0:00:02 > 0:00:05Welcome to Heir Hunters, where we follow the search for living family
0:00:05 > 0:00:08of people who've died without leaving a will,
0:00:08 > 0:00:10hoping to unite them with forgotten fortunes.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Today, the heir hunters are chasing an estate with a potential value
0:00:15 > 0:00:18running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Their job now is to beat the competing companies
0:00:21 > 0:00:24and be the first to find the long-lost relatives
0:00:24 > 0:00:28who have no idea they could be in line for a windfall.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Could they be coming to your door?
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Coming up on today's programme -
0:00:52 > 0:00:55a family so large the office takes drastic action
0:00:55 > 0:00:57in the hunt for heirs.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Don't you think that's art?
0:01:00 > 0:01:04The tragic story of a mysterious Ukrainian soldier
0:01:04 > 0:01:09whose death in the UK came as a massive shock to his heirs,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12who'd thought him dead a long time ago.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17My husband told me he was shot in Hungary.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21And I'll be investigating further into how and why
0:01:21 > 0:01:25people emigrated to the UK after the Second World War.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29Europe was in a state of ruins, it was absolutely devastated.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Whole communities had been destroyed.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Plus, how you could be entitled to unclaimed inheritance
0:01:35 > 0:01:37where heirs need to be found.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39Could you be in line for a forgotten fortune?
0:01:49 > 0:01:55Every year in the UK, over 300,000 people die without leaving a will.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57If no relatives are found,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00then any money that's left behind will go to the government.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05And last year they kept £14 million from unclaimed estates.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08But there are over 30 specialist firms
0:02:08 > 0:02:13competing to stop this happening. They're the heir hunters.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17And they make it their business to track down missing relatives
0:02:17 > 0:02:20and help them claim their rightful inheritance.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25It's all about finding the family and the money that is rightfully theirs.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32In our first case today, it's all hands on deck
0:02:32 > 0:02:35as the heir hunters tackle a case of a woman from Chichester
0:02:35 > 0:02:37who died without leaving a will.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46It's early Thursday morning in London,
0:02:46 > 0:02:51and overnight the Treasury has advertised a new list of names of unclaimed estates.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55One name in particular has caught the attention of the heir hunters,
0:02:55 > 0:02:57and they've already started their research.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Do you know how to get this intranet to work?
0:03:00 > 0:03:03- Partner Charles and case manager David Pacifico...- OK, bye-bye.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06..are some of the first in the office,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09and they let everyone know the state of play.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11- We'll work Wingrove.- Yes.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Wanting to get ahead of any other competing heir hunting companies,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17they've been hard at work for hours
0:03:17 > 0:03:19and have already conducted a lot of basic research.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26We're looking at the case of Daisy Wingrove, who died in 2008.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30She was a spinster, so she died without ever having been married.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34We've managed to work out where Daisy used to live.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37From there, we've obviously been able to find out when she was born
0:03:37 > 0:03:41and who her parents we think would have been.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45All this initial educated guesswork is essential
0:03:45 > 0:03:48if they want to get ahead of the competition.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53Especially if what Charles has discovered from the probate records proves correct.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57We've managed to identify that she did have two sisters,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01who have both died already.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04The last to die, died only about a year before her,
0:04:04 > 0:04:09leaving about £80,000 to the deceased.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Yes, yes.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14So the heir hunters have evidence this early in the day
0:04:14 > 0:04:17that there could be good money in Daisy Ellen Wingrove's estate...
0:04:17 > 0:04:21- Did you know that?- No.- There you go.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25..and have already accounted for the majority of her close kin.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Two of her sisters died leaving no children,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32but the third sister, Ivy, is an unknown quantity at this stage.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37It's a year out, but it could be the right court.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40If Daisy's sister, Ivy, is deceased,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43the team knows they'll be hunting her cousins.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47With tens of thousands of pounds potentially at stake,
0:04:47 > 0:04:51David Pacifico decides to draft in multiple travelling heir hunters.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54They will be his eyes and ears out on the road.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Morning, Bob, David. Have you been asked to go anywhere this morning?
0:05:00 > 0:05:04Right. In that case, we want you to go to Richmond.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11Morning, Ewart.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15We need you to go to Royston on a case called Wingrove.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18OK, thank you.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22- Crawley. - Crawley, right, OK.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27David has sent some of the travellers
0:05:27 > 0:05:30to collect vital paperwork from register offices
0:05:30 > 0:05:34to help with the hunt, and to head to areas of the country
0:05:34 > 0:05:37where the research suggests potential heirs may crop up.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40He can now get back to the important job
0:05:40 > 0:05:44of finding out what has become of the unaccounted for sister, Ivy.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55Daisy Ellen Wingrove died aged 92 in a nursing home in Chichester.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00She passed away back in 2008 and left no will and no known relatives.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05Despite spending the last few years of her life in a home,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09for most of her later years, she'd lived independently
0:06:09 > 0:06:11with her late sister, Joan.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15Their neighbour, Sheila Harrison, had known the sisters for decades,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18but knew the deceased by a different name.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22She hated the name Daisy.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26She wouldn't even recognise the name Daisy.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29It wasn't till she went into the nursing home
0:06:29 > 0:06:32that I found out that she was called Daisy.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37Sheila had known Daisy by her middle name of Ellen.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40And over the years, as the sisters got older,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43she helped the pair out with shopping and general chores.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47It was help she didn't mind giving.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51Ellen, she was a real sweet person. She really was.
0:06:51 > 0:06:56She was an absolute sweetie and you couldn't help but like her.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01Daisy Ellen and her sister were private people.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05But over time, Sheila was told bits and pieces from their past.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08I knew there were four girls.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12I knew their mother died at a very early age.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16So I don't think it was easy for them.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21I didn't think they got any help from the family.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25They never saw any of the family any more after that.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32A family that the team's research is showing is a large one.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Yeah, it's quite a big family.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37But their research could be in vain,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40as sister Ivy is still unaccounted for.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44And what worries David Pacifico is if they find Ivy dead,
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Gareth's work into the census records
0:07:46 > 0:07:50suggest there could be in excess of 20 aunts and uncles on this case.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54Thank goodness David made the decision to send four travellers
0:07:54 > 0:07:56out on the road.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59But first things first, they need to find out what happened to Ivy.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06- So there's no death of an Ivy Maddox. - Not on our set list.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10It's all we've got. And that is just Ivy Maddox.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15Debbie has found a phone number for a potential daughter of Ivy's.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18It's very speculative, but this could be the phone call
0:08:18 > 0:08:21that decides which way this hunt is going to go -
0:08:21 > 0:08:24close kin or countless cousins.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29I just want to make sure we've got the right Ivy Wingrove.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Thank you very much. Bye-bye.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Wrong Ivy.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41But it proves irrelevant anyway.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45While David was on the phone, the team made a vital discovery
0:08:45 > 0:08:48and now know they have a huge hunt on their hands.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53We've managed to establish that Ivy probably was a sister
0:08:53 > 0:08:56and that she's died a spinster.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00The team brace themselves for the big hunt.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04All this and it's still only 7:50 AM.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08David and Gareth inspect the tree and debate their next move.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12- We need some information on that side.- Yes.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15- I think we need the other census really, don't we?- The 1911.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18- All of them.- Yeah.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20Census records are a great tool,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23and Gareth knows they're going to need them today.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28If you've got a big family, they're having children for a long time.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31So we need to go further back.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34And the grandparents were born in 1846, 1847.
0:09:34 > 0:09:35They probably married young
0:09:35 > 0:09:38and started having children straightaway.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41The team that are in the office
0:09:41 > 0:09:46start to check the 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49to try and find every single aunt and uncle of Daisy's
0:09:49 > 0:09:53on both the paternal and maternal sides.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55They're coming thick and fast.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01- Yeah. Albert is... - Born in Chichester.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03On the '11 census. He's single.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06The father had eight brothers and sisters.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10We're looking at all of those at the moment.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Charles may be laughing, but Gareth probably feels like crying.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19The family tree is more than one man can hold.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24It's still very early in the morning,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27and the rest of the company's researchers
0:10:27 > 0:10:29have arrived in the offices.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Straightaway they're put to work,
0:10:31 > 0:10:36tackling the family trees Gareth and David have so far compiled.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40I'm working on the paternal side of the tree at the moment.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42I'm working on the maternal side.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45At the moment, I'm looking at the maternal side.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47I'm working on the paternal side.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Partner Charles has good reason to dedicate over 20 of his staff
0:10:51 > 0:10:53to just this one case.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58Through their research, the team have made a significant discovery.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00OK, bye.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05The fact that she sold her own house in 2007 for 200 grand...
0:11:08 > 0:11:11You know, there's going to be some money left over.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17The value of the house plus the money that was left to Daisy by her sister
0:11:17 > 0:11:21could potentially mean an estate worth hundreds of thousands.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Oh, that's good.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30But if the team have found this out, so perhaps have the competition.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Luckily, David has some promising leads.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Potentially we've got a couple of cousins once removed
0:11:36 > 0:11:40on the paternal side of the family.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46It seems throwing manpower at this case is already bringing results.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50Plus the team's gamble on sending four travelling heir hunters out
0:11:50 > 0:11:52for this one estate has paid off.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56We've got Ewart going to one of the registry offices
0:11:56 > 0:12:01to try and obtain some birth certificates for us.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08- Bob Barrett to Richmond registry office.- OK, Cheers then.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Dave Hadley to go and see a possible heir.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15And Bob Smith, we've sent to Crawley to see a possible heir as well.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23The travelling heir hunters are some of the company's squadron of senior researchers
0:12:23 > 0:12:26who are willing to go wherever a case takes them
0:12:26 > 0:12:28in the hunt for heirs.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Their goal is to retrieve vital certificates and research,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34and ultimately meet face-to-face with long lost relatives
0:12:34 > 0:12:37and hopefully get them to sign up with the company.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44I've been doing this job for about 17 years now.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49A long time. But I love it, I still love it.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54In the office, the team have made remarkable progress.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Having thoroughly scoured decades of Census records,
0:12:57 > 0:13:02they are now certain all of the paternal line of aunts and uncles are accounted for.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06Daisy's father was one of 10, and his brothers and sisters
0:13:06 > 0:13:09are already leading the team to potential heirs.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13It's a fantastic result this early on in the day.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16But the maternal line is proving more troublesome.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25- Got three children missing. - No, it was there.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30Surprisingly, they've had 16 children,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32four of which have died and 12 are still living.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34On our tree we've only got nine children,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38so we're missing three children on the top line.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Gareth again returns to the census records.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43This time the one from 1881,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47in a bid to track down the three missing aunts and uncles
0:13:47 > 0:13:49from Daisy's mother's line.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53Case manager David has mixed feelings about Gareth's hard work.
0:13:55 > 0:14:02What Gareth is doing, he's adding on several pages onto the maternal side.
0:14:02 > 0:14:07You are talking well over 20 aunts and uncles.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12But I'm hoping not everybody had children.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Unfortunately, you don't always get what you wish for.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20The descendants of the Walters keep coming.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23I'm working on the stem of Agnes Mary Young.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26She seems to have had about six children.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29With a family tree beginning to resemble a forest,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31David Pacifico makes a suggestion.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34Shall we split it?
0:14:34 > 0:14:37I've already, well...
0:14:37 > 0:14:39The only thing is I've already spoken to people
0:14:39 > 0:14:41on the other side of the family.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45It's now 9am, and senior case manager David Milchard,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48known in the office as Grimble, has joined the fray.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50But he's not keen on straight away
0:14:50 > 0:14:52being lumped with the maternal line of Walters.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56It's something he and David will have to discuss further.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59We said he's got to be born after '11.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Trying to palm me off with 16 stems!
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Later in the programme, two senior case managers
0:15:07 > 0:15:11go head-to-head in the hunt for Daisy's heirs.
0:15:11 > 0:15:16We're not lagging behind. Oh, I can be cruel when I want!
0:15:19 > 0:15:23It certainly looks like a big family and, hopefully,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27the heir hunters hard work will result in lots of beneficiaries.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31But if Daisy had just written a will, none of this would be necessary.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34So what exactly is a will and how do you make one?
0:15:34 > 0:15:39In order to find out, I've come to meet solicitor, Sarah Philips.
0:15:39 > 0:15:40Why should you make a will?
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Well, it's vital that people make a will to make sure that
0:15:43 > 0:15:47their estates, on death, go to the people that they want it to go to.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51If someone dies without a valid will in place,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54then it's the English laws of intestacy that apply.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59Those rules are very strict, they have a set order of entitlement
0:15:59 > 0:16:02and it may not be who the person would have wanted to inherit.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07The laws of intestacy look at who your surviving relatives are.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11So, spouse and children are the top of the list
0:16:11 > 0:16:14and then it becomes parents, brothers and sisters,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16grandparents, uncles, aunts and so on.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21Both the government and the heir hunters work to the intestacy laws.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24It means that, if someone dies leaving no valid will
0:16:24 > 0:16:27or with no known kin, then any relative that can be traced
0:16:27 > 0:16:31from the deceased's grandparents could potentially inherit.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34In Scotland, the laws are slightly different
0:16:34 > 0:16:37in that you can go back one more generation to great-grandparent
0:16:37 > 0:16:39and their descendants.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42It may sound simple enough, but it isn't.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46There are common misconceptions as to how the law of intestacy might work,
0:16:46 > 0:16:51for example, married couples often think that they don't need to leave a will because the laws of intestacy
0:16:51 > 0:16:54mean that the surviving spouse inherits the lot anyway.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56That's not the case.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59It is dependent on the value of the estate when you die
0:16:59 > 0:17:02and other relatives that you leave behind, but it's not
0:17:02 > 0:17:05a done deal that the surviving spouse will inherit the lot.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10It can all get very complex, but basically, if your estate
0:17:10 > 0:17:13is of a very high value, then the money can start being
0:17:13 > 0:17:16redistributed amongst other surviving relatives.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Parents, if they're still alive, or any children from the marriage
0:17:20 > 0:17:22or civil partnership.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25What can go wrong if you don't get will written up properly?
0:17:25 > 0:17:28English law is very strict on what makes a valid will.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31It has to be written, so it can't be spoken.
0:17:31 > 0:17:37The document has to be signed by the person making the will in the presence of two witnesses
0:17:37 > 0:17:41and those witnesses then also need to sign in the persons presence
0:17:41 > 0:17:47who's made the will. If any of those formalities haven't been adhered to,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50the will is invalid, it's as if you've never made one
0:17:50 > 0:17:53and you're back to the intestacy rules applying.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55So, if it's going to be done,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58then it must be done absolutely correctly,
0:17:58 > 0:18:00but if you pay to have it done for you,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04remember the will writing industry is an unregulated one,
0:18:04 > 0:18:05so be careful.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09And who's best placed to write a will for you?
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Obviously, if you have a family solicitor already on board,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16they're the best person to approach in the first instance.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18There are then other solicitors specialising in wills
0:18:18 > 0:18:23and there's will writers and you can buy do-it-yourself packs
0:18:23 > 0:18:25either of the internet or in shops.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Is it expensive to get a will drawn up?
0:18:27 > 0:18:30It doesn't have to be, it does depend on who you use.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33It depends whether you're doing it yourself
0:18:33 > 0:18:35or whether you're using professionals.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39If you're using professionals, costs will vary regionally,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43the type of expertise that's involved and the complexity of the estate.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48I would say anywhere between £75 and over £1000.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52The important thing is to know upfront what the cost are likely to be and what it includes.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57What happens, say, if the solicitor goes bankrupt? What happens to your will?
0:18:57 > 0:19:00If solicitors go bankrupt, if they merge or are taken over,
0:19:00 > 0:19:04the wills that they hold will go to, usually, another firm.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09It's good practice for that other firm to contact everyone and let them know that they hold the wills,
0:19:09 > 0:19:15but often that's not done so you can see how wills often get lost in the system.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18- Is there some kind of database now? - There is, there is.
0:19:18 > 0:19:23People can lodge their original wills with the probate service in London.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27So that's lodging the original will there and they'll keep a record of it.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- And then it's not lost. - It's not lost, it's there for ever,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33no matter what happens to, first of all, the individual
0:19:33 > 0:19:36and also the people who drew up the will in the first place.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39And what can you put in your will?
0:19:39 > 0:19:43The main objective of a will is to set out exactly who gets what,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45how and when.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49It might be that the will has provisions to deal with
0:19:49 > 0:19:54items of personal property, so jewellery, furniture, paintings.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58It might specify cash gifts to people or charities.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01And then it will deal with the bulk of the estate.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Besides that, it will name executors,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07they're the people who are going to do the legwork after your death
0:20:07 > 0:20:09and look after the estate
0:20:09 > 0:20:12and divvy it up in accordance with the terms of the will.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15The will can also include funeral wishes
0:20:15 > 0:20:18and also appoint guardians. So if you were to die whilst
0:20:18 > 0:20:22any children are under the age of 18, the people who would look after them.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24- Thank you. So very important to write a will.- Vital.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30If you would like any more information about wills,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33go to our website at bbc.co.uk.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41Here is another good reason to write a will.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46Heir hunters solve thousands of cases a year and millions of pounds
0:20:46 > 0:20:49are paid out to rightful heirs, but not every case can be cracked.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53The Treasury has a database of over 2,000 names
0:20:53 > 0:20:57which have baffled the heir hunters and remain unsolved.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00This is known as the Bona Vacantia list.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04Bona Vacantia is the Latin term for ownerless property.
0:21:04 > 0:21:05We deal with two types.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08We deal with the property of now dissolved companies.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11But in this context, we also deal with the estates of those
0:21:11 > 0:21:15who die without a valid will or anyone entitled to inherit.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17This could be money with your name on it.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20Money raised through Bona Vacantia ultimately goes to
0:21:20 > 0:21:23the General Exchequer to benefit the country as a whole.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26It is important to remember that the Crown does not want to grab
0:21:26 > 0:21:28all the estates it possibly can.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31It's keen for kin to be found and for people to make wills.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35That is the way to stop property becoming Bona Vacantia. Make a will.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38Do these names mean anything to you? Are they a relative of yours?
0:21:44 > 0:21:48Her middle name of Sexton is usually a surname.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52Is it possible it was her mother's maiden name?
0:21:52 > 0:21:56Did you know Ellie? Was she a friend or neighbour of yours?
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Or did you know George Barry Pizzy
0:21:59 > 0:22:03who died in 1999 in Middlesex?
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Pizzy is an extremely rare surname in the UK.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Can you help solve this case? Are you George's heir?
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Or finally, Gladys Frogley.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18She died in November 2001 in Kingston upon Thames.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22Gladys was born in 1900, meaning she reached the age of 101.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28So far, all efforts to trace Gladys's heirs have failed.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30Someone out there must remember her.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Don't forget.
0:22:32 > 0:22:33Distant relatives can't inherit
0:22:33 > 0:22:37and the value of any given estate is top secret.
0:22:37 > 0:22:38We never release details
0:22:38 > 0:22:41of the estate or anything about the deceased
0:22:41 > 0:22:43until a claim has been admitted
0:22:43 > 0:22:45and we will only then release it
0:22:45 > 0:22:48to the person whose claim we have admitted.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50A reminder of those names again.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52Ellie Barling.
0:22:52 > 0:22:53George Percy.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Gladys Frogley.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59If any of the names on today's list are relatives of yours,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02you could have a windfall coming your way.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Next, the unsolved case of a man who died in Nottingham
0:23:10 > 0:23:12reveals a story that crosses international borders
0:23:12 > 0:23:15and that goes to the heart of war-torn Europe.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Every Thursday morning, the Treasury's list of unclaimed estates
0:23:24 > 0:23:27is advertised to the heir hunting companies.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31They scramble to be the first to find the beneficiaries to an estate.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35But despite the initial rush, some cases baffle the researchers
0:23:35 > 0:23:37and sit unclaimed for years.
0:23:41 > 0:23:47Mykola Lotocky died aged 76 in January 1992.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50He passed away in Mansfield, leaving no will
0:23:50 > 0:23:54and no known relatives to inherit his £63,000 estate.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00Mykola was Ukrainian by birth
0:24:00 > 0:24:03and according to neighbour Duncan Gellert,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07he was a friendly but private man who he knew by a different name.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12Mickey...he couldn't speak very good English.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15Every time we used to see him,
0:24:15 > 0:24:20"Hail, comrade!" You know? And he would...
0:24:22 > 0:24:26I never got into deep conversation with him,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30but as far as I know, he kept himself to himself.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35Mykola's language barrier may have cost his private nature.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37But he was just one of many Ukrainians
0:24:37 > 0:24:40who settled in the area after the Second World War.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44The majority of them that was around here
0:24:44 > 0:24:48was decent, hard-working chaps.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50They were a credit to t'community.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56Mykola Lotocky passed away in a community that respected him,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59but did not really know him and his private lifestyle
0:24:59 > 0:25:03meant people were at a loss to find his relatives after his death.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09His £63,000 estate was advertised on the Treasury's list,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11but sat there for years.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15His Ukrainian roots made it an extremely complex case
0:25:15 > 0:25:17for the heir hunters to solve.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21That is until Hector Birchwood from Celtic Research got involved.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27We have a very good agent in the Ukraine
0:25:27 > 0:25:29and I felt that this case just needed
0:25:29 > 0:25:33an extra push in order to get it resolved.
0:25:35 > 0:25:36Hector's first push
0:25:36 > 0:25:39was to look at the details on Mykola's death certificate -
0:25:39 > 0:25:42the best starting point for any heir hunt.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Once we had his death, we knew his age
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and so we started to look for marriages
0:25:49 > 0:25:52about the time at which he ought to be marrying.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54We were not able to find anything for him.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58So we also looked at births that could potentially be
0:25:58 > 0:26:01legitimate births, he doesn't have to marry to have children.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03But we could not find any.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09According to the records, Mykola had led the life of a bachelor.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11All we knew from his death certificate
0:26:11 > 0:26:13was that the deceased was a coalminer.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18After the Second World War,
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Britain was suffering a labour shortage
0:26:20 > 0:26:25and there was work for immigrants like Mykola in heavy industry.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27And, in his case, down the coal mines.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30It would have been hard graft,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34working up to 1,000 feet underground.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Dr Ivor Brown, a coalmining expert,
0:26:36 > 0:26:39can recall his own days down the pits.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42They would have been very similar to Mykola's.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47We had to get down in the pit in our own time.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50That is, if you were due to start at seven o'clock,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53if you were not there at seven, there was no work for you.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57When you got down the pit, you then had to walk to your place of work
0:26:57 > 0:27:00which could be three quarters of an hour journey away.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02It was a tough job.
0:27:02 > 0:27:03But the pay could be very good
0:27:03 > 0:27:08and the migrant work ethic impressed the locals.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11The eastern Europeans were excellent workers.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15They often learned English very quickly
0:27:15 > 0:27:18and they were generally well accepted.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22They didn't always stay long.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26They did often five or ten years
0:27:26 > 0:27:30and then they moved off to other jobs, or even back home.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34But Mykola stayed in the UK.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38It was now Hector who was heading back to the Ukraine
0:27:38 > 0:27:40in the hunt for his heirs.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45The first step after having done the research here in the UK
0:27:45 > 0:27:48is to identify his baptismal record.
0:27:48 > 0:27:53For that, we needed our agent in the Ukraine to locate it.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Which their agent promptly did.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59It came back to the UK with a sting in the tail for Hector.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02The deceased was born illegitimately.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06So although we expected his name Lotocky or Lotoski
0:28:06 > 0:28:09to be the name of his father,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12it's actually the name of his mother.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16His father was not listed on the birth certificate.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19With Mykola having been born out of wedlock,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Hector's search for his heirs didn't look promising.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26In the UK, this means the heir hunters
0:28:26 > 0:28:29can only look into the mother's side of the family.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31But the laws of the Ukraine are very different.
0:28:32 > 0:28:37According to a very obscure point in Ukrainian law,
0:28:37 > 0:28:41it's called article number 135,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44where a woman is not married,
0:28:44 > 0:28:48she must put down a masculine version
0:28:48 > 0:28:53of her maiden name under the father's surname.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57And Lotocky was that masculinised version
0:28:57 > 0:29:00of his mother's maiden name Lotocka.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02But that was not the end of it.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04According to article 135,
0:29:04 > 0:29:07an element of the father's first name
0:29:07 > 0:29:11should also be included in the illegitimate child's name.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15In this case, Mykola's full name was Mykola Ilkovych Lotocky.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22This inferred that there would be
0:29:22 > 0:29:25somebody by the name of Ilko as his father.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Hector then discovered Mykola's mother had married
0:29:29 > 0:29:33an Ilko Mykolaiovych Kisil six years after his birth.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37For Hector, the father's first names
0:29:37 > 0:29:39were too similar to Mykola's to be just a coincidence.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43Using details on the marriage certificate,
0:29:43 > 0:29:45he furthered his research
0:29:45 > 0:29:49and found three children born to Ilko and Paraskovia.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54At that point, we realised that, at the very least,
0:29:54 > 0:29:58they are half-brothers and half-sisters of the deceased.
0:29:59 > 0:30:01Hector had a lead and ran with it.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04He now got stuck into tracking the siblings down.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09In the early 20th-century,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12Mykola and his family lived in western Ukraine
0:30:12 > 0:30:16during an extremely turbulent time in the country's yesterday.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18From the year he was born,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21Mykola's homeland was a constantly changing entity.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27At the time of his birth, the land that he was born on
0:30:27 > 0:30:31was under Austro-Hungarian rule.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36By the time he had reached the age of three,
0:30:36 > 0:30:40that land then became part of Poland
0:30:40 > 0:30:45and was under Polish rule from 1918 to 1939.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Mykola and his family lived in the west of the country,
0:30:50 > 0:30:54but those living in the east came under the Soviet Union.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58During the emerging decades of the 20th century,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01they were victims of Stalin's brutal campaign
0:31:01 > 0:31:04to keep the Soviet Union together
0:31:04 > 0:31:08by crushing the Ukrainian people's call for independence.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10There were three man-made famines
0:31:10 > 0:31:13inflicted on the Ukrainian people by Stalin.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15Collectively called the Holodomor.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19The literal translation is death by hunger.
0:31:19 > 0:31:24The worst one of the three was between 1932 to 1933.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27Under this campaign, whole villages were ordered
0:31:27 > 0:31:31to give all their food and crops away to the government.
0:31:31 > 0:31:37People were then forcibly starved to death, to hand over their foodstuffs.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39And there are various estimates
0:31:39 > 0:31:42of the number of people that were killed in the Soviet Union
0:31:42 > 0:31:45during the 1920s, during the 1930s.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49It was quite literally in the millions.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52The Holodomor, now considered an act of genocide,
0:31:52 > 0:31:57is estimated to have starved to death more than 7.5 million people.
0:31:57 > 0:31:58It was an experience
0:31:58 > 0:32:02that would shape Mykola and his family's lives for ever.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08Later in the programme,
0:32:08 > 0:32:13Mykola's life in the UK is a revelation to his surviving family.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19My husband saw him being shot in Hungary.
0:32:27 > 0:32:32Here are some more unsolved cases where heirs still need to be found.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34The list of unclaimed estates
0:32:34 > 0:32:37is money that is owed to members of the public.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39New names are added all the time.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42The Bona Vacantia unclaimed list
0:32:42 > 0:32:45is a list of cases that we have not found kin for.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47The list goes back to 1997
0:32:47 > 0:32:51because that's when our case management system came online.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54The idea is to produce a list of all those cases.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56There should be at least a few thousand there,
0:32:56 > 0:32:58possibly many thousands.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02There is no plan to change the lists going forward in a major way.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05But we continue to review what we do.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08It is something that is going to be there for the foreseeable future
0:33:08 > 0:33:11and hopefully reduce in numbers as further kin are found.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15And this is money that you could be entitled to.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17Monies raised through Bona Vacantia
0:33:17 > 0:33:19ultimately go to the General Exchequer
0:33:19 > 0:33:21to benefit the country as a whole.
0:33:21 > 0:33:22But it is important to note
0:33:22 > 0:33:25that the Crown does not want all estates at all costs.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27That is not how it operates.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31It wants kin to be found and that is what we work very hard to do.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37Let's look at some of the estates from the unclaimed list.
0:33:37 > 0:33:42Do these names mean anything to you? Are they a relative of yours?
0:33:42 > 0:33:46Anthony Waite died in Croyden in March 2007.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49The name Waite derives from a lookout of a castle or fortress.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54Was Anthony a member of your family?
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Could you be an heir entitled to his estate?
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Maria Rosa Gomez Lopez died
0:34:00 > 0:34:04in Sydenham, South London on 13 May 2008.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Lopez is one of the most popular surnames in the Spanish peninsula
0:34:07 > 0:34:09and South America.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11It may be a clue to Maria's origins.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Were you a friend or neighbour of Maria's?
0:34:17 > 0:34:21Did she ever talk to you about her background or any living family?
0:34:21 > 0:34:27John Joseph Duffy died on 29 April 1997 in Bognor Regis.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31I've got John's death certificate here
0:34:31 > 0:34:34which contains more information about him.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38It shows that he was born on 9th March 1909 in Glasgow.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42Was there a John Duffy in your family with that same date of birth?
0:34:43 > 0:34:46The death certificate also shows that John was a clerk.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49Did you work with him years ago, can you help solve this case?
0:34:52 > 0:34:55If you think you can prove you are related to any of the names today,
0:34:55 > 0:34:58you could have a fortune waiting for you.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02If people want further information about Bona Vacantia
0:35:02 > 0:35:06and what we do, the first port of call would be our website
0:35:06 > 0:35:10which has information about who is an entitled relative,
0:35:10 > 0:35:15how to put in a claim, how we deal with estates and things like that.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18A reminder of those names again.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20Anthony Waite.
0:35:20 > 0:35:21Maria Gomez Lopez.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23And John Duffy.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26If today's names are relatives of yours,
0:35:26 > 0:35:28you could have a windfall coming your way.
0:35:32 > 0:35:37Let's return to the hunt for heirs to the estate of Daisy Wingrove.
0:35:37 > 0:35:42Daisy died in September 2008, aged 92.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45Leaving no will and no known relatives,
0:35:45 > 0:35:48her estate ended up on the Treasury's list.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50She spent her elderly years
0:35:50 > 0:35:53living in Chichester with her late sister Joan.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57Her friend and neighbour Sheila got to know Daisy over the years.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00I like to think back when we used to walk out in her garden,
0:36:00 > 0:36:02potter in her garden.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05Me there, making sure she is all right down the steps.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09And when we would have something to laugh about.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12It was always nice to go up in the home.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14Both Daisy and her sister Joan
0:36:14 > 0:36:19spent the final few years of their lives in a nursing home.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21Joan died a year before Daisy.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25She thought the world of Joan.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29They had always been together and now she was on her own.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32And she was absolutely devastated.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42Heir-hunting company Fraser & Fraser
0:36:42 > 0:36:45have picked up Daisy's estate from the list.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49Very early on, they knew her case had value from a house sale
0:36:49 > 0:36:51and inheritance.
0:36:51 > 0:36:56Wanting to beat competing companies to the long-lost relatives,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59Charles has thrown everything at the hunt.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02We've got 20-odd people in the office working on it.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06And throwing such resources at the case is paying off.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10They found early on that Daisy's three sisters had all died
0:37:10 > 0:37:12leaving no children.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16And this meant looking for cousins and cousins once removed.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20The team has now accounted for all nine of the Wingrove family's
0:37:20 > 0:37:21aunts and uncles.
0:37:21 > 0:37:26This has already led them to finding heirs on the father's side.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30The maternal line of Walters has proved trickier, but the team
0:37:30 > 0:37:34has now confirmed all 12 aunts and uncles that may have produced heirs.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41Case manager David Pacifico has made an executive decision.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45He and Grimble will split the tree, but neither is keen to take
0:37:45 > 0:37:49the maternal side with its 12 aunts and uncles.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53Grimble and David come to an agreement.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57- Can you walk around there?- But it's an agreement that favours Grimble.
0:37:57 > 0:38:03Look at this! Don't you think that's art? Look! Art!
0:38:03 > 0:38:06He's ended up with the smaller paternal family.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10It's a family that has already produced heirs.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12And the travellers are already
0:38:12 > 0:38:15out on the road on their way to meet them.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18Just about to go into the tunnel.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24In the office, David is coming to terms with the arrangement.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28In all fairness, he's volunteered to take the larger side of the family.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30At the moment, we don't have any heirs on that side,
0:38:30 > 0:38:33but I'm hoping we might do soon.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37And David doesn't have to wait long.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40Gareth's hard work is paying dividends.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44The maternal side, the Walters side, we have now got
0:38:44 > 0:38:47an address of somebody that may not be entitled if his mother
0:38:47 > 0:38:51is still alive, but there's still a lot of work to do on this side.
0:38:51 > 0:38:57But the team are doing it and pass David their latest leads.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00I'm going to go and make a couple of phone calls.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05It's a good sign when the case managers start heading upstairs.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09It means there's potential heirs to call and arrange meetings with.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Maybe David stands a chance of catching up with Grimble after all.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18- Hello, Tone.- Hello, Dave.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20Some in the office are having it easier than others,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23and partner Neil has arrived into work,
0:39:23 > 0:39:28glad his cousin Charles is having to finish this case off.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30It's been a frantic morning,
0:39:30 > 0:39:33with research happening all over the place.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35We've identified it's got value.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38I expect a lot of other people will be able to identify it's got value,
0:39:38 > 0:39:42so it's going to be a competitive case, so we want to be there first.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48And the travelling heir hunters are key to that happening.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52Bob Smith, Dave Hadley and Bob Barrett are all on their way
0:39:52 > 0:39:55to meetings with heirs on the paternal line Grimble is working.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58Things are falling into place nicely for a relaxed Grimble.
0:40:01 > 0:40:02Speak to you later. Goodbye.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08David Pacifico is keen to discover how all of the hard work
0:40:08 > 0:40:11he put in on Daisy's father's side of the tree
0:40:11 > 0:40:12is paying off for Grimble.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Are you finished all your work on the paternal side then?
0:40:15 > 0:40:18Almost finished, David. We're not lagging behind.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21We're not trying to palm off any of our work
0:40:21 > 0:40:22to anybody else in the company.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24I volunteered to have that side of the case.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27I could've easily have said, "Look, Grimble,
0:40:27 > 0:40:29"I've already spoken to people on the paternal side,
0:40:29 > 0:40:32"it makes more sense for you to take the maternal side."
0:40:32 > 0:40:35- Did I say that? No, I didn't. - Oh, I can be cruel when I want!
0:40:37 > 0:40:39And to add insult to David Pacifico's injury,
0:40:39 > 0:40:44Bob Barrett has made it to a paternal heir's house.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47Yvonne Collins is a cousin once removed whose grandmother Nelly
0:40:47 > 0:40:50was Daisy's aunt.
0:40:50 > 0:40:51She was one of nine.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55Yeah, we were trying to work out this the other day.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58Bob goes through what he knows with Yvonne,
0:40:58 > 0:41:02and after the meeting, gives the cheerful Grimble a call.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04She's signed an agreement on her own behalf
0:41:04 > 0:41:07and on behalf of her late brother.
0:41:07 > 0:41:08That's marvellous.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12- Good news.- OK, bye now.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16Cheers, goodbye. Ah, Mr Bob Barrett has done it again!
0:41:16 > 0:41:19Bob Barrett is on fire.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23As quickly as Grimble is contacting heirs, Bob is meeting up with them.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25- Hello, Mr Whittingham?- Yes.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Robert Whittingham is another descendant of Daisy's aunt Nelly.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30Whereabouts were you born?
0:41:30 > 0:41:34- Grandmother Nelly or Ellen...- Yes.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37..was one of nine, we believe.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40And the paternal heirs keep coming.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44Traveller Bob Smith has just arrived at his meeting.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46Well, this is very nice.
0:41:46 > 0:41:47He's meeting Bob Bevan,
0:41:47 > 0:41:50a cousin once removed through Daisy's paternal aunt,
0:41:50 > 0:41:53Rosa Wingrove.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55OK, what was your father's name?
0:41:55 > 0:41:57Bob Smith gets down to business.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59Bob Barrett has wrapped his up.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02The news comes as a big relief to Grimble.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05- He's signed an agreement with us. - Oh, good.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08I'm glad about that, because I can now run off and go for a wee wee.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12But he'd better not take too long, as downstairs,
0:42:12 > 0:42:16David Pacifico and Gareth are finally making some headway.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19We've got quite a few names to play with
0:42:19 > 0:42:22and we've got a current address on two of those stems.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25David is fighting back.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28He puts his decades of experience to good use
0:42:28 > 0:42:32and passes the addresses straight to his travellers.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36- It's time for Ewart Lindsay to get in on the action.- Thanks, yeah.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38Bye, bye.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41With Ewart hot-footing it to one Walters heir,
0:42:41 > 0:42:45David Pacifico has got Dave Hadley to go to another.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47Mrs Davy?
0:42:47 > 0:42:51Barbara Davy is a cousin of Daisy's through her uncle Arthur Walters.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54Dave gets down to business.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57Meanwhile, Ewart is just beginning his.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01Hello, hi, how are you?
0:43:01 > 0:43:04- Goodbye.- Back with Dave Hadley, and he's a happy man.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07She signed the agreement, I'm pleased to say,
0:43:07 > 0:43:11so it's a job well done, so it's on to the next one now.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14Another agreement for David Pacifico's team.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18Ewart brings heir, Lynne Burling, up to speed on what they know.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22Lynne is happy to sign an agreement with the company.
0:43:22 > 0:43:23She's an amateur genealogist
0:43:23 > 0:43:28and this addition to her knowledge about her family tree is priceless.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32I'm hoping that they'll let me
0:43:32 > 0:43:35have copies of all of the documents that they've taken,
0:43:35 > 0:43:38or gathered themselves, so that I can add to my records.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41It's just, I'm not even thinking about the money! Honestly!
0:43:41 > 0:43:46It's just come out of the blue this! So it's just so exciting!
0:43:46 > 0:43:51As exciting as the hot competition between the two case managers.
0:43:53 > 0:43:54Despite Dave Hadley meeting
0:43:54 > 0:43:58and signing yet another heir on the maternal line, in the office,
0:43:58 > 0:44:03partner Neil knows which horse crossed the line first.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07It looks as though David Milchard has beaten David Pacifico
0:44:07 > 0:44:11quite hands down today. He certainly had the agreements first.
0:44:12 > 0:44:16And the side of the family looks pretty well wrapped up,
0:44:16 > 0:44:23and until we get the certificates back, then, it's looking fairly good.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27Grimble had a family of nine to trace the heirs to,
0:44:27 > 0:44:29with a lot of work already done.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33And David Pacifico had to track the heirs from an un-researched
0:44:33 > 0:44:38family of 12. And a family tree of about 12 foot.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42That'll teach you a lesson, trying to fob it off on me!
0:44:42 > 0:44:45Did I fob it off to you?
0:44:45 > 0:44:47I volunteered to have this side of the case.
0:44:47 > 0:44:52In the end, the estate was worth a lot less than the initial estimate.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57But the team have shown they can handle such a large case.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00- Thank you very much, goodbye. - Take care, goodbye.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02I'm now looking forward to going home.
0:45:02 > 0:45:08None more so than an exhausted, but exhilarated David Pacifico.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11It may have been a day of head-to-head
0:45:11 > 0:45:12competition with Grimble,
0:45:12 > 0:45:16but everything these guys do is for the greater good of the company.
0:45:16 > 0:45:21At the end of the day, you know, we're sort of the same team
0:45:21 > 0:45:24and importantly, we have now come up with agreements,
0:45:24 > 0:45:27so we have ended the day even, I think.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30And partner Neil couldn't be happier with his team.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32We've worked it very, very hard.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35The reason we had to work it very, very hard
0:45:35 > 0:45:37is because of the size of the family.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42The family is absolutely huge. Certainly at top-level line.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44That's whittled down to not as many heirs
0:45:44 > 0:45:48as it possibly looked like first thing this morning.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50I think some of the guys were probably
0:45:50 > 0:45:54saying 50 to 100 beneficiaries. We'll probably have 50,
0:45:54 > 0:45:56but I don't think we'll get near the 100 beneficiaries stage.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59But it's got value, it's been a good day.
0:46:05 > 0:46:11Finally, we return to the story of Ukrainian exile Mykola Lotocky.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14After the war, Mykola was forced to flee his homeland
0:46:14 > 0:46:15and ended up in the UK.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20Unfortunately, Mykola's story was not unusual.
0:46:20 > 0:46:25Millions of people were displaced by the upheavals of World War II.
0:46:25 > 0:46:30I am meeting Professor Brad Blitz from Kingston University, London,
0:46:30 > 0:46:32who can tell me about how the conflict changed
0:46:32 > 0:46:33the face of modern Britain,
0:46:33 > 0:46:38but also how it turned millions of people's lives upside down.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42What state was Europe in immediately after World War II?
0:46:42 > 0:46:45Well, Europe was in a state of ruins.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48It was absolutely devastated, whole communities had been destroyed.
0:46:50 > 0:46:54Europe was of course divided very much between the Allies and the
0:46:54 > 0:47:00Soviets, so there was a line coming down, the Iron Curtain as we know it,
0:47:00 > 0:47:04and as a result of that, there were many population transfers that
0:47:04 > 0:47:08took place after the war and at the same time,
0:47:08 > 0:47:11you had whole groups of people who could not be returned.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17How many people were made homeless after the war?
0:47:17 > 0:47:21There were about 40 million refugees, but in addition to refugees,
0:47:21 > 0:47:23there were massive population transfers
0:47:23 > 0:47:24that took place after the war.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27There were ethnic Germans that were kicked out of Czechoslovakia
0:47:27 > 0:47:29and other countries.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32In addition, you had East Europeans that were fleeing,
0:47:32 > 0:47:36fearing retaliation, perhaps retaliation for having
0:47:36 > 0:47:41colluded with the Nazis, fleeing westwards, and so you had large
0:47:41 > 0:47:45numbers of people who simply did not have homes to go to.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48Many of the homeless Europeans ended up in what was known as
0:47:48 > 0:47:50displaced persons camps.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55These were often former concentration camps which
0:47:55 > 0:47:58because they had the infrastructure, because the Allies were there
0:47:58 > 0:48:01and because, above all, people were there,
0:48:01 > 0:48:05they became the displaced persons camps where the Red Cross
0:48:05 > 0:48:08operated and where people were protected.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11And what is interesting is that even though these had been
0:48:11 > 0:48:15sites of brutality, after the war,
0:48:15 > 0:48:20they also became sites of renewed communities so you had, for example,
0:48:20 > 0:48:23in displaced persons camps, you had the highest birth-rate in Europe.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26Millions of people who were there, they re-established families,
0:48:26 > 0:48:32people got married, they had babies and so life began again.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36It's fascinating because you never hear about that side of the camps
0:48:36 > 0:48:37and what happened afterwards.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40It was during this post-war period with
0:48:40 > 0:48:43so many European refugees displaced that the population
0:48:43 > 0:48:48and politics of Britain in Europe was about to change for ever.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51The United Nations as we know it now was very much born
0:48:51 > 0:48:53out of the experiences of the Second World War.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55Refugee policy in particular.
0:48:55 > 0:49:01Because before 1951, when the Refugee Convention was established,
0:49:01 > 0:49:05refugee policy was very much about returning people to their homes,
0:49:05 > 0:49:10about repatriating them, often against their will and afterwards,
0:49:10 > 0:49:14there was this greater recognition that refugees needed protection from
0:49:14 > 0:49:18persecution and they needed to be integrated into their host countries.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20And where did they find themselves?
0:49:20 > 0:49:25The United Kingdom had taken in about 70,000 Jewish refugees,
0:49:25 > 0:49:28including 10,000 children on the Kindertransport,
0:49:28 > 0:49:32and so some Jews were able to reunite with their families.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36In addition, Britain took in a further...over 200,000 Poles
0:49:36 > 0:49:41who were welcomed as war heroes for having worked alongside
0:49:41 > 0:49:43the British, in fact under the British Army,
0:49:43 > 0:49:47against the Nazis and also in opposition to the Soviets,
0:49:47 > 0:49:50and they worked in the mines, they worked in heavy industry.
0:49:50 > 0:49:55In terms of the Jews, they settled here and took up professions
0:49:55 > 0:49:58and occupations as other people.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02After the Second World War, Poland became a communist country.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05This led the British government
0:50:05 > 0:50:08to create its first ever mass immigration law.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12The Polish Resettlement Act came into force in 1947.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15As we know from Mykola's story,
0:50:15 > 0:50:18it wasn't just the Poles who came here.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21Other Eastern European refugees settled
0:50:21 > 0:50:26and slowly but surely became part of the modern fabric of Britain.
0:50:26 > 0:50:30How did the public first react to this influx of people?
0:50:30 > 0:50:34There is a tremendous shortage of labour after the war
0:50:34 > 0:50:37so, overall, they were welcomed, especially those who were able
0:50:37 > 0:50:41to work in the mines and help restart British industry.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45- So how did this affect Britain in the long-term?- It was massive.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49It was absolutely central to the development of multicultural
0:50:49 > 0:50:50Britain as we know it today.
0:50:51 > 0:50:56So, for example, you had Poles who had arrived in the 1940s who
0:50:56 > 0:50:59paved the way for new generations of Poles during parts
0:50:59 > 0:51:03of the Cold War, but especially over the last decade.
0:51:03 > 0:51:10So the 500,000 plus Poles who are here today, their existence is very
0:51:10 > 0:51:16much central to the history of those who had migrated decades beforehand.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18Since the end of the Second World War,
0:51:18 > 0:51:22our country's ethnic diversity has changed dramatically and the most
0:51:22 > 0:51:26recent movement of Polish people into Britain is just the latest
0:51:26 > 0:51:31phase in a long and rich history of immigration into the British Isles.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33It is a history that has enriched our country
0:51:33 > 0:51:35and culture beyond measure.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42The heir hunters are doing everything they can to
0:51:42 > 0:51:46track down the rightful beneficiaries of Mykola Lotocky's estate.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51Mykola died in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire,
0:51:51 > 0:51:54without leaving a will and with no known relatives.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57According to his neighbour, Duncan Gillett,
0:51:57 > 0:52:00he led a very solitary life.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03I never got into deep conversation with him,
0:52:03 > 0:52:07but as far as I know, he kept himself to himself.
0:52:07 > 0:52:14Ukrainian-born Mykola was 76 years old when he passed away in 1992.
0:52:14 > 0:52:20And his £63,000 estate was advertised on the Treasury's list.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23But because the heir hunt needed to go all the way back to the Ukraine,
0:52:23 > 0:52:27for years it proved too tough a nut to crack for the heir hunters.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32This is until Hector Birchwood from Celtic Research
0:52:32 > 0:52:33took up the estate.
0:52:33 > 0:52:38This case just really needed an extra push in order to get it resolved.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40Despite Mykola being registered
0:52:40 > 0:52:42as an illegitimate birth in the Ukraine,
0:52:42 > 0:52:45his mother went on to marry six years later
0:52:45 > 0:52:48and have a further three children.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51Hector couldn't be 100% certain but there was a chance
0:52:51 > 0:52:54the father of these children, Ilko Kisil,
0:52:54 > 0:52:57was also the father of Mykola.
0:52:59 > 0:53:04Well, once we had located the names of potential brothers and sisters,
0:53:04 > 0:53:09really, the next step is to see if they are still alive or not.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12And hopefully, they may be alive, and if they're not alive,
0:53:12 > 0:53:16then we looked for marriages and then look for potential children.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20Using a Ukrainian agent to help with his hunt,
0:53:20 > 0:53:23Hector researched further into a brother and sister
0:53:23 > 0:53:26who had stayed in the Ukraine.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28The team found the sister alive
0:53:28 > 0:53:33and she was now an heir to Mykola's £63,000 estate.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37The brother had died but left two surviving children.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40These were Mykola's second and third heirs.
0:53:40 > 0:53:44But Hector's hunt was far from over.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47There was, however, also a third brother.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50And we didn't know where he was
0:53:50 > 0:53:53because he no longer resided in the Ukraine.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57Hector moved his research on and discovered his hunt
0:53:57 > 0:54:00would now bring him back to the UK.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04Using the recognisable surname of Kisil, he found his man.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07But there was a big shock in store.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12What we found was that his brother Teodor had settled
0:54:12 > 0:54:14here in the United Kingdom in Leicester,
0:54:14 > 0:54:18only a few miles from where the deceased died in Mansfield.
0:54:18 > 0:54:23He married in the 1950s to Gratzia Cicatiello,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26and he died some nine years after the deceased,
0:54:26 > 0:54:29not knowing that, actually,
0:54:29 > 0:54:32his brother was only living a few miles apart.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36It was a mystery Hector could only wonder at,
0:54:36 > 0:54:39as according to the Ukrainian family,
0:54:39 > 0:54:42the brothers had always been close.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45Mykola and Teodor had even gone away to war together
0:54:45 > 0:54:48to fight for the Germans against Stalin.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55Mykola and Teodor had seen their fellow countrymen
0:54:55 > 0:55:01being starved to death in the millions by Stalin's Soviet regime.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04So it's no wonder they may have been willing
0:55:04 > 0:55:07to take up arms against the Red Army.
0:55:07 > 0:55:12After the war had ended, people who were conscripted by the Nazis
0:55:12 > 0:55:16found themselves in Germany in displaced persons camps.
0:55:17 > 0:55:22They had the option of whether to go back home or to stay in the West.
0:55:22 > 0:55:27People that fought in German and Polish uniform settled in this country
0:55:27 > 0:55:30and Mykola and Teodor were obviously two people
0:55:30 > 0:55:32that fitted that category.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36So, both brothers came to the UK unbeknown to each other.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40And, seemingly, never tried to make contact again.
0:55:40 > 0:55:46Unfortunately, this tragic separation was all too common.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50Mykola, like many Ukrainians, would not have contacted his family,
0:55:50 > 0:55:52simply because he feared for their lives.
0:55:52 > 0:55:57He knew that if he got in touch with his family,
0:55:57 > 0:56:01that the Soviets may view him as an enemy of the state
0:56:01 > 0:56:04and that his family could suffer as a consequence.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08With this hanging over him,
0:56:08 > 0:56:12it's no wonder Mykola chose to live a solitary life in the UK.
0:56:12 > 0:56:16Never being able to discover what had happened to his brother
0:56:16 > 0:56:18or family back in the Ukraine.
0:56:18 > 0:56:20It's a tragic life story
0:56:20 > 0:56:24and especially sad for Mykola's surviving heir in the UK -
0:56:24 > 0:56:28an heir Hector was now contacting.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31He put in a call to Mykola's brother Teodor's wife
0:56:31 > 0:56:34who would now also inherit.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38As Teodor had died after Mykola,
0:56:38 > 0:56:40he had what is known as a vested interest.
0:56:40 > 0:56:45This means his widow Gratzia is considered the next of kin.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49But Hector's news about Mykola's close whereabouts in the UK
0:56:49 > 0:56:51wasn't her biggest shock.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55For me, it was really confusing.
0:56:55 > 0:57:01My husband saw him being shot in Hungary.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06Teodor had spent his adult life
0:57:06 > 0:57:08believing his older brother was dead.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10He'd been convinced he'd seen him shot
0:57:10 > 0:57:14on the battlefield in Hungary in 1944.
0:57:14 > 0:57:18The whole family had been convinced of Mykola's death,
0:57:18 > 0:57:20even erecting a headstone for him
0:57:20 > 0:57:24above an empty grave back in the Ukraine.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27We went to visit the grave
0:57:27 > 0:57:30and I also made a photograph of some of them.
0:57:30 > 0:57:35You'd never think that he had survived,
0:57:35 > 0:57:38and it really was a big surprise for me.
0:57:38 > 0:57:40A sort of a mystery.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48Mykola's decision to leave the past behind is understandable,
0:57:48 > 0:57:50given the circumstances.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53But it's still a bitter blow for the surviving family,
0:57:53 > 0:57:58now knowing he'd lived just 50 miles away for all of that time.
0:57:58 > 0:58:04For Gratzia, Mykola's lonely existence in the UK is a sad memory
0:58:04 > 0:58:08and despite being an heir to his £63,000 estate,
0:58:08 > 0:58:12she knows what she and her late husband would rather have had.
0:58:12 > 0:58:17I would have loved to know what sort of person he was,
0:58:17 > 0:58:20instead of money.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24Mykola Lotocky's estate will be divided up between the four heirs
0:58:24 > 0:58:28Hector Birchwood discovered from the Ukraine to the UK.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31But it's going to four people who would have preferred to have
0:58:31 > 0:58:35known the whereabouts decades earlier of the long-lost Mykola.
0:58:52 > 0:58:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd