding down for the day.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46'David is downbeat, but despite all the problems they've had,
0:40:46 > 0:40:50'he's optimistic that they will crack the Bernstein side of the family.'
0:40:52 > 0:40:55We've got as far as we can on the Bernstein family.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00We're hoping that tomorrow we might break through on it,
0:41:00 > 0:41:02at least on the maternal side.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06We've got cousins on that side that were easily identifiable.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09See what happens tomorrow.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13'Over the next few days,
0:41:13 > 0:41:18'the team continue to chip away at the David Bernstein case.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21'Slowly, with a lot of hard work,
0:41:21 > 0:41:23'the jigsaw begins to fall into place.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27'In the end, they find a total of 26 beneficiaries.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30'Seven of them are on the Bernstein side of the family.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35'One of these is David's first cousin Frances Taylor,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38'the daughter of his aunt Sarah Bernstein.'
0:41:38 > 0:41:43I used to spend the weekends quite frequently with my aunt and uncle
0:41:43 > 0:41:47and David in Brighton, and he just used to be about the place.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49Nice young lad. I never thought too much...
0:41:49 > 0:41:51I suppose, when you're a 20-year-old,
0:41:51 > 0:41:53you don't think too much of a five-year-old.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57He went to university and got his degree in geology.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01He used to come here with his mother quite frequently.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04I'd make them a nice meal. He drove up, she enjoyed herself.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07'But after David's mother died,
0:42:07 > 0:42:11'he cut himself off from his cousin, and the next thing she heard,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14'the Heir Hunters were on her doorstep.'
0:42:14 > 0:42:18And to hear the way David died, I was very, very upset.
0:42:18 > 0:42:23Upset that nobody had been able to do anything for him,
0:42:23 > 0:42:25or had known about it, really.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28'Although David died a lonely death,
0:42:28 > 0:42:30'that's not how Frances will remember him.'
0:42:30 > 0:42:34I found David to be a very, very nice chap.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36He was very kind to his mother.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39I'd like him to be remembered in that light.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43That he was a very kind man.
0:42:43 > 0:42:48'For Frances, David will always be the bright, happy young boy
0:42:48 > 0:42:50'and the caring, thoughtful son.
0:42:50 > 0:42:55'If you would like advice about building your family tree
0:42:55 > 0:42:59'or making a will, go to bbc.co.uk.'
0:43:19 > 0:43:22Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd