Coleman/Dynak Heir Hunters

'Today, the heir hunters are looking into an estate worth tens of thousands of pounds.

'The hunt is on for relatives who could be in for a windfall.

'Could someone be knocking at YOUR door?'

'On today's show, the heir hunters race against the competition.'

She's signed with a competitor. So that's it. We're too late.

'The team uncover the heartbreaking story of a soldier scarred for life

'by his wartime experiences.'

Something dreadful happened to the man.

May God forgive the people that did it to him.

'Plus, how you could be entitled to an estate, where beneficiaries have not yet been found.

'Could a windfall be coming your way?

'Every year in the UK, 300,000 people die without leaving a will.

'If no relatives are found, any money left will go to the government.

'Last year, they made £12 million from unclaimed estates.

'There are over 30 specialist firms competing to stop this happening.

'Heir hunters make it their business

'to track down missing relatives and help them claim their inheritance.'

At least we've got signatures on paper, and nice people.

'It's Thursday morning at Fraser & Fraser,

'the UK's largest heir hunting firm.

'The Treasury just published their list of people who died without a will,

'and companies across the country are racing to find heirs.

'The team must work quickly, and partner Charles Fraser has identified a case

'that he thinks is worth working.'

We've decided to look at the case of Audrey Violet Coleman this morning.

We've established that she was living in a BUPA nursing home.

So possibility that it's privately funded, which suggests that there's some value to the estate.

'Prior to living in a nursing home,

'Audrey may have owned her property,

'so the team are even more hopeful the case has value.'

Previous home went for 20,000. If it was hers, sold 2002...

Got to be over 20K.

'Heir hunters are paid a percentage of an estate's final value.

'There must be enough money to cover costs and, hopefully, make a profit.

'This is why they look for cases with property.

'If Audrey owned her own home and sold it for £20,000,

'the case could be worth upwards of this amount.

'The competition are already one step ahead.'

Somebody's already phoned you? Sorry about that. Do apologise.

Thank you. Bye-bye. HANGS UP

Competition.

'There are over 30 heir hunting firms operating in the UK.

'All have access to the Treasury's list and all will target the most valuable estates.

'The team pull out all the stops to get to the heirs before their rivals.'

Bob is on his way to the nursing home.

'Audrey Violet Coleman died 26 September 2009 in Dartford, Kent.

'She was happily married to her first husband, Roland,

'until his untimely death in 1968.

'She is fondly remembered by Roland's nephew, Tom Hutson.'

She was a very quiet-spoken person, quite slim.

She never wore an awful lot of make-up.

She was just a down-to-earth, lovely person.

She made you very welcome and always made a fuss of you.

Always.

She liked to have a flutter on the horses.

She'd never speak about it,

but we knew that's what she used to do, virtually every day.

I don't think she won a great deal.

I don't think there's any hidden accounts.

If there is, it'll be a shock to everybody and a bonus to somebody!

'The team must establish whether Audrey has any close relatives

'who could be heirs to her estate.

'Senior researcher Alan Riches discovers that she was married twice.'

I've identified her first marriage to Roland Hutson in 1944 Wandsworth.

He dies in 1968 in Dartford,

and she remarries a guy called Tildon Coleman

in 1974, in Dartford.

'Audrey outlived both her husbands and it seems she had no children.

'There is a stepdaughter from her second marriage.

'Although not an heir herself,

'case manager Tony Pledger hopes she can provide information about Audrey.'

She was an only child?

Therefore, we have to start looking at uncles and aunts and cousins.

That was me speaking to a stepdaughter of the deceased,

who confirmed that the deceased had no children herself.

There were... There is talk of relatives but they couldn't find any for the funeral.

'Research is progressing very fast.

'Despite rumoured competition, the team are forging ahead

'and are determined to crack this case first.

'In the absence of close family, it's time to cast the net wider,

'starting by identifying Audrey's parents.'

The deceased's father may have died in March 1958 in Wandsworth,

which would have him born about 1896-ish.

There are quite a few possibilities of the father's death.

The deceased married in Wandsworth. I think that's her father.

'If Alan has identified Audrey's father,

'census records show that he had two siblings.'

One of them died in 1968.

The sister Edith may have died as a spinster.

'Alan believes Audrey's father was a Henry Bardsley,

'who married an Ethel Eaton in 1919.

'His two siblings would be Audrey's uncle and aunt,

'but the only birth record he can find for a Henry Bardsley

'is a long way away from Wandsworth, where the family appear to settle.

'Case manager Frances Brett is worried they may be on to the wrong family.'

Until we can acquire a copy of his marriage certificate,

in 1919, when he married Ethel Violet Eaton,

we can't be 100% sure that we're working along the right lines.

'Alan sends researcher Jo to Hammersmith Register Office to pick up the marriage certificate.

'In the meantime, the team research the maternal side of the family.

'They discover from census information

'that Audrey's mother, Ethel Eaton, had one sister, Ellen.

'Ellen had three daughters, Freda, Elsie and Jean,

'all of whom had children.'

One of her daughters, Freda Gale, has passed away in Hampshire.

We're trying to find her three daughters.

We've just managed to find one of them, her youngest daughter.

We've got her phone, so we'll be calling her very shortly. Hopefully, the first people to call.

'The team are making great progress.

'It's only 11 o'clock and they've found who they think is a first heir, a cousin once removed.'

Right, I've now jumped on your case of Coleman.

Isn't it nice to have somebody that's keen?

-She's up-to-date on the phone.

-Great. Whereabouts?

-Basingstoke.

'All they need to do now is give her a call and hope the competition haven't beaten them to it.'

My name's Tony Pledger, from a company of probate researchers.

What's happened is a relative of your mother-in-law has died

and left several thousands pounds and no valid will...

'Unfortunately, it's bad news.'

OK. All right.

Not going anywhere.

'It looks like a rival company may have got there first.

'The team are now under real pressure.

'If the competition sign up all the heirs, they won't get paid for any research they've done.

'It's time to enlist the help of the travelling researchers.

'The company employs a team of regional heir hunters, ready to hit the road at a moment's notice.'

We're trying to find a closer kin.

'From picking up certificates

'to checking records and talking to neighbours,

'their role is crucial in the race to sign up heirs.

'Dave Hadley is in the southeast, within easy reach of another heir.

'She is also a cousin once removed through Audrey's aunt,

'and will be entitled to a share of Audrey's estate.'

I'm half a mile from that postcode you gave me in Basingstoke.

'OK. Well, the tree's downloadable, if you wanted it.'

-Right.

-'See how you get on.'

Bye.

She is, in fact, a cousin once removed to the deceased,

through the maternal side of the family.

See if she's prepared to see me.

'Armed with the family tree, and with the competition on his heels, Dave heads towards Basingstoke.'

We've got competition,

so it's important that we speak to these people as soon as we can.

Hello. I wanted to speak to Valerie Winkworth.

I'm really sorry. You've had a wasted journey.

-Have you signed the agreement?

-I have, dear. Sorry.

I'll leave you that card anyway, in case there's any problems.

Right, I've just spoken to Mrs Winkworth

and she's already signed with one of the competitors.

So, that's it. We're too late.

-They must be quick off the mark.

-'Extremely quick.'

She's actually signed the agreement.

You're getting adept at driving up and down the motorway pointlessly!

'The team thought they'd done well to find these heirs in four hours.

'They are baffled as to how another company got there first.'

I'm surprised that they got there so quickly.

It could be they started at midnight

and have been beavering away for eight hours.

It's not looking terribly productive.

'Coming up, the team finally track down an heir who hasn't already been snapped up.'

He hasn't been contacted by anybody else so, fingers crossed,

we might get one heir on this job.

'Will they make it to the beneficiary before the competition?'

'Sometimes, heir hunting cases can take years to solve,

'and involve research in several different countries.

'And sometimes, they reveal heartbreaking stories.

'This happened on the case of Wiktor Dynak,

'who crossed many borders in his dramatic life before settling in the UK.

'Wiktor died in August 1997, in Richmond, Surrey. He was 88.

'He spent the last six years of his life

'in the Royal Star & Garter Home for ex-servicemen.

'Avril Bearsden was a nurse there, and remembers Wiktor well.'

All the people at the Royal Star & Garter Home

all seemed to have families or friends from their war days.

Wiktor was the only person

that I have no recollection of anybody ever coming to see him.

When they don't have anybody in the whole world, you warm towards them.

I certainly warmed towards Wiktor. I thought the world of him.

'Wiktor left an estate of £20,000, but died without leaving a will.

'His case was first taken up by a company abroad, who then passed it

'to Hector Birchwood at Celtic Research.'

This is a slightly unusual case, in that we didn't contact our agent

in Poland or the Ukraine.

Our Ukranian partner contacted us.

They thought that a competitor was working on the estate of Mr Dynak.

They also wanted to work on this estate.

'Hector works with his father, Peter Birchwood.

'Together, they have over 40 years' experience of tracking down heirs.

'Like a lot of heir hunting firms, they work with agents across Europe.

'The only information Hector had to go on was a name and date of birth.'

The first stage is, once we have a date of birth,

to check whether we have a birth in the United Kingdom

which, obviously, there wasn't in this case.

Then, given his age,

he was born in 1909, he was ripe for being shot at

and shooting at people during World War II.

So my hunch was that there should be some military record somewhere.

'Hector's hunch proved correct.'

When I contacted the Ministry of Defence here, they confirmed that,

indeed, Mr Dynak had fought for the Allies under British command,

as I would have expected him to.

So that led us down a new avenue of research.

'At the Star & Garter, Wiktor was a reclusive character

'who played his cards close to his chest.'

Always had a look about him that was vague,

scared of people, apprehensive about who he let into his life.

He talked when he wanted to talk.

He gave some memories of his childhood and what happened to him, but he knew when to stop.

He didn't want to go further and we couldn't ask him to.

'Wiktor gradually let his guard down and he and Avril became friends.'

As ward manager, I used to do the medications round.

I would knock on his door and he would put his hand out to take his medications.

After a while, he would invite me in.

Then, at Christmas, he always invited me in to have a sherry,

so that was real progress.

'Having established that Wiktor was in the army, Hector obtained a copy

'of his military record,

'and piece together the story of his life.'

It provided a wealth of information.

We found out that the deceased was born in Russia,

close to the Black Sea,

which was a surprise, given that we thought he was Polish or Ukranian.

But according to his army record,

he seems to have completed his high school in Warsaw.

So, for whatever reason he was in Russia and was born there,

he then seems to have gone back to Poland

and then studied.

Then the next bit of information that we got was, before the war, he ran a butcher's shop in Lublin.

'When the Second World War started, Wiktor's life was to change forever.

'In September 1939, the Germans invaded Poland.

'Wiktor enlisted in the Polish army and was immediately caught up

'in one of the most devastating attacks the country had ever faced.'

The September campaign was very painful and very difficult

for the Polish army because, first of all,

the Germans used new tactics, namely Blitzkrieg.

Secondly, Germans attacked on 1st September

and the Soviet Union attacked on 17th September.

When all the Polish forces were directed against the Germans,

they were shot in the back by the Russian army.

'When the Polish were defeated,

'Wiktor appears to have escaped to Romania.'

The Polish command issued orders to retreat, as far as possible,

to Romania and Hungary.

And it seems that Wiktor has done it.

'And from Romania, he made his way towards France.'

A number of Polish soldiers who managed to escape to Romania

wanted to continue fighting.

There were all sorts of illegal ways

of crossing over a number of countries in order to reach France,

who was still fighting the Germans.

'Wiktor's record

'confirms he enlisted in the Polish forces under French command.

'But, in June 1940,

'the French suffered a shock defeat at the hands of the Germans.'

In 1940, the collapse of France was a great shock for everybody.

It was considered that the French army was the most powerful army

on the European continent.

And that powerful army was defeated within a few weeks

by the Germans.

'At this point, Polish soldiers had two options -

'hand themselves over to the Germans, or escape to Britain.'

All those Polish soldiers who were...or could escape,

on the radio, they were given instruction or message

that they should go to whichever French port they could reach.

An agreement was reached with the British government

that all Polish soldiers who got to one of the ports would be picked up

and brought to United Kingdom.

'It appears that Wiktor made it to a French port

'because, on 27 June 1940, he arrived on British shores.

'He was likely to have been sent to Scotland

'to defend the Scottish coast against a German attack from Norway.

'In 1943, Wiktor's fighting days were brought to an end

'when the medical board declared him health category D - unfit for military service.'

There must have been something very wrong with Wiktor's health,

because category D almost meant demobilisation or an office job.

'In later life, Wiktor suffered from very poor eyesight.'

His eyes were light-sensitive, so he would have the curtains drawn, maybe open a chink.

It remained very dim in his room.

'It's likely that Wiktor's eyesight kept him away from the front line,

'and he remained in an office job until the end of the war.

'Wiktor stayed in Britain and joined the Polish Resettlement Corps,

'set up to prepare Polish soldiers for life in the UK.

'Something had happened to Wiktor during those years of conflict

'which appears to have haunted him for the rest of his days.'

I don't know what it was. I would guess at torture that was mental.

I think something absolutely dreadful happened to the man.

May God forgive the people that did it to him.

'Coming up, would heir hunter Hector and his colleagues in eastern Europe

'be able to find beneficiaries to his £20,000 estate?'

We have somebody who's born in Russia,

whose family name is Polish, who moves great distances within Poland.

The records are not easy to come by.

'Heir hunters solve thousands of cases a year.

'Millions of pounds are paid out to heirs,

'but there is always a handful of cases that remain unsolved.

'Could you be the heirs they've been searching for?

'Could you be in line to inherit a lump sum worth hundreds, thousands

'or even millions of pounds?

'Estates stay on the list for 30 years.

'Today, we're focusing on three names. Are they relatives of yours?

'Evelyn Bamberger died in Paddington, London in July 2000.

'She was 85 years old.

'If no heirs are found, her money will go to the government.

'Did you know Edmund Kurant, from Birmingham?

'He died in March 2002.

'He is likely to have been of Polish descent,

'but no relatives have been traced in the UK or abroad.

'Also on our list is Phyllis Ellen McCue

'from Letchworth, Hertfordshire.

'She died just four days before Christmas in December 1999.

'So far, no-one has come forward to claim her estate.

'If the names Evelyn Bamberger, Edmund Kurant

'or Phyllis Ellen McCue mean anything to you or someone you know,

'an unexpected windfall could be coming your way.'

'Heir hunters at Celtic Research have been looking into the case

'of Wiktor Dynak.

'He died in Richmond in Surrey,

'leaving an estate worth £20,000.

'Hector Birchwood obtained his military record which stated that he was born in Russia,

'grew up in Poland

'and enlisted with the army at the start of the Second World War.

'Wiktor had crossed many borders during his lifetime.

'It was clear that Hector was going to have his work cut out.'

We have somebody who's born in Russia,

whose family name is Polish, who moves great distances within Poland.

The records are not easy to come by.

'Luckily, Wiktor's military record

'also provided crucial personal information

'which would help Hector make progress on the case.'

One thing we discovered from his military record

was that he was a Roman Catholic.

This is really important in our research,

because at the time of his birth, until the 1950s in Ukraine or Russia

you didn't have civil registration, everything is on parish records.

The other vital clue that we've got were the names of his parents.

We've also got his mother's maiden name.

'Hector was able to pass this information to his agents

'in Poland and the Ukraine, so they could search for baptism records.'

We really had to have a two-pronged approach.

My Ukranian agents would be working on the Russian...archives.

And my Polish agents would then be in charge of finding out about the family in Lublin.

Perhaps at the time we weren't sure the family would still be in Lublin.

We weren't sure the records would be there.

But we knew the family had been, for many decades, in that town.

'Like many Poles,

'when the war ended, Wiktor did not return to Poland.'

In 1945,

Poland lost its independence, due to the political situation.

The Soviet Union took over Poland.

Many Polish soldiers were born in the eastern part of Poland,

in territories taken over by the Soviet Union, so there was no way of going back home.

'The British government solution to this problem

'was the Polish Resettlement Corps.'

The Polish Resettlement Corps was set up in September 1946

by the British government.

The main purpose was to prepare Polish soldiers

for a new life in Great Britain or abroad.

It was simply to help them

to transit from military life

into a civilian life.

'Wiktor joined the Polish Resettlement Corps in October 1946,

'stationed in one of many camps around Britain.'

There were about 265 camps around Great Britain.

The living conditions were very basic.

Inside one Nissen hut there were usually two families accommodated.

In most cases, no electricity.

Hot water once a week. One basic stove.

No toilets. Toilets were organised outside.

'Zpigniew Siemaszko was himself stationed at one of the camps,

'and remembers these basic conditions.'

In winter, when you woke up in the morning,

there was snow outside your bed

and you had to put a balaclava hat on your head,

otherwise it was too cold.

'The Corps offered people like Wiktor the possibility of studying

'or training for a job.'

One of the main purpose was to prepare Poles for British life.

English language was a very important part of this process.

They could also apply for all sorts of studies

and then vocational training.

'Many Poles went on to get jobs in Britain and marry English girls.'

As far as girls are concerned, there were no Polish girls.

Hardly any.

For example, I, myself, for about two years, I can't remember hearing,

or perhaps very seldom, a female talking in Polish.

The best way of learning English was to have a girlfriend.

Quite a number of ex Polish soldiers married Scottish and English girls.

'There are no traces of Wiktor ever having married in Britain.

'The reasons remain unknown,

'but it could be that his heart was broken by something terrible

'that happened to him in Poland in 1939.'

Wiktor got engaged to a girl. I do believe he said it was in Poland.

'Wiktor's family were cruelly taken from him when the Nazis invaded.'

Somebody took them away - his mother, his father

and his fiancee.

His last view was them being taken away.

Why it wasn't him, I don't know, but he always will say,

"I saw them taking them away."

Later on in his life, he talked briefly about a concentration camp.

'When the Germans invaded Poland,

'hundreds of thousands of ordinary people were either murdered

'or rounded up and sent to prisons or concentration camps.'

It is considered that only Jews were taken to concentration camps

but the numbers were, more or less, even -

Christian people and Jewish people in the worst known camp, Auschwitz.

The only difference was that Jews had to wear a David star

and Poles had to have a large capital P on their armbands.

'Hitler's plan was to turn eastern Europe into part of greater Germany.

'He gave his commanders permission to kill, without pity or mercy,

'men, women and children of Polish descent.

'It is likely that Wiktor's family were victims of the genocide

'and the experience scarred Wiktor for life.'

His memories were just too bad.

He would get emotional. He would cry.

Then we knew that we would stop talking.

Nobody could go through the experiences he went through without being damaged.

He lost everybody.

'One member of Wiktor's family does seem to have survived the camps,

'as Hector was about to discover.'

At the end of the war, many families had been torn apart.

People in different parts of eastern Europe wanted to know

whether their son or daughter was in a labour camp or migrated to the UK,

or gone to the United States.

So many would write to organisations like the Red Cross,

which would find some information and either forward on a letter

or give them a new address to write to.

'This is exactly what Wiktor's mother did.

'She had somehow survived, and was desperately trying to find her son.'

She wrote to the Ministry of Defence, through the Red Cross,

to find out where her son was, and she gave an address in Lublin.

'This address provided the heir hunters with the final clue.'

We knew that the family was centred around Lublin, or at least had been.

We could then focus our research in that small city in Poland,

and we were able to crack the case.

'Concentrating their research in Lublin,

'the agents in Poland were able to track down surviving members

'of Wiktor's family, who would be heirs to his estate.'

My Polish agents were able to find

three first cousins once removed,

who, I believe, knew of the deceased,

but were not in direct contact.

It's always satisfying to know that you found the right family

and they'll be getting the money instead of the government.

After three years of work, it's important to be able to look back,

and, actually, we learned a great deal from it.

In that we now have a method by which we can research, economically,

cases that are not very high value

but, nevertheless, we can find families in eastern Europe.

'Wiktor had no communication with the cousins whom Hector found.

'It's unclear whether Wiktor's mother managed to track him down.

'Nothing is known about Wiktor's life from when he left the Corps in 1948,

'to the day he arrived at the Royal Star & Garter Home in 1990.'

I heard varying stories about where Wiktor had come from.

Somebody recollects that he lived in a flat

in the Richmond area.

Other people think he didn't have a home at all.

I really don't know where he came from.

Wherever it was, he wasn't looking after himself or being looked after.

'Wiktor had a difficult life

'and was obviously tortured by his memories.

'But he spent his last years

'surrounded by people who cared for him.'

Wiktor had no-one in the world and I felt honoured

that he would allow me into his room and we became friends.

'It's a fitting tribute that the money he saved

'will go back to his family

'in the homeland he left so many years before.'

'The heir hunters in London are working on the case of Audrey Violet Coleman.

'She passed away in 2009 in Dartford, without leaving a will.

'Her estate is worth a possible £20,000,

'but rival companies have already signed up several heirs.'

We get it at 9.30, send somebody round there,

and according to Dave who's been to see her, she's already signed up with them.

'So the team at Fraser & Fraser must pull out all the stops

'to get to the remaining heirs.

'They've made good progress on the paternal side,

'but have been waiting for Audrey's parents' marriage certificate.

'This certificate has finally arrived.'

I have the details of the deceased's parents' marriage on 2 August 1919 in Hammersmith.

It does confirm all the information as being correct.

The deceased's father, Henry, was the son of a Henry, a hat maker,

which ties up with the census.

'Audrey's father, Henry,

'was the son of Henry Bardsley and Clara Greenfield.

'He had five siblings, three of whom died in infancy.

'The remaining two - Robert and Edith - had no children.

'There will be no heirs on the paternal side of the family.

'The team concentrates on the maternal side.'

We've got three cousins once removed on the mother's side.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that the case is worthwhile doing.

'Although Audrey had no children,

'she was close to the family of her first husband, Roland.

'They married in June 1944 in Wandsworth, south London.

'Theirs was a happy marriage, which lasted more than 20 years.'

Aunt Audrey married Uncle Roland.

We knew him as Uncle Roly,

because he was quite short and quite stout.

The times we had in their company,

they were always having a good laugh and a banter between themselves.

'Sadly, Audrey's happiness was not to last.

'In 1968, Roland died suddenly of a heart attack while at work.'

He worked for Blue Circle cement company, on long conveyor belts

from the pits up to the machinery, which crushed the chalk et cetera

to go into the cement kilns.

Unfortunately, he went off to work one day, as usual.

He was going up one of the conveyor belts

and had a massive heart attack and dropped dead.

'Roland was only 55, and Audrey's life was torn apart.'

Aunt Audrey was very, very upset and it took her a long time to get over

that part of her life.

Because they had no children, she was on her own

from that day onwards.

'Happily, Audrey did get married again,

'to a man called Tildon Coleman in 1974.'

Aunt Audrey and Mr Coleman

were good friends for a long time before they got married.

It made Aunt Audrey very happy to think she found a friend

she could spend the rest of her life with.

'Back in the office,

'the team's under pressure to sign up heirs.

'So far, they've been beaten by the competition at every turn.

'If they sign up one heir, they'll earn a commission and may still cover their costs.'

Perhaps we could find this James Nicholson fellow.

'Audrey's maternal aunt, Ellen, had three children -

'Freda, Elsie and Jean. Elsie married Arthur Nicholson.

'They had a son, James, who's living in Twickenham.

'Unfortunately, they're having trouble contacting him.'

It's the last house in the street. He's ex-directory.

None of his neighbours on one side are on the phone, either.

'It looks like a job for Dave Hadley.'

That address in Twickenham, it is on your way home.

I'm on me way to Twickenham, Tone. I'm allowed to have lunch, am I?

DIAL TONE

Right.

'Everything is now riding on Dave's meeting in Twickenham,

'as this could be the last hope of signing up an heir.'

I'm making my way there now,

in the hope that the competition haven't been there first.

I suspect they probably have.

'Dave finds the house, but it appears there's no-one at home.

'However, a car outside attracts his attention.'

-Does Mr Nicholson live there?

-He does. He's at work.

Right, well, that was a bit of luck.

I just caught Mr Nicholson's daughter leaving.

There's nobody at home but she was able to give me his mobile number.

I'm going to give that a ring.

'Dave gets straight on the phone and finally gets the breakthrough

'he's been waiting for.'

I've spoken to Mr Nicholson and he works at Heathrow Airport.

He's in a meeting at the moment, but he's happy to see me after.

So I've made a tentative appointment for 3 o'clock.

At Heathrow Airport.

It would seem that he hasn't been contacted by anybody else.

So, fingers crossed, we might get at least one heir on this job.

'Dave has also discovered that Mr Nicholson's mother is alive.

'She will be the heir instead of her son, but she's very elderly.

'James handles all her affairs so he's the person they need to see.

'Dave puts in a call to the office to update them.'

He confirmed that his mother is still alive and nobody else has been in contact, to date.

I thought that I'd go and see him at three,

and then make some arrangements to get to see his mum.

His mother, who's elderly, alive and well and living in a care home,

is a full-blood cousin of the deceased on the mother's side, and is obviously entitled.

Could be entitled to half the case, cos we've got nobody on the father's side.

'The team have invested a great deal of time and manpower in this case

'and, finally, it looks like they've got their first heir.

'The pressure is on Dave to get a signature.

'First, he needs to make sure that James and his mother are actually related to Audrey Coleman.'

-Your mother's maiden name?

-Gale.

-She had two sisters.

-Right.

Aunt Freda and Jean.

So we've got Freda... Did you know her middle name was Ivy?

Er, yes, I do, actually.

'James's mother Elsie is the heir in this case.

'As she's elderly, Dave needs to determine what her mental state is.'

-I can see that your mother was born in 1925.

-Yeah.

You mentioned that she's in an old people's home.

-Is she capable of making decisions?

-No. I act on her behalf.

-Have you got any legal...?

-I've got a third party mandate. She's got Alzheimer's, so...

-Um...

-You could actually make decisions on her behalf?

-Yes.

-Quite legally.

-Yeah.

'In return for an agreed percentage,

'the company will help James claim Elsie's share of Audrey's estate.

'But the decision to sign now lies with James.'

PHONE RINGING

'Tony waits nervously

'to hear whether all their hard work has paid off.'

-'Hello.'

-Hello, Dave.

How you doing? Everything all right?

'They still don't know how much the estate is worth.'

We've got no idea how much it might be. Neither has anyone else.

'But the team's hopeful they'll get a signature.'

The chap wants to talk it through with his wife.

Hopefully, that person might be entitled to half the estate.

'Tony has got the news he was waiting for.

'Although James hasn't signed an agreement, he seems happy with everything that's been said.

'Several weeks later, he signs with the company

'and they learn that the estate is worth £15,000.

'Half will go to James's mother, Elsie.'

Tough competition on this case.

I'm pleased to say that the heir that we are representing

is a closer degree of relationship to the deceased

than the heirs represented by our opposition.

It would seem, therefore, that she is going to be entitled to half the estate.

So, clearly, it means that the sum we will receive for our work in this

will, I think, be a reasonable amount and cover our costs.

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