0:00:02 > 0:00:06Today the heir hunters are researching an estate worth an astronomical amount of money.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12Somewhere out there are some long-lost relatives
0:00:12 > 0:00:15who have no idea they're in line for a windfall.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Could the heir hunters be knocking at your door?
0:00:32 > 0:00:34On today's programme...
0:00:34 > 0:00:36Now we can rock'n'roll.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40..it's pennies from heaven for one lucky beneficiary.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42When I discovered the value of the estate, I was staggered.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45An heir hunt that travels across the globe
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and uncovers one of the most valuable estates ever.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51He's going to receive a truly life-changing amount of money.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54And an heir retraces his grandfather's footsteps...
0:00:54 > 0:00:56He's done things that we can never, ever dream of doing.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59..deep in the trenches of World War I.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03When the whistles went and you'd go off over the top,
0:01:03 > 0:01:07you were just sort of floundering almost waist deep in mud and water.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12Plus how you may be entitled to inherit an unclaimed estate held by the Treasury.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15Could thousands of pounds be heading your way?
0:01:23 > 0:01:28Every year in the UK, an estimated 300,000 people die
0:01:28 > 0:01:30without leaving a will.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32If no relatives are found,
0:01:32 > 0:01:36then any money that's left behind will go to the Government.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40Last year, they made £14 million from unclaimed estates.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43That's where the heir hunters come in.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47There are over 30 specialist firms who make it their business
0:01:47 > 0:01:52to track down missing relatives and help them claim their rightful inheritance.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55People are entitled to this money. We make sure they get it.
0:02:05 > 0:02:06It's early on Thursday morning
0:02:06 > 0:02:10at the offices of heir hunters Fraser and Fraser.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14- Can you check probate, Debbie?- And the team are already hard at work.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17- That could be right. - No, I don't like that. Wrong age.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22The Treasury has just released its list of people who've died without leaving a will
0:02:22 > 0:02:23and boss Neil Fraser
0:02:23 > 0:02:27has spotted a case which is a little out of the ordinary.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31What we're looking at today is the case of Robert Ford Mead
0:02:31 > 0:02:33and he dies in Thailand.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37The list of unclaimed estates normally only covers people
0:02:37 > 0:02:40who have died in England or Wales.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43The only exception is when somebody dies overseas
0:02:43 > 0:02:46but leaves behind assets in the UK.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Neil knows that this case could be fraught with difficulties.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55This is going to be very, very hard for us to get on.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00We don't know if we're going to be able to get the death certificate, we don't know how old he is,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03because we take that information usually off the death certificate.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06We certainly don't know what type of assets he's got.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10The team are hoping they're dealing with a wealthy ex-pat
0:03:10 > 0:03:14who's left behind a property, bank account or pension in the UK.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18But Robert Mead could just as easily have died with
0:03:18 > 0:03:20no more than a few thousand pounds to his name.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23So the team are taking a massive gamble.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Heir hunters work on commission,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28receiving a percentage of an estate's final value.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31If the value is substantial, they'll make a profit.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34If the value is very low, they could have trouble just breaking even.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Neil puts senior researcher Gareth in charge of the case.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45- Have we got a manager on this?- Yeah.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Gareth is an experienced heir hunter
0:03:48 > 0:03:54but already he's worried about the seemingly insurmountable task ahead of him.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57I haven't got an area in the UK to look for him.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59So I don't know where he was from originally.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03Was he living in Thailand? Was he just on holiday in Thailand?
0:04:03 > 0:04:06I've literally only got his name, Robert Ford Mead.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09So I'm struggling to identify anything, really.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13With no leads to go on, Gareth decides a sensible place
0:04:13 > 0:04:17to start his enquiries is with the British Embassy in Thailand.
0:04:17 > 0:04:18So he gives them a call.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23We are actually in the process of trying to locate the heirs to his estate
0:04:23 > 0:04:26and at the moment we've got so little information to go on
0:04:26 > 0:04:30I was hoping you might have some further details.
0:04:30 > 0:04:31This turns out to be a good move,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35as the embassy in Bangkok is more than willing to help.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39Thank you very, very much. Cheers, bye.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44He thinks they will almost certainly have a file on the deceased
0:04:44 > 0:04:46and he's going to root out that file
0:04:46 > 0:04:50and hopefully e-mail or call us back with some details.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Robert was one of around 6,000 British nationals
0:04:53 > 0:04:55who die every year overseas.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00Before his name appeared on the Treasury list, his death would have
0:05:00 > 0:05:05set in motion a whole chain of events both in Thailand and the UK.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09The responsibility for deaths abroad lies with the Foreign Office.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11When a death comes in,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14it will always be the frontline services at our embassy,
0:05:14 > 0:05:18our consulate, our high commission that will generally deal with it.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22And that can obviously mean immediately dealing with
0:05:22 > 0:05:25the authorities, it can mean dealing with the police, the hospital,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27depending on the nature of the death.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29It will be called in to London
0:05:29 > 0:05:32and we will obviously start looking for the next of kin here.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Finding the next of kin is of paramount importance.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39In an ideal world, there would be, in the back of the passport,
0:05:39 > 0:05:41where it says "next of kin", details,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44but unfortunately that doesn't always happen.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48So you may look through some of the belongings,
0:05:48 > 0:05:53you may have to look at the credit card details, any personal letters.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57Talk to the ex-pat community, did they know him?
0:05:57 > 0:06:01Was he a member of any clubs? Is he registered with the embassy?
0:06:03 > 0:06:07With the British Embassy in Thailand on the case, things are looking up.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09While Gareth waits for them to get back to him,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12the rest of the team start pursuing other leads,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16and it's not long before they make a breakthrough.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19What we've been able to do is, through a process of
0:06:19 > 0:06:22pure elimination, identify the address for the deceased.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27By going through all the Robert F Meads they could find on the electoral roll,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30the team have been able to identify one who was living by himself.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33They believe this is the correct Robert Mead
0:06:33 > 0:06:37and the electoral roll provides them with his address.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40He owns a property down in Eastbourne and it looks like a family home
0:06:40 > 0:06:43so we've got value on it so we've started rolling on it.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46This is exactly what Neil was hoping for.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51A family home in Eastbourne could be worth a substantial sum of money
0:06:51 > 0:06:56so the team now know it's worth their while to continue pursuing this case.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Now we can rock'n'roll.
0:07:01 > 0:07:08Robert Mead died on 17 February 2010 in Koh Samui in Thailand.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12But the team have now discovered he did have a life in the UK.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15His next-door neighbour, Ramesh Patel,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17knew him from when he was a young man.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22Robert was a shy boy. Very, very shy.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27I never saw any friends,
0:07:27 > 0:07:29not even a boy friend, not even a girlfriend.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Robert shared a house in London with his parents,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35to whom he was very close.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Robert loves his mother a lot. That we saw.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Because they always go together, no?
0:07:41 > 0:07:43All three of them.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46His parents eventually retired to Eastbourne,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48but Robert stayed on in London,
0:07:48 > 0:07:51where he worked as a development manager
0:07:51 > 0:07:53for a well-known cake and biscuit company.
0:07:53 > 0:07:59He always comes with the van, Mr Kipling cakes, or McVitie's.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03He always parked the van here, in front of the house.
0:08:03 > 0:08:09That's why I knew that he's working for McVitie's or Mr Kipling.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14The team now know that Robert owned a property in the UK,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17which means there is money in the estate.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19But the discovery of his address
0:08:19 > 0:08:22has also provided them with a vital clue -
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Robert's age when he died.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25He's 63 years old,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28which is pretty much how old we thought he was going to be.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31So the team can now work out the year that Robert was born,
0:08:31 > 0:08:36and thus identify the correct birth record for him.
0:08:36 > 0:08:37Once they have the correct birth,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40they can begin to look for other family members.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Well, now we've got his birth, we can work it,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46so he appeared to be living with a John and an Isabella, who are probably the parents,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48so we are going to work those.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51We need to see if he's got any brothers and sisters.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Researcher Debbie gets on the case.
0:08:55 > 0:09:00I just want to double-check the spelling of the mother's maiden name.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02She finds a marriage for Robert's parents,
0:09:02 > 0:09:04rather unexpectedly, in Scotland,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08and then goes on to see whether they had any children other than Robert.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Currently I'm trying to establish siblings of the deceased.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15Debbie's search comes up trumps.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17So far we think he's got a brother, John.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25This is potentially an exciting development.
0:09:25 > 0:09:26If John is still alive,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29he could be the heir to Robert's estate.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Robert's parents, John and Isabella,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33married in Edinburgh in 1944.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Soon after marrying, they moved to London,
0:09:36 > 0:09:41where they had two children, Robert and his younger brother, John.
0:09:41 > 0:09:42John was born in 1949,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46so there's every possibility he's still alive,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48or so the team think.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Unfortunately, a quick search of the death records...
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Dies in 1984.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56..reveals that John passed away in 1984.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00To confirm this death and eliminate John as an heir,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Gareth needs to get a copy of John's death certificate
0:10:03 > 0:10:06from the register office in Hounslow in London.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08Ah, is that Bob?
0:10:08 > 0:10:10And, as luck would have it,
0:10:10 > 0:10:15travelling researcher Bob Smith calls in at this particular moment.
0:10:15 > 0:10:16- 'Hi, Bob.'- Hello, Gareth.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18'After you've got Millsy's death certificate,'
0:10:18 > 0:10:21can you get one for me from Hounslow, please?
0:10:21 > 0:10:25- Hounslow, yeah? - It's John Andrew Mead, M-E-A-D.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Whilst the bulk of their research is done in the office,
0:10:32 > 0:10:36heir hunters also rely heavily on a network of travelling researchers,
0:10:36 > 0:10:38ready to hit the road at a moment's notice.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Based throughout the UK, their job is to pick up certificates,
0:10:41 > 0:10:43make enquiries with neighbours,
0:10:43 > 0:10:47and make sure they get to the heirs ahead of competing heir hunters.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51- All right. OK, mate. - 'Cheers.'- Cheers.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56While Bob heads off to Hounslow,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59the team set about looking for a marriage for Robert's brother, John.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02- Check marriages for John A Mead. - John A Mead?
0:11:02 > 0:11:04Yeah, dies in Hounslow in 1984.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08And it's not long before they find one.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11- Hounslow?- Hounslow's good. Hounslow's perfect, in fact.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15- So, take that marriage, then. June '78.- June' 78.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19It looks as though Robert's brother, John,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21got married in Hounslow in 1978.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23The team's task now
0:11:23 > 0:11:26is to see whether he and his wife had any children.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29If they did, they could be the heirs to Robert Mead's estate.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32But it's not looking hopeful.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34- Gareth?- Go ahead.- Small issue.
0:11:34 > 0:11:39Neil hasn't found any children from the marriage of John Mead.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43This means that there don't appear to be any close kin on this case,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46and the team will now have to expand their search
0:11:46 > 0:11:49to look for aunts, uncles and cousins.
0:11:49 > 0:11:50Researcher Alan gets to work
0:11:50 > 0:11:53on Robert's father's side of the family.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57I have identified the marriage of the deceased's paternal grandparents.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03Robert's paternal grandparents were John Mead and Julia Bennett.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08They had two children, Robert's father, John, and a daughter, Joyce.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12If Joyce had any children, they would be cousins of Robert's,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14and potential heirs to his estate.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16But it's not good news.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Joyce died unmarried in 1947 in Brentford.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24As Joyce was Robert's father's only sister,
0:12:24 > 0:12:25and as she died without having any children,
0:12:25 > 0:12:30this brings research on the paternal side of the family to an end.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34It would appear at the moment in time there's going to be no full blood
0:12:34 > 0:12:37on the paternal side of the family.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Things are not looking very hopeful.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43With no close kin and no heirs on Roberts father's side of the family,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46the team's only hope now is the maternal side.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50And it looks as though they're all based in Scotland.
0:12:50 > 0:12:51Good morning, Alan.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53How are you?
0:12:53 > 0:12:55It's Gareth, by the way.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Gareth puts in a call to the company's Scottish agent
0:12:58 > 0:13:01to request some help with their research.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04It's a very short family tree cos we don't have much information.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07The deceased is Robert Ford Mead,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10and that's M-E-A-D.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Robert Ford's parents are John Clifford Mead
0:13:12 > 0:13:16and Isabella Ford Finlayson.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18They get married in 1944 in Edinburgh.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21That's our Scottish agent,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24who's going to get the marriage of the deceased parents,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27and will almost certainly be working the Finlaysons in Scotland,
0:13:27 > 0:13:29I would have thought.
0:13:30 > 0:13:31All the team can do now
0:13:31 > 0:13:35is play a waiting game and hope that the Scottish agent
0:13:35 > 0:13:36will find some heirs
0:13:36 > 0:13:40on Robert's mother Isabella's side of the family.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42We're really pinning all our hopes on Isabella.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Hopefully Isabella's got a nice family
0:13:44 > 0:13:46and we'll find some heirs from that.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Nice, big family. Nice, big Scottish family, that's what we want!
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Coming up, the team gets confirmation
0:13:55 > 0:13:57of the estate's final value,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00and it exceeds all expectations.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03When I discovered the value of the estate, I was...
0:14:03 > 0:14:04Well, I was staggered.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07It's 45 minutes, an hour's worth of research,
0:14:07 > 0:14:10which could make Fraser & Fraser's year.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Sometimes, heir hunting cases
0:14:20 > 0:14:23can awaken a desire to delve into family history
0:14:23 > 0:14:27and reveal stories that have been lost for decades.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30This is what happened in the case of Robin Miller.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Robin Miller died on November 26, 2008, in Coventry.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43He was 73 years old.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49He lived alone in a flat in this house,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52where his neighbours knew him as a quiet, reclusive character.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55But Robin was actually a man of hidden depths
0:14:55 > 0:14:57and had a bit of an adventurous streak,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01as his lifelong friend, Roy, can reveal.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Robin's main passion was cycling.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09He used to do Land's End to John o'Groats
0:15:09 > 0:15:11on his summer holiday fortnight
0:15:11 > 0:15:15and in those days he used to manage to do it in the fortnight.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18I should think he must have done it 20 times in his lifetime.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23Robin was also a man of rather old-fashioned tastes.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25A pure Victorian,
0:15:25 > 0:15:30and anything past the, sort of, the war,
0:15:30 > 0:15:32he didn't want to know about.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35He just felt that it was a waste of time and...
0:15:35 > 0:15:38I mean, if it was horse and carts,
0:15:38 > 0:15:40or that type of transport, he'd love it.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44But if it was cars or planes, he would boycott it.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46He lived for Victoria.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58When Robin died, he left an estate of £33,000, but no will.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01His case was taken up by heir hunter Tony Pledger.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05This case first came to our attention on the Bona Vacantia list.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08At that time, we couldn't establish a value for it,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11so we put it to one side until such a time as we did know a value.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14That turned out to be £33,000,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16so we then started looking into it.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Tony's first step was to establish whether Robin had been married
0:16:20 > 0:16:22and whether he'd had any children.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27We were unable to trace any marriages of him in the Coventry area.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31We then have to assume that he was a bachelor at the time of his death
0:16:31 > 0:16:33and, as a bachelor, had no children.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36As Robin had no descendants,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40the team would now have to go back a generation to find his parents.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Once they had his parents' names,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45they could see whether Robin had any brothers and sisters.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48The birth certificate of Robin told us who his parents were.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51We then found that they'd married in 1922
0:16:51 > 0:16:54in the Chipping Norton registration district.
0:16:55 > 0:16:56From that marriage,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00there were two children - Robin's elder sister and Robin.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05Robin's parents were Walter Miller and Kathleen Dore.
0:17:05 > 0:17:11They had two children - Cicely, born in 1926, and Robin, born in 1934.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15If Cicely was still alive, as Robin's only sister,
0:17:15 > 0:17:20she could be the sole heir to his £33,000 estate.
0:17:20 > 0:17:21The team's task now
0:17:21 > 0:17:24was to try and track her down.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29Robin Miller was born on December 12, 1934, in Coventry.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32As a boy, he worked in a local grocer's shop,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35where he soon progressed to become manager.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39He then went on to work for the railway.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Well, he has to shovel the coal in the fire
0:17:43 > 0:17:47and keep the steam up and all this, you know?
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Yeah, and he was on one or two of the bigger engines.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53He went London,
0:17:53 > 0:17:55and from London to Glasgow and that
0:17:55 > 0:17:59on the Royal Scot and one or two others, I think.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03Tragically, Robin's parents both died within a year of each other
0:18:03 > 0:18:05when Robin was just 18,
0:18:05 > 0:18:09and his neighbour Roy and his family took him under their wing.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13My dad invited him round for Christmas lunch,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16which he thoroughly enjoyed
0:18:16 > 0:18:19because we lived on...
0:18:19 > 0:18:22It was like a smallholding on Tile Hill Lane,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25and we used to rear our own poultry,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28and we used to have goose for Christmas lunch,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31and it really went down well.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33And he never missed a Christmas lunch
0:18:33 > 0:18:37with my father and myself for 60 years.
0:18:42 > 0:18:43In the office,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47the team have discovered that Robin had a sister, Cicely,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50who could potentially be the heir to his estate.
0:18:50 > 0:18:55But a search of the death records soon put an end to this possibility.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57She passed away in 1933 aged six years
0:18:57 > 0:19:01in Coventry Hospital of bronchial pneumonia.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05This meant that Robin had no surviving close kin,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08and the team would have to go back a generation
0:19:08 > 0:19:12to investigate the families of Robin's parents.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Tony started to look into Robin's mother's side of the family.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18He discovered that Robin's mother, Kathleen,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21was the daughter of James and Louisa Dore.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24She had six siblings who would be aunts and uncles of Robin's.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29The team began to work their way through these uncles and aunts
0:19:29 > 0:19:32to see whether they had married and had any children.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34It transpired that all of the uncles and aunts
0:19:34 > 0:19:35had family of their own
0:19:35 > 0:19:38and so it became immediately apparent
0:19:38 > 0:19:42that we were looking at a fairly sizeable maternal family.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45With such a large maternal family,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48the team had high hopes of finding some of them still alive.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53It looked like they were on the verge of finding their first heirs.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Coming up, the search for heirs
0:19:58 > 0:20:02reveals the horror of life in the trenches during World War I.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05I'm glad it was those guys and not me.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07It's not something I fancy doing, that's for sure.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19Could you be in line for an unexpected windfall?
0:20:19 > 0:20:22In the UK, the treasury has a list of over 2,000 estates
0:20:22 > 0:20:25that over the years, have baffled the heir hunters
0:20:25 > 0:20:27and still remain unclaimed.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31This is money that could have your name on it.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34These estates can stay on the list for up to 30 years
0:20:34 > 0:20:37and each one could be worth anything from 5,000
0:20:37 > 0:20:39to many millions of pounds.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Today, we're focusing on three names from the list.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Could they be relatives of yours?
0:20:48 > 0:20:53Pollyanna Frances Charley Burnett died in Hereford in November 2009.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Although Burnett is a relatively common surname,
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Polyanna's forenames make her name combination very unusual.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Does this combination ring a bell with you?
0:21:06 > 0:21:11John Emmanuel O'Hosi died in Leeds in February 2007.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16O'Hosi is a very unusual clan name with unclear origins.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Do you remember John? Can you help solve this case?
0:21:21 > 0:21:27Mary Griffiss died in Woodford Green in Essex in 2004.
0:21:27 > 0:21:28The surname Griffiss,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31probably a corruption of the popular surname Griffiths,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34is extremely rare in the UK.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Were you a friend or neighbour of Mary's?
0:21:36 > 0:21:40If no heirs are found, her money will go to the government.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47If the names Pollyanna Burnett, John O'Hosi, or Mary Griffiss
0:21:47 > 0:21:50mean anything to you, or someone you know,
0:21:50 > 0:21:52you could have a fortune coming your way.
0:21:58 > 0:21:59Heir hunter Tony Pledger
0:21:59 > 0:22:02was looking into the case of Robin Miller.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05He died in Coventry aged 73,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09leaving behind an estate worth £33,000.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13As Robin had never married and had no children, or living siblings,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Tony had expanded his search to look for aunts, uncles and cousins.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19And it looked like there were quite a few.
0:22:19 > 0:22:20It became immediately apparent
0:22:20 > 0:22:21that we were looking at
0:22:21 > 0:22:25a fairly sizeable maternal family of the deceased.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29One of Robin's maternal aunts was Violet Dore,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31who married a Thomas Sandland.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36They had a daughter, Dorothy, who had sadly passed away.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40When she died in 2009, she had survived the deceased,
0:22:40 > 0:22:46but unfortunately she had died before we were able to contact her.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48So Dorothy's share of Robin's £33,000 estate
0:22:48 > 0:22:51would now pass to her son, Marshall.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56The team tracked Marshall down to an address in Bedfordshire
0:22:56 > 0:22:58and got in contact.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Their call came as a bolt out of the blue.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04It was a shock to get a call from Fraser
0:23:04 > 0:23:06cos I only met the guy once back in the '60s.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10So to think we were entitled to something was an absolute knockout.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13I had no idea. It was amazing.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18The only time Marshall had met Robin was at his grandmother's funeral.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22I know absolutely nothing about cousin Robin.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25I only met him the once. I didn't even know he was a relative of mine.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29He walked in and somebody said, "This is your cousin Robin."
0:23:29 > 0:23:31I said, "Oh, really?" So that was it.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36Marshall is actually Robin's first cousin once removed.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39His mother, Dorothy, was Robin's first cousin.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44She married Reginald in 1944 and Marshall was their only son.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46My parents met during the war
0:23:46 > 0:23:48while they were both working for AC-Sphinx,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52a company that made spark plugs for Spitfires and suchlike.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56WHISTLE BLOWS
0:23:56 > 0:23:59During the Second World War, working for a factory like AC-Sphinx
0:23:59 > 0:24:01would have been a reserved occupation.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05Reserved occupations are those civilian jobs
0:24:05 > 0:24:09which are so important either to the munitions industry,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11or to the national economy,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15that the people who hold them are exempted from conscription.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19A spark plug factory would have fallen into this category.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23Britain fights a very motorised war.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27It's reliant on an enormous aerial campaign against Germany
0:24:27 > 0:24:29from 1941 onwards.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Every bomber that's flying against Germany
0:24:33 > 0:24:36has four of these huge engines powering it across the Channel.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39It's reliant on an awful lot of spark plugs.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44Marshall's father, Reginald, worked as a universal grinder,
0:24:44 > 0:24:47sharpening the tools used to make the spark plugs.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50His mother, Dorothy, was a production worker.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55As the war progressed, more and more men were called up to fight
0:24:55 > 0:24:58and this led to an increased need for manpower
0:24:58 > 0:25:00to fill the jobs back home.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03One of the ways to do that, is to bring a lot more women
0:25:03 > 0:25:05into the engineering labour force
0:25:05 > 0:25:08and particularly into the munitions production system.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10Most of those women
0:25:10 > 0:25:13are undertaking what are fairly unskilled jobs
0:25:13 > 0:25:16but some of them go on to take up what would formerly have been
0:25:16 > 0:25:18reserved occupations held by men.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22The introduction of women into the engineering workforce
0:25:22 > 0:25:25provided plenty of opportunity for romance to blossom,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28which is exactly what happened in the case of Marshall's parents.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32They did their courting at the back of the factory
0:25:32 > 0:25:34during the air raids and during the war.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37But, yeah, they enjoyed it. They had good fun there.
0:25:37 > 0:25:43And, er, that's how I happened to come into this world.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45Inheriting from a cousin he hardly knew
0:25:45 > 0:25:49has awakened Marshall's interest in the family that linked them.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54In particular, his grandfather, and Robin's uncle, Thomas.
0:25:54 > 0:25:55Just like Marshall's parents,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58who were brought together by the Second World War,
0:25:58 > 0:26:00his grandparents, Thomas and Violet,
0:26:00 > 0:26:05also met doing their bit for their country during the First World War.
0:26:05 > 0:26:06My grandfather, Tom Sandland,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08he was fighting in Ypres
0:26:08 > 0:26:11and was in the Durham Light Infantry.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14He got injured and he landed up in hospital and, um,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17she nursed him and they fell in love.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Thomas Sandland was in the 11th Battalion Pioneers,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24a division of the Durham Light Infantry,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27who landed in France in July 1915.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31They spent the duration of the war on the Western Front
0:26:31 > 0:26:35and saw action in some of the major battles of the First World War.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42Marshall is keen to find out more
0:26:42 > 0:26:44about the wartime experiences of his grandfather,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46who was also Robin's uncle.
0:26:46 > 0:26:51So he's going got meet historian and First World War expert Taff Gillingham.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54- Hello, Marshall, pleased to meet you. - Hello, Taff, pleased to meet you.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57- Want to have a look at the trench? - That's why I'm here.- Follow me.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59Taff wants to give Marshall an idea
0:26:59 > 0:27:02of the conditions his grandfather would have fought under.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05So he's invited him to visit a replica
0:27:05 > 0:27:09of the First World War trench system, near Ipswich in Suffolk.
0:27:09 > 0:27:10So your grandfather, Thomas Sandland,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13served with the 11th Service Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16And the service battalions were those which were raised
0:27:16 > 0:27:18only for service during the First World War.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21That's all that they were going to do and at the end they'd be disbanded.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24So they weren't regular soldiers, they weren't territorial soldiers,
0:27:24 > 0:27:26- they were what they called Kitchener volunteers.- Yeah.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Kitchener's Army was an all-volunteer army
0:27:31 > 0:27:34formed in the United Kingdom after the outbreak of hostilities.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39It was created by the Secretary of State for War, Horatio Kitchener.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44Contrary to popular belief that the war would be over by Christmas,
0:27:44 > 0:27:48he predicted a long and costly battle
0:27:48 > 0:27:51that would require a huge increase in troop numbers.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56So he began a massive recruitment campaign to expand Britain's army.
0:27:56 > 0:27:5811th Service Battalion were nearly all miners.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Yeah, that would fit in because Pop was a miner.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02Because there were so many miners,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04they were made into a Pioneer Battalion.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08And what that meant, was that within their division, they were the troops
0:28:08 > 0:28:12who were fighting soldiers - they could find themselves in action as well -
0:28:12 > 0:28:17but they could be called upon to do trench digging, road building, repairing structures in the trench.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22- So they had a specific role as well as doing the fighting. - Multitasking.- Absolutely.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Before the war, Thomas Sandland worked as a coalminer in Durham.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32His experience down in the pits was perfect preparation
0:28:32 > 0:28:34for the gruelling hours of trench digging
0:28:34 > 0:28:36he would undertake as a Pioneer.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40Never was this more true than at the Battle of Passchendaele.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44The big problem with the fighting at Passchendaele was that the weather turned
0:28:44 > 0:28:48and there was torrential rain. When the whistles went, you'd get off over the top.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52You were just floundering almost waist-deep in mud and water.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55Obviously in the midst of battles, trenches get very heavily shelled.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58You know, if it's been battered for several days
0:28:58 > 0:29:01this all gets filled in. The earth's coming in, the sides are smashed down.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05So a big role that they have is keeping the trenches deep enough to defend.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09At the time, Passchendaele was seen as a vital piece of ground
0:29:09 > 0:29:11that needed capturing.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13The Germans were sitting up on the Passchendaele Ridge,
0:29:13 > 0:29:16observing the British Army, not just from the front,
0:29:16 > 0:29:18but also from two sides.
0:29:18 > 0:29:19And it was a thorn in the British side
0:29:19 > 0:29:21that needed clearing and sorting out.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25Really, 1917, the Battle of Passchendaele is probably,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27out of all of the battles in the First World War,
0:29:27 > 0:29:30the one that sapped British morale more than any others.
0:29:30 > 0:29:35Taff has obtained a copy of the 11th Battalion's war diary,
0:29:35 > 0:29:37which paints a vivid picture
0:29:37 > 0:29:39of the backbreaking work the Pioneers undertook.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43Here we are on the 29th.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45Read this for me. It just gives you an idea
0:29:45 > 0:29:47of how it wore the fellows out.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49So, read it from here.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52"The men are thoroughly weary on arrival, in bivouacs.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56"After work, they parade daily at 7:15am,
0:29:56 > 0:30:00"carry haversack rations and return at 4:30pm.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04"They take both breakfast and dinner in the dark.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06"Some are too tired to eat dinner.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09"Others too weary to turn out for rum rations."
0:30:09 > 0:30:12It really does give you an idea of how much hard physical work
0:30:12 > 0:30:14these fellas were having to put in.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17- Besides the fighting. - Besides the fighting side of it.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19I mean, in a way, this role of the Pioneers
0:30:19 > 0:30:21- is more important than the fighting. - Oh yeah, yeah.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25Cos they're obviously doing this work for everybody else in their brigade.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29- Creating all these tunnels and these...- Yep.- Oh!
0:30:31 > 0:30:35For Marshall, today's experience has been a real eye-opener.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38It was very, very eerie being in those trenches.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40I'm glad it was those guys and not me.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43It's not something I'd fancy doing. That's for sure.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47But it's also served to reinforce the affection he feels
0:30:47 > 0:30:51for his grandfather, and Robin's uncle, Thomas Sandland.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53I've always admired my grandfather
0:30:53 > 0:30:56because of what he made of himself and what he's done,
0:30:56 > 0:30:59but to see what he went through to get there, it's, er...
0:30:59 > 0:31:02You can only love him and admire him even more,
0:31:02 > 0:31:06because he's done things that we can never, ever dream of doing.
0:31:06 > 0:31:07Absolutely fabulous.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Marshall didn't really know his cousin Robin,
0:31:10 > 0:31:14but thanks to him, he has gained a fascinating insight
0:31:14 > 0:31:17into his family's experiences during the two World Wars.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20And those who did know Robin well
0:31:20 > 0:31:22will remember him fondly.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24After my dad died and then he came to us,
0:31:24 > 0:31:29I think he most likely looked on me nearly as a brother, really.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33He come to our house once a week, on a Monday.
0:31:33 > 0:31:38And it was a real ritual every week. He wouldn't go anywhere else.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41He'd come if he'd got pneumonia. He just loved coming, aye.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54Heir hunters Fraser & Fraser
0:31:54 > 0:31:57have been investigating the estate of Robert Mead,
0:31:57 > 0:31:59who died in Thailand in 2010.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03Initially, the team had virtually no information to go on.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06I've literally only got his name, Robert Ford Mead.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09So, I'm struggling to identify anything, really.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12But then they had a lucky break, when they managed to track down
0:32:12 > 0:32:14an address for Robert in Eastbourne.
0:32:14 > 0:32:19From that address, we can then work out, erm, his date of birth.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21We even had his parents' names, so, erm,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24that little bit of information and, you know, we can fly along.
0:32:24 > 0:32:29This address also meant it was worth the team's time and effort
0:32:29 > 0:32:31to continue pursuing the case.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33Although he died overseas,
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Robert had left behind a property in England,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39which could be worth several hundred thousand pounds.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45Earlier, Gareth put in a call to the British Embassy in Thailand,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48to see if they could fill in any gaps about Robert's life.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51They passed his request on to the Foreign Office,
0:32:51 > 0:32:54who have just called Gareth back.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57Well, thank you for your time and calling me. You've been a great help.
0:32:57 > 0:32:58Take care. Bye-bye.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02The Foreign Office had managed to track down
0:33:02 > 0:33:04a second cousin of Robert's.
0:33:04 > 0:33:09Unfortunately, under UK law, second cousins are too distant to inherit,
0:33:09 > 0:33:13so this cousin has no claim on Robert Mead's estate.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17But she was able to help the Foreign Office with their enquiries.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21It appears that the deceased spent six months in the UK
0:33:21 > 0:33:23and six months in Thailand.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26He rented an apartment where he died in Thailand.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29He'd rented the apartment for three months.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33When Robert retired in 2003,
0:33:33 > 0:33:36he sold the house he had lived in in Hounslow,
0:33:36 > 0:33:39and moved into his parents' home in Eastbourne.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41His parents had both died by this point,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44so Robert was alone.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48There was nobody else in his life, you know.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51No girlfriends, no boyfriends, nothing.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54He was alone, totally alone.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57With nothing to keep him in England,
0:33:57 > 0:33:59Robert decided to up sticks
0:33:59 > 0:34:02and go and spend his retirement in sunnier climes.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04And from that moment forth,
0:34:04 > 0:34:05he spent half the year in Eastbourne,
0:34:05 > 0:34:09and half the year in Koh Samui,
0:34:09 > 0:34:10an island in the Gulf of Thailand,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14renowned for its palm-fringed beaches and year-round sunshine.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19Robert moved to Thailand
0:34:19 > 0:34:24because I think he thought he must enjoy his life now.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28He once wrote me the card that he's enjoying the sunshine
0:34:28 > 0:34:30and the weather, everything in Thailand.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34As the Foreign Office were unable to track down
0:34:34 > 0:34:36any family members closer than a second cousin,
0:34:36 > 0:34:40Robert's estate found its way onto the Treasury list,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43where it was picked up by the heir hunters.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45So far, the team have determined
0:34:45 > 0:34:48that Robert has no surviving close kin,
0:34:48 > 0:34:50and no surviving aunts, uncles and cousins
0:34:50 > 0:34:52on his father's side of the family.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56They have therefore been pinning their hopes on the mother's side,
0:34:56 > 0:34:58and have enlisted the help of their agent in Scotland
0:34:58 > 0:35:00to track down heirs.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02There's a couple of changes.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06Researcher Simon has also been doing some investigations of his own
0:35:06 > 0:35:08in the office.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10I think it's the mother of the deceased's family,
0:35:10 > 0:35:12Isabella Ford Finlayson.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14Erm, just found the marriage of her parents,
0:35:14 > 0:35:17so the grandparents of the deceased, I think.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21Erm... It's in Edinburgh. It's in 1923.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24Now that they've found Robert's maternal grandparents,
0:35:24 > 0:35:26James and Isabella Finlayson,
0:35:26 > 0:35:27they can look to see
0:35:27 > 0:35:31whether they had any children other than Robert's mother,
0:35:31 > 0:35:33who was also called Isabella.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35OK, let's try and see if we can pick up death cert
0:35:35 > 0:35:36for James Gough Finlayson.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40But searching for records on the Scottish databases
0:35:40 > 0:35:41can be problematic.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46You can't look at the actual maiden names on the births in Scotland
0:35:46 > 0:35:48in the period we're looking.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50So, there's plenty of births
0:35:50 > 0:35:53that are potential aunts and uncles of the deceased,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56but at the moment it's hard to identify them.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59The team have been assuming that the heirs on this case
0:35:59 > 0:36:02will be cousins on the maternal side of the family,
0:36:02 > 0:36:04so for now, it looks like there's not much more they can do
0:36:04 > 0:36:09but wait for their Scottish agent to get back to them.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14But suddenly, all their assumptions are blown sky-high,
0:36:14 > 0:36:17when Alan makes a startling discovery.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19That could well be the existing one.
0:36:19 > 0:36:24He thinks he's found the widow of the deceased brother John.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28And he's also discovered something else rather intriguing.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32Living with John Andrew Mead at one point was
0:36:32 > 0:36:35his widow who we already knew about and also Sean.
0:36:35 > 0:36:41Sean was born "Sean Graham", however on the electoral rolls he's calling himself Mead.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46My question is, was he adopted by John Mead? If he was adopted by John Mead, then he's an heir.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50This is potentially a very exciting development.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54It appears that John's wife was previously married to a John Graham
0:36:54 > 0:36:55and they had a son, Sean,
0:36:55 > 0:36:59but at some point after John and his wife got married,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Sean changed his surname from Graham to Mead.
0:37:02 > 0:37:08Under UK law, adopted children have the same rights of inheritance as blood children,
0:37:08 > 0:37:14so if Sean was adopted by the deceased brother John, he would be nephew of Robert's
0:37:14 > 0:37:20and hence, closer kin than any aunts, uncles and cousins the team might find in Scotland.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24Gareth's on the verge of a major breakthrough.
0:37:24 > 0:37:29At the moment, I'm not 100% sure. We don't know for definite whether Sean was adopted by John.
0:37:29 > 0:37:35If he was adopted by John, then he is an heir. If he wasn't adopted by John, then he's not an heir.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39The team really need to speak to Sean or his mother
0:37:39 > 0:37:43to find out whether their assumptions are correct.
0:37:43 > 0:37:49They track down an address for Sean and Gareth wonders whether to send Bob Smith to go and visit him.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54He's clearly at this address. More importantly, he's clearly not going to be at home, is he?
0:37:54 > 0:37:59It's still fairly early in the day and Sean is likely to be at work,
0:37:59 > 0:38:03so Gareth decides instead to call Sean's mother.
0:38:03 > 0:38:08I'm hoping that if our research is correct then your son, Sean, was adopted by yourself and John -
0:38:08 > 0:38:10would that be correct?
0:38:10 > 0:38:12He was officially adopted.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14This is great news.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18Sean's mother has confirmed that he WAS adopted by John Mead
0:38:18 > 0:38:22and the couple did not have any further children.
0:38:22 > 0:38:26This means Sean is closer kin than any cousins the team might find in Scotland
0:38:26 > 0:38:31and he is therefore the only heir to the estate of Robert Mead.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37Gareth gets straight on the phone to Bob Smith.
0:38:37 > 0:38:38Hi, Bob, how are you?
0:38:38 > 0:38:41Can I give you a slightly different destination? The sole heir of the estate.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43OK, all right.
0:38:43 > 0:38:50- Before you get there, though, could you give the heir a call on his mobile cos he's at work?- OK.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54- He's expecting your call.- All right. Cheers.- Cheers, mate.- Bye.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57Bob was on his way to the register office to pick up some certificates,
0:38:57 > 0:39:03but he's used to getting diverted at a moment's notice, so he arranges to meet Sean in a local pub.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10He will need to confirm some details with Sean to make sure the team's research is correct
0:39:10 > 0:39:13and that he is definitely related to Robert Mead.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17- Right now, you were adopted, weren't you?- I was adopted by John.
0:39:17 > 0:39:22- What was your father's name? This would be your adopted father's name.- John Andrew Mead.
0:39:22 > 0:39:27- Now your father's brothers and sisters, these would be your aunts and uncles...- Mm-hm.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30- Can you name them at all? - There was only Robert.
0:39:30 > 0:39:35At this stage, Bob is unable to tell Sean how much he'll be inheriting,
0:39:35 > 0:39:41but he IS able to suggest that the estate could be worth a substantial amount of money.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45- We think that there may be as many as two properties...- OK.
0:39:45 > 0:39:51..one over here and then one possibly maybe in Thailand.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54- OK, so he got about, then?- Possibly.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Bob leaves Sean to mull over the events of the day.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02Like I say, I think it might be a day that will change your life.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05Oh, fingers crossed.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08Bob's visit has left Sean slightly overwhelmed.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10He hadn't seen Robert for many years.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12The reason we lost contact
0:40:12 > 0:40:18with my uncle Robert was purely because back in the day, him and my father didn't really get on -
0:40:18 > 0:40:21kind of brotherly non-love, and...
0:40:21 > 0:40:24and I'm sure it happens in quite a few families, to be honest.
0:40:24 > 0:40:29For Bob Smith, it's a successful end to a very eventful day.
0:40:29 > 0:40:37Interviewing the sole heir to an estate, which is, it would seem, to be quite a valuable estate as well,
0:40:37 > 0:40:42that's going to... like I said to him,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45"This could be a day that's going to change your life."
0:40:45 > 0:40:49That's good. It's all good.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52Why can't it happen to me? I don't know.
0:40:55 > 0:41:01Several weeks later, Sean agrees the company to make his claim to the Treasury
0:41:01 > 0:41:04and the team receive some staggering news.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07We were hoping for a value of £200,000,
0:41:07 > 0:41:11by the end of the day, fingers crossed, we may have a value of £400,000.
0:41:11 > 0:41:18Well, the excellent news is the estimated value of come in is approximately a million pounds.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22This is an heir hunter's dream scenario -
0:41:22 > 0:41:27estates worth this amount of money are very few and far between.
0:41:27 > 0:41:32Sean's inheritance will however be dramatically reduced by inheritance tax,
0:41:32 > 0:41:36but the amount he receives could transform his life.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40A lot of the time we hear how unfair it is when you get adopted out of a family
0:41:40 > 0:41:43you no longer inherit from the original blood family,
0:41:43 > 0:41:47but we've always said that you become a beneficiary to your new family.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51In this case, the heir has been adopted into the family.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55His adopted uncle has now passed away
0:41:55 > 0:41:58and he's going to receive a truly life-changing amount of money.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02Sean's happiness at inheriting Robert's estate
0:42:02 > 0:42:05is slightly tinged with sadness.
0:42:05 > 0:42:10On one hand, you do have this bolt out of the blue, this bonus, which is totally unexpected,
0:42:10 > 0:42:17and will always go down nicely, but it's hard to feel overly happy at somebody's misfortune, in this case,
0:42:17 > 0:42:24somebody passing away and not really ever being there to catch up and find out what happened with him,
0:42:24 > 0:42:27so it's swings and roundabouts really.
0:42:27 > 0:42:32This case has taken the heir hunters from London to Edinburgh
0:42:32 > 0:42:34to Thailand and back to the UK.
0:42:34 > 0:42:40Robert Mead, a quiet, private man, who led a fairly ordinary life,
0:42:40 > 0:42:42has in death, left a huge mark in the world.
0:42:42 > 0:42:49For senior researcher Gareth, this is a case he'll remember for a long time to come.
0:42:49 > 0:42:55This is one of my first cases managing, er...
0:42:55 > 0:42:59and it's worth a million pounds, it's a brilliant stroke of luck.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd