0:00:02 > 0:00:07Heir hunters track down people who are entitled to money from relatives who have died.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10It's not an easy task. We do it every day of the week.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Sometimes, the deceased has become estranged from their family.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16It's the heir hunters' job to trace them
0:00:16 > 0:00:19and make sure any unclaimed money goes to the right person.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25I had to lose my last remaining relative to inherit the money.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28The research can be painstaking.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Rather like scratching one's head without any fingers.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34And doesn't always go to plan.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36We're back to square one.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40But it's all about giving news of an unexpected windfall.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43So, could the heir hunters be knocking on your door?
0:00:48 > 0:00:53Coming up, is a very common surname a challenge too far for the team?
0:00:53 > 0:00:58- Smith is always hard work. - It's tricky, it's a challenge, but that's what research is.
0:00:58 > 0:01:03A story of crime, punishment and ultimate redemption.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08If you told me that he was going to turn out to be a half-decent guy
0:01:08 > 0:01:11that does charity work, I would've thought you were bonkers.
0:01:11 > 0:01:16Plus, how you could be entitled to inherit unclaimed estates held by the Treasury.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Could thousands of pounds be heading your way.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32It's Thursday morning and overnight the latest bona vacantia list has been published
0:01:32 > 0:01:35showing the names of people who have died without leaving a will.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40At Fraser and Fraser, the country's largest firm of heir hunters,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43case manager David Milchard, known as Grimble, and boss Neil
0:01:43 > 0:01:46are looking at four potential cases from the list.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49- That's your coffee there. - Thank you.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56Speed is always a priority because there are up to 40 rival heir hunting firms
0:01:56 > 0:02:00all racing to find and sign up heirs for a commission of an estate's worth.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04The one that looks the best is this one.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08This morning, the team are feeling brave.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13They've decided to work a case with the most common surname in Britain.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17- It's a good bet, isn't it? - What do you reckon?- Yeah.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23James Smith died in July 2011 near Chichester.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27For the last three decades of his life,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30he worked as a garden labourer.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32His friends knew him as Jimmy.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Work colleague Doug Moye remembers him well.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41I knew Jimmy 28 years.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43Jimmy was never a big talker.
0:02:45 > 0:02:51Always kept himself to himself. He was never one for starting a conversation.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54He would only ever answer if somebody talked to him.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58"How you doing, Jim?" "All right." And that was it.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02"How are you feeling?" "Fair to middling." It's just the way he was.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04No picture of Jimmy has been found.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09But he's remembered as a hard worker who never complained.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Well, I think he was happy to have the job.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16He never had a day off sick. He'd come in, he'd be there on time.
0:03:16 > 0:03:22He'd be the last one usually in for a break, and generally the first one out after the break.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24He wouldn't leave five minutes early.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Never asked for a holiday. Had to be sent on holiday.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Um, he got on with the job, what he needed to do.
0:03:32 > 0:03:38And Jimmy kept his personal life and his past very much to himself.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43Jimmy never said anything, unless you really asked him and pushed him.
0:03:43 > 0:03:50He just didn't talk. He wouldn't say a thing about it.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53He was just one of those people. You left him alone.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56You didn't push him. He didn't seem troubled about anything.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04In the office, the team has very little to work on.
0:04:04 > 0:04:09So far, all they've got is a name and the place where James Smith died.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14They need more information and fast.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18So Grimble gets hold of one of the company's travelling researchers.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19Hello. Bob Smith.
0:04:19 > 0:04:26Bob spends his days out on the road gathering vital information for the team in the office.
0:04:26 > 0:04:31They build up a picture of the person who has died by talking to neighbours.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34And they also collect vital documents.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Hello, Bob. How are you going? Yeah.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Do you want to go down to Chichester?
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Grimble sends Bob to James Smith's last known address
0:04:44 > 0:04:46to see what he can find out.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50The team has accessed the electoral register for Chichester,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53which has given them a much needed lead.
0:04:53 > 0:05:00We've run the name and what we think is the correct address through one of our databases here.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03That's given us some information. Similar to an electoral roll
0:05:03 > 0:05:06but has a date of birth attached to it.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10We've got a birth for James Smith in 1940 in Portsmouth.
0:05:10 > 0:05:16The date of birth is crucial as it should help the team identify James's parents.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22If the birth we've got is right, his mother's maiden name is Couch.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Try to find a Smith-Couch marriage.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29In a period of 20 years, there's three.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33If the team can confirm James's parents' details,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35they can look further into his family tree.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39Because if they can't find a marriage for James, or children,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42then his parents' relatives will be heirs.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47But already there's confusion.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50- Did he live in the nursery? - Did he live in the nursery?
0:05:50 > 0:05:53It wouldn't be a nursing home, would it?
0:05:54 > 0:05:58The team really needs to establish James's address
0:05:58 > 0:06:00to work out whether or not he owned a property.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04With such a common surname, the research is hard work,
0:06:04 > 0:06:06which could end up being costly.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10If James didn't own a property, his estate is likely to be low value
0:06:10 > 0:06:13and might not be worth investigating.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17That address is a garden centre.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19That's what I thought.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24Originally, the team thought James had lived in a nursing home.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29But a closer look at the address suggests he might have lived at the nursery where he worked.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32It doesn't make sense to Neil and Grimble.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37So, what's it look like? A nursery?
0:06:37 > 0:06:41- A garden centre. - He's living in the garden centre?
0:06:41 > 0:06:45It looks like he's renting a caravan on the site.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51There may be confusion over James's last known address
0:06:51 > 0:06:57but, despite dealing with a common surname, the researchers think they've made a breakthrough.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00We're working on a 1941 marriage.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04Henry Smith to a Jennifer Couch.
0:07:04 > 0:07:10Um, we've got one of James's possible brothers up to date.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Um, Simon's just ringing him up.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14- It's wrong. - Wrong?
0:07:15 > 0:07:20But one of the other case managers, Simon Mills, has just proved all this is wrong.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24He has found James's mother was not called Couch after all.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26And their research has been for nothing.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29We're back to square one.
0:07:30 > 0:07:35There's always a risk of a setback like this when dealing with such a common name.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Nonetheless, it's frustrating.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42First thing this morning, we thought we'd identified the birth of the deceased.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45We've got the cert and it's proved to be wrong.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Um, quite surprising because everything looked fairly good.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53The reason most of these cases get on the list is because they're hard to work.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56If they're very simple, very easy, or very close family,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00then they should all be dealt with by the time they get to our office.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02It's not an easy task for anyone to start working.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06It's not an easy task for us and we do it every day of the week.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11It's tricky, it's a challenge, but that's what research is.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Senior travelling researcher Bob Smith
0:08:15 > 0:08:19has his own theory about the pros and cons of working a name like Smith.
0:08:20 > 0:08:26If it's a common surname, the likelihood of competition is less.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30But, obviously, it presents problems in terms of research
0:08:30 > 0:08:33and trying to locate family members.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37If it's an uncommon name, it's easier to locate people
0:08:37 > 0:08:43but, of course, the element of competition comes into play then.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49Because nothing is known about James, Bob is going to do all he can to move the case on.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55What I'm going to do is make an enquiry with the people who worked there.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Find out from them what they know about his life, his family.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02And, most importantly of all,
0:09:02 > 0:09:09try and get an indication of whether he may well have left an estate with any value.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11With the team in the office back to square one,
0:09:11 > 0:09:13all hope rests on Bob Smith.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16See what he can do.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21But will Bob be able to uncover any clues about the mysterious James Smith?
0:09:22 > 0:09:25He came home one day and all his family were gone.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36Heir hunters trace the relatives of people who have died without leaving a will.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41Sometimes, they've been estranged from their family for many years.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46Only after their death is their family able to fill in the missing pieces of their lives.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Often discovering things they never knew about them.
0:09:51 > 0:09:57And that was true when Mike Tringham of heir hunting firm Hoopers picked up the case of Philip Amanet.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02A man who had a troubled life but was able to give something back in his later years.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07Well, I think, in Philip's case, it's nice that the good work
0:10:07 > 0:10:11that he'd done in the latter part of his life can be recognised,
0:10:11 > 0:10:15which otherwise would have just been lost in the mists of time.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22Philip Amanet's name was published on the Treasury Solicitor's bona vacantia list of unclaimed estates
0:10:22 > 0:10:27following his death in Essex on the 29th of September 2009.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33It was fairly close to home, a good name to work with,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35and it had all the features of a potential case,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39so we thought we'd work with it and see where it took us.
0:10:39 > 0:10:45For the last six years of his life, Philip was involved with the church in Essex.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48And its leader Peter Domini remembers him well.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53I met Phil 2004. I work with the church,
0:10:53 > 0:10:58he was volunteering at the local homeless centre.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02He was a bit disconnected at the time and wanted to get involved with our little church.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09Phil was fairly quiet, often had a smile on his face,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12didn't push himself to the fore.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17Phil was someone who just seemed to want to gently slide in
0:11:17 > 0:11:20and be included and get involved.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Phil had a number of things which he was passionate about.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25One was his disco.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Another one was his clowning.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30For many years, Philip raised money
0:11:30 > 0:11:35making appearances at local charity events as Bobo the Clown.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38His disco and clowning came together. He loved to entertain children.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41He did discos, children's parties.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45He did some for different people in the church.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47And his clowning, same again.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51He wanted to raise money for charity and he loved to put on his clown suit.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55I think he just wanted to put a smile on people's faces.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59And when Philip died, he was surrounded by his many friends.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03It was like the family he never had was then gathered around him,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05loving him and caring for him.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08Word had got out and we met all these people who turned up
0:12:08 > 0:12:11from Phil's past, from his active days of clowning.
0:12:11 > 0:12:17We had one chap in the church DJ-ing on Phil's record decks.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22And anyone who wanted to got up and shared stories from different parts of Phil's life
0:12:22 > 0:12:24over the years.
0:12:30 > 0:12:36As with many cases, Mike Tringham's investigation began with Philip's death certificate.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42First thing we did was to look for a record of his birth.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45Which we didn't find initially.
0:12:45 > 0:12:52And we speculated on whether he'd perhaps been born abroad.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Then it was suggested perhaps we just check the adoption records.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00And, sure enough, we found his record of birth
0:13:00 > 0:13:03or adoption in the birth indexes.
0:13:03 > 0:13:09Discovering Philip's details on the adoption records was a real breakthrough in this case.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13And these same records gave Mike his next clue.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16The significant names are his adoptive parents.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20We needed to find out more about them, who they were, what happened to them,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23whether they were still living,
0:13:23 > 0:13:26if they were deceased, whether they had other children.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30That sort of thing. Trying to build up a picture of the deceased,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32his family that he had been brought in to.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39It was crucial to build up a picture of Philip's adoptive family
0:13:39 > 0:13:42because under UK law it would be them and not his birth family
0:13:42 > 0:13:45who would be entitled to inherit his estate.
0:13:47 > 0:13:53Philip was born in 1954 at a time when the social stigma of having children outside marriage
0:13:53 > 0:13:56meant many women who found themselves in this situation
0:13:56 > 0:14:00felt they had no choice but to give up their child for adoption.
0:14:02 > 0:14:07Parents' particular fear was that their teenage daughters might get pregnant.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11Because then they thought their marriage prospects would be ruined.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15If they were in education, they would have to leave school.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19It was seen as a social disaster. If they did get pregnant,
0:14:19 > 0:14:24there was often great pressure on them to go quietly to a mother and baby home
0:14:24 > 0:14:27have the baby, give it away very quickly.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30The majority of children were given up as babies
0:14:30 > 0:14:35but, unusually for the time, Philip wasn't adopted until he was four years old.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40His new parents were Henry Amanet and Violet Carlier.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43They formally adopted Philip in 1958
0:14:43 > 0:14:48during an era when there was a great change in the way adoption took place.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51By the 1950s, there was more regulation of adoption.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55Societies were more organised, local authorities were getting involved.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59There were still independent adoptions
0:14:59 > 0:15:06in which doctors and nurses might find potential parents for babies.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11And also families would somehow just informally pass children between them.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14And that was allowed. It wasn't illegal.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18But there was a growing feeling there should be more regulation.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26In the office, Mike Tringham and his team had established that Philip was legally adopted
0:15:26 > 0:15:29and were trying to chase the rest of the Amanet family.
0:15:29 > 0:15:35They found out that Philip was the second child Henry and Violet had adopted.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38David was six years older than Philip.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42Unlike his younger brother, he'd been adopted as a bay.
0:15:42 > 0:15:48If Henry and Violet had both died, then David would be next in line to inherit Philip's estate.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Looking at the ages of the adoptive parents,
0:15:52 > 0:15:57if they were alive today, they would be into their 90s.
0:15:57 > 0:16:03And so we would assume that they would be dead by now.
0:16:03 > 0:16:08Mike's team searched death records and, as expected, they found that
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Philip's mother Violet had indeed passed away in 1995.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17But the team could find no record of a death for her husband Henry.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22I was quite shocked to discover that the father was still alive,
0:16:22 > 0:16:29the fact that the deceased was adopted, and yet one of his adoptive parents was still living.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36It was a surprising breakthrough and meant the team had found the sole heir to Philip's estate.
0:16:36 > 0:16:42But there was a dramatic twist to come and it would soon emerge that life in the Amanet family
0:16:42 > 0:16:44had been extremely difficult.
0:16:44 > 0:16:50Initially, it didn't seem to create a problem but, as a bit of time went on,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52he started getting very disruptive.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02Heir hunters track down thousands of rightful beneficiaries every year.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05But not every case can be solved.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08There are thousands of name on the Treasury Solicitor's unclaimed list
0:17:08 > 0:17:11that have stumped the heir hunters.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16To claim an estate of someone who has died intestate,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19you need to trace your relationship in a direct line
0:17:19 > 0:17:21from the deceased person's grandparents.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24They need to supply certificates of birth, death and marriage.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26And identity documents as well.
0:17:26 > 0:17:32Today, we're highlighting two cases that have so far proved impossible to solve.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36Could you be the beneficiary heir hunters have been looking for?
0:17:36 > 0:17:40Perhaps you're in line for a windfall from a long lost relative.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45First, is the case of Patrick Armstrong
0:17:45 > 0:17:49who died in London's Maida Vale on the 25th February 2001.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53All work to trace his relatives has so far drawn a blank.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58Can you help? Are you related to Patrick?
0:17:58 > 0:18:03Or perhaps you were a neighbour living in Maida Vale back in 2001
0:18:03 > 0:18:07who may have some information which could help find Patrick's beneficiaries.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Next, can you throw any light on the case of Jane Wighton
0:18:13 > 0:18:17whose last known address was Barmwell Terrace in Edinburgh?
0:18:17 > 0:18:20She died on the 15th of May in 2002.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27Her estate was published by the Queen's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer or QLTR,
0:18:27 > 0:18:32which is the list published in Scotland of people who have died without leaving a will.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Unlike the bona vacantia list,
0:18:34 > 0:18:39which holds the names of people who have died intestate in England and Wales,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42the QLTR does give values for estates.
0:18:42 > 0:18:48Jane's estate is worth £11,657.18.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52Both Patrick and Jane's cases remain unsolved.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Unless heirs are traced, the money they left behind
0:18:55 > 0:18:59will go to government funds in their home countries.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01When considering a claim for an estate,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04it's important a person puts forward a very good case.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06It's all based on the evidence.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10We need the birth, death, marriage certificates, perhaps something on adoption.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13Then we consider the evidence very carefully.
0:19:13 > 0:19:19Do you have any clues that may help solve either the case of Patrick Armstrong or Jane Wighton?
0:19:19 > 0:19:24If you do, you could have an unexpected windfall coming your way.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33It's all in the name at heir hunting firm Fraser and Fraser.
0:19:33 > 0:19:39The team is looking into the case of James Smith who died in Chichester in July 2011.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44But his common surname is causing problems for the team.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48Smith is always hard work. But the good thing is,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51it'll be just as hard for the competition to get on to it as it is for us.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Rather like scratching one's head without any fingers.
0:19:55 > 0:20:02They've already spent valuable time working on one possible family only to draw a blank.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05So we're back to square one.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09And it seems that James Smith was just as mysterious in life
0:20:09 > 0:20:11as he is in death.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15This guy turns out to be a bit of a mystery man.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20David Cunliffe is the deputy manager of the pub where James,
0:20:20 > 0:20:22known as Jimmy to his friends,
0:20:22 > 0:20:24was a regular for many years.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28He used to just sit at the bar. Pop himself up on the bar stool
0:20:28 > 0:20:32and just sit there ordering his beer.
0:20:32 > 0:20:38Um, after the smoking ban had come in, he couldn't smoke at the bar,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41so he used to order a pint of beer and a packet of crisps.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45He would pass you the money over the bar
0:20:45 > 0:20:49and then he would try and snatch it back a little bit as a little joke.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53And he'd always have a smirk on his face. He did have a sense of humour.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55I think every pub has one.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58No pictures of Jimmy survived and Doug Moye,
0:20:58 > 0:21:02who worked with Jimmy for 18 years, knew very little about him.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05He never spoke about family to me.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10Then, I suppose in a way, I never really asked him about family.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16But then, Jimmy is Jimmy. He is what he is.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19We know Jimmy, we knew what he was like.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22And so he was basically left alone.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26Jimmy didn't seemed sad or lonely.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29He always came in and said hello to the people behind the bar
0:21:29 > 0:21:33and the other people sitting at the bar drinking.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35He always had a smile when you spoke to him.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39He never seemed down or upset about things.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47Back on the office, the search for James's heirs has drawn a blank.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51Early on, the team thought they had found his relatives in Portsmouth
0:21:51 > 0:21:53but it was the wrong Smith family.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56No, that Couch is incorrect completely.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Now they have a new lead and they're really hoping this one will pay off.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Just got the death certificate back for James Smith.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08It tells us he was born in Berkshire in 1948.
0:22:08 > 0:22:14And that he was a horticultural worker and that he worked, lived and died on the estate.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18That explains the confusion about James's address.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22And the team now understands why his last known address was a garden centre.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25James might have been an odd-job man in the nursery.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30Although the death certificate seems to give them the all-important birth date,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33it's not enough.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37We can't actually find a birth for a James Smith in Berkshire in 1948.
0:22:37 > 0:22:44Hopefully, Bob Smith's enquiry will give more specification as to where he was born.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Bob has arranged to meet Tinika Swinkels, James's old boss
0:22:49 > 0:22:54who knew him for many years and took him to hospital shortly before he died.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57I'm making enquiries about James Smith.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Was he here very long at all?
0:22:59 > 0:23:05- He's been with us since '84, February.- Since 1984.- Yes.
0:23:05 > 0:23:11He was a very private person. The only time he started talking about family was in the last, er...
0:23:12 > 0:23:15..months when he was alive.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20He said before that he came home one day and all his family were gone.
0:23:20 > 0:23:27- But we don't know what... - Really?- What the real story is.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29I think something in '83 happened...
0:23:29 > 0:23:33- Right. OK- ..that made him move away from where he was.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37- From where he was before? - And he completely blocked it out of his life.- OK.
0:23:39 > 0:23:45Tinika thinks that James's personal details, including his name and date of birth, might be wrong.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Bob is going to have to dig a lot deeper.
0:23:48 > 0:23:55The only thing we could find was a driving licence under a different name but Smith.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59It was probably, we think, his brother.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03- You think it belonged to his brother? - Might have belonged to his brother.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05- What was the name? - That was David Smith.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08The date of birth
0:24:08 > 0:24:13was four or five years different from what he's given us.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17Tinika thinks James may have had a younger brother called David.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21And she remembers him talking about a sister too.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24In passing, he made a comment about having a sister in Cornwall.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27Yeah. In passing, he said that
0:24:27 > 0:24:31one day he came back from school, work,
0:24:31 > 0:24:36- and all his family had left. - They'd all disappeared.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39This is not good news for the team.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42James's family may be even harder to trace.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47And Tinika has confirmed that James lived in a static caravan on the nursery site.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51It's looking like James's estate is not worth very much
0:24:51 > 0:24:54and so might not be worth investigating.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58Bob has to find out if James had any assets.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Er, I'm surprised you don't know about it.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06Well, they don't usually reveal that sort of information.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10- Plus 30. - Plus 30?
0:25:10 > 0:25:15The fact that James's estate is worth more than £30,000,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18means the case is more valuable than the team thought.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22And they can afford, for now, to keep researching.
0:25:22 > 0:25:28Having done the enquiry, it all now rests on the research which is done in the office.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32I've given them the facts that I've been able to obtain.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Er...
0:25:34 > 0:25:37And it's really just a question of research
0:25:37 > 0:25:41in the normal way of putting together a family tree.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46The team follows up information Bob gleaned from the nursery.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Bob's done the enquiry.
0:25:49 > 0:25:55Um, and we now know that James might also have been known as David.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59They're working on the theory that the driver's licence
0:25:59 > 0:26:03in James's caravan for a David Smith might have belonged to him.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07So they start to look for David Smiths or David J Smiths
0:26:07 > 0:26:09born around that time.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14There's a David J Smith born 1948 in Eton.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17At last the team might be making progress.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21We're working up the speculative birth we have of a David J Smith,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25which is the new name that has been added to the mix - David.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28A potential alternative name for the deceased.
0:26:28 > 0:26:34Found a birth in the right quarter in Eton, which is the right county.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Jo's worked it up and found a sister.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41She's married and we've got an address in Essex.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46The team are working up as many possibilities as they can.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49And they've also found a James Smith born in Barnet.
0:26:49 > 0:26:55Bit of a random area but worked it up and got a possible phone number for a sister in Devon,
0:26:55 > 0:26:59which is at least heading in the right direction.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Simon is interested in the Devon link because Bob was told
0:27:03 > 0:27:07that their James Smith may have had a sister living in Cornwall.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10Give it a call, find out.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14If the research is right, and the lady is James's sister,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18it's likely that Simon will have to break the news to the family
0:27:18 > 0:27:20that one of their relatives had died.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25These calls are always difficult to make but sadly they're part of an heir hunter's job.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31We were wondering if she had a brother James Smith.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33She's got a brother James Smith.
0:27:33 > 0:27:39We're actually looking for the family of a James Smith who has recently passed away.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42So I don't know... If he's definitely still alive.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47OK. In which case, the birth we're working is incorrect.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49Sorry about that, it's a very common surname.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54That's another dead end in the search for James Smith.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57That's the kind of problems with Smith.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01It's not a nice phone call to say, "Oh, is your brother still alive?"
0:28:01 > 0:28:04If they haven't heard from him for a while, then they could panic.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07That one's wrong as well.
0:28:07 > 0:28:12There's bad news for the side of the office who are working the theory that James's real name was David.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16They've had information about the birth they were looking for in Eton.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Slough registry office just phoned me back.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22They've given me the information
0:28:22 > 0:28:26of the birth of a David J Smith in 1948.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Unfortunately, it's wrong.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33Um, the David J Smith born in Eton in 1948
0:28:33 > 0:28:36was actually born on the 6th of June.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40And our deceased was born on the 28th of April.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42So that's unfortunately wrong.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45So we've got nothing, basically.
0:28:45 > 0:28:51The team has been working on this for hours and it looks like they're no nearer to solving the case.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Every line of enquiry today has drawn a blank.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00There are no James births at all in the right period in Berkshire.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04There's a David J and that one turned out to be wrong.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07We worked a James in Portsmouth, that was wrong.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10And we worked a James in Barnet and that was wrong.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13So all very random areas, I know,
0:29:13 > 0:29:18but each one we had a reason for believing they might be correct and they're not.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21It's now a case of ordering everything and wait until
0:29:21 > 0:29:25we find out which one is correct before we do any more research.
0:29:25 > 0:29:31By ordering birth certificates for every James Smith born in the right quarter of 1948,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34the office hopes it will find the right one.
0:29:34 > 0:29:39But it's a risky and potentially costly strategy because there are no guarantees
0:29:39 > 0:29:41they'll find the birth they're looking for.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46Will we get anything? I'm not overly confident, no.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49Just because we're not 100% sure his name was James at the moment.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53So doesn't leave me being too hopeful.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01A few days later, the certificates have come in.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03None of them are the right birth.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07After investing time and money trying to find James's relatives,
0:30:07 > 0:30:10the team still has no leads to follow.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13We'll probably leave it alone for the time being.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17Without even being certain of James's real name,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.
0:30:20 > 0:30:25And boss Neil has no choice but to call a halt to the research for the time being.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30We've discovered a £30,000 estate and that's heading straight to the government
0:30:30 > 0:30:33because we kind find the birth of the deceased.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37But the fact that James has proved so elusive
0:30:37 > 0:30:40comes as no surprise to those who knew him.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47Jimmy was a mystery. I do believe he was happy being that mystery.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51But whatever the true story behind James's past,
0:30:51 > 0:30:54he man himself will be sorely missed.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58All of us have been quietly affected by the fact that he's suddenly gone
0:30:58 > 0:31:01because he was kind of part of the furniture.
0:31:01 > 0:31:03You just expect him to be there.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05Did you know James Smith?
0:31:05 > 0:31:11Do you know his actual name or have any other information that may help trace his relatives?
0:31:11 > 0:31:17If so, you could ensure his £30,000 estate goes to his family
0:31:17 > 0:31:19and not the government.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25At heir hunting firm Hoopers,
0:31:25 > 0:31:29Mike Tringham has been investigating the case of Philip Amanet
0:31:29 > 0:31:34who had been adopted as a child. He died in 2009 aged 55.
0:31:34 > 0:31:40During his investigations, Mike had been surprised by a twist in the case.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45I was quite shocked to discover that the father was still alive.
0:31:45 > 0:31:51And so Philip's adoptive father Henry was sole heir to his son's £6,000 estate.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56There's no biological link between the two, as far as we can determine,
0:31:56 > 0:32:00but that has no impact on our work. Under English law,
0:32:00 > 0:32:03the same rules apply.
0:32:04 > 0:32:09Philip spent a lot of his young adulthood working on fairgrounds across the country.
0:32:09 > 0:32:16But later returned to Southend where he became a popular member of his local church.
0:32:16 > 0:32:22Phil's the sort of person you remember as, he drew good out of other people.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25Not just because he was selflessly hoovering up good for himself.
0:32:25 > 0:32:27He seemed to have the ability to do that.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31I'll remember Phil as someone who didn't get stuck is his life.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33In the final years, when it was hard for him,
0:32:33 > 0:32:38he just seemed to mature and grow and flourish as a person.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41But Philip had a turbulent start to his life
0:32:41 > 0:32:44As a very young child, he was given up by his mother.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48And was adopted in 1958 by Henry and Violet Amanet
0:32:48 > 0:32:52who had no biological children of their own.
0:32:53 > 0:32:58In those days there was no way for an infertile couple to have children
0:32:58 > 0:33:02other than by adopting. No infertility treatments then.
0:33:02 > 0:33:08So if they could adopt, that was a way of becoming a family.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12There was big social pressure to be a family.
0:33:12 > 0:33:18Unusually for the time, Philip was four years old when he was taken in by the Amanets,
0:33:18 > 0:33:24who already had a ten-year-old son David who had also been adopted but as a baby.
0:33:24 > 0:33:30I would assume that Philip's adopting parents wanted another child
0:33:30 > 0:33:32for their older adopted child.
0:33:32 > 0:33:38If they'd adopted a baby, the age gap would have been very large.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43They probably felt is was better to adopt a child who was already three or four
0:33:43 > 0:33:47so that he would be a nice companion for their older child.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49With their family now complete,
0:33:49 > 0:33:55it seems Henry and Violet were like most people in 1950s Britain,
0:33:55 > 0:33:58in that they simply wanted to settle down to a normal family life.
0:33:58 > 0:34:04The idea of conformity probably does come from the chaos of the Second World War.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09People wanted to retreat to comfortableness.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12And I think the government also wanted things to just settle down.
0:34:12 > 0:34:17Because people were more prosperous, they could afford now
0:34:17 > 0:34:22to lead a quite comfortable quiet lifestyle if they wanted.
0:34:25 > 0:34:30Unfortunately, life for the Amanet family would be anything but quiet.
0:34:30 > 0:34:36It seems that, from a very early age, Philip rebelled and caused his family great anguish.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40His brother David remembers how Philip started to go off the rails.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44He started getting very disruptive.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50Even stealing from a fairly young age. He'd steal food.
0:34:50 > 0:34:55I'd look over my shoulder and think, "Oh, God! What's he knicking?"
0:34:55 > 0:34:57And things only got worse.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02My dad got him a job working for Essex water board.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04It was his job to make the tea.
0:35:04 > 0:35:09He was going into the portakabin they had, putting the kettle on,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12while he was doing that, he was going through the blokes' jackets.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15And the guys kept thinking they were losing money
0:35:15 > 0:35:17and it was Philip stealing off of them.
0:35:17 > 0:35:23And all David's efforts to bond with his brother came to nothing.
0:35:23 > 0:35:30I tried to be close with him but there was always that little bit... He didn't want to do anything.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35I took him to banger race and motor-race meetings at Brands Hatch.
0:35:35 > 0:35:41But you kind of got the feeling that it wasn't really appreciated.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47But it appears Philip's behaviour haunted him in later life.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49Phil used to talk about the early years.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52Talk about his family who'd adopted him and welcomed him.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56And he used to reflect on it with real regret.
0:36:01 > 0:36:07In London, Mike Tringham and his team had established that Philip's father Henry was still alive,
0:36:07 > 0:36:13and the sole heir, but now had the difficult job of breaking the news of his son's death.
0:36:13 > 0:36:18It's never an easy task having to inform a close member of a family
0:36:18 > 0:36:23that someone has died who maybe they've lost touch with or been estranged from.
0:36:23 > 0:36:29Particularly having to inform a parent of a child's death.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Although I've done it many times over the years,
0:36:32 > 0:36:34I still don't look forward to it.
0:36:34 > 0:36:39But, I suppose, with experience, one learns how to treat the situation
0:36:39 > 0:36:42with a certain amount of sensitivity and tact.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Philip's father had been estranged from his son for many years.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51But understandably the news was a great shock.
0:36:51 > 0:36:58The father of Philip took the news pretty well under the circumstances.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03He had lost touch with Philip for a number of years.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05There had been a couple of occasions,
0:37:05 > 0:37:09long periods of time, when they had been estranged.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12But they'd been reconciled in the early '90s.
0:37:12 > 0:37:19And they had had some contact but then that contact had lapsed.
0:37:19 > 0:37:24And he really hadn't had any contact with his son for nearly 20 years.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31Once Mike found Philip's father, he thought it was the end of the investigation.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35But there was another twist to this story.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39Philip's elderly father Henry died in January 2012
0:37:39 > 0:37:41before Philip's estate was wound up.
0:37:43 > 0:37:49As Henry had died, the estate would now pass to Philip's brother David.
0:37:49 > 0:37:55I've never had a case in more than 40 years' experience
0:37:55 > 0:38:01of one adoptive son inheriting from another adoptive son.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04And I don't suppose I'll see another one.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08For David, who had an extremely difficult relationship with his brother,
0:38:08 > 0:38:10the news of the inheritance was bittersweet.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17It's upsetting primarily because it means
0:38:17 > 0:38:21I had to lose my last remaining relative
0:38:21 > 0:38:23to inherit the money.
0:38:23 > 0:38:28Given the choice between having my dad back in the days when his health was better,
0:38:28 > 0:38:32yeah, I'd quite happily give up the money and the bungalow.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36David has struggled to forgive Philip for the pain he caused his parents.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39Every time they tried to help him, or give him advice,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41he just didn't want to know.
0:38:41 > 0:38:46My mother was worried about what's going to happen when he comes home.
0:38:46 > 0:38:52David doesn't know why Philip was so troubled because both adopted boys were treated the same.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56I've got no problem whatsoever with being adopted.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00Maybe it's a better environment than a lot of other children have
0:39:00 > 0:39:03because there was no mistake that I was wanted.
0:39:04 > 0:39:06It was the same with Philip, they wanted him.
0:39:06 > 0:39:13We just had different ways of showing our appreciation.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17There was no difference in the way my parents treated Philip to me.
0:39:17 > 0:39:23If an opportunity came along to me, they said, "Go for it."
0:39:23 > 0:39:28If the same opportunity was given to Philip, he wouldn't want to take it.
0:39:28 > 0:39:35The last time David saw his brother was after Philip had broken in to the family home and stolen money.
0:39:35 > 0:39:40But although Philip was difficult in his early years, in later life,
0:39:40 > 0:39:46he started to get his life back on track and became a valid member of his local church community.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50The change which came about seemed to be two steps forward, one step back.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53Trying to climb a greasy pole at times for Phil.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58But, at the same time, he did seem to year after year keep going at it.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03The thing that was really impressive about Phil's change,
0:40:03 > 0:40:09at the end, he'd had a stroke, he was in a wheelchair for the last year that we knew him,
0:40:09 > 0:40:15he had everything to complain and be bitter about. And in all that adversity,
0:40:15 > 0:40:18that was when Phil really seemed to soften and mellow.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29David knows nothing about these later years and today,
0:40:29 > 0:40:3240 years after he last saw Philip,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35he's come to meet Peter to find out more about his brother.
0:40:37 > 0:40:42The main reason I've come today is just to find out how my brother changed.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44He wanted to be loved himself.
0:40:44 > 0:40:49He'd had quite a few tough years. But then, over those years,
0:40:49 > 0:40:55as we got to know him better, he just seemed to thaw out and warm up as a person.
0:40:55 > 0:41:02Yeah. I wonder if that's a legacy of the fact that in his teenage years
0:41:02 > 0:41:06everyone was against him for how he was.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10People in our church would go and visit Philip thinking they're there to help him.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14They'd sit down with him, he'd listen to them, it was a two-way thing.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17Even when he physically couldn't do stuff, he still cared.
0:41:17 > 0:41:23That's another thing. As a teenager, he wouldn't sit down and discuss anything.
0:41:23 > 0:41:28Peter is clearly painting a picture of a man that David doesn't recognise at all.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33If you told me that when he was 18,
0:41:33 > 0:41:37he was going to turn out to be a half-decent guy that does charity work,
0:41:37 > 0:41:41I would have thought you were bonkers quite honestly, if you'd told me that.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44Is it frustrating for you that you, your mum and your dad
0:41:44 > 0:41:48put all the graft and hard work in and you got all the rubbish back?
0:41:48 > 0:41:53No, it's not frustrating because it took a long time
0:41:53 > 0:41:55for the benefits to start to show.
0:41:55 > 0:42:00And I don't think we could have handled that interim period,
0:42:00 > 0:42:03that long period in his life, before he changed.
0:42:03 > 0:42:09Perhaps now David can finally lay to rest the memory of his troubled brother.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14What I'll take from it is the fact that nothing's wrong with my preconception.
0:42:14 > 0:42:19But my preconception was based on information
0:42:19 > 0:42:21that was close on 40 years old.
0:42:21 > 0:42:28He did in later life have the guts to open up and admit that he was at fault.
0:42:28 > 0:42:34And that impressed me that he finally had the nerve to have done that.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45If you would like advice about building a family tree or making a will,
0:42:45 > 0:42:49go to bbc.co.uk/heirhunters
0:42:52 > 0:42:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd