Money Blog: “If it arrives at your door, you’ll likely get thousands – sometimes millions” | Money news

by Megan Harwood Baines, Cost of Living Specialist

If Ryan Gregory shows up on your doorstep, you’re probably about to inherit some money.

For more than two decades, Ryan has been an heir hunter, tracking down distant relatives from around the world and reuniting them with money they didn’t even know they were going to inherit.

When someone dies without a will or a clear next of kin, it is up to the heir hunters to locate their distant relatives or the money goes to the government and the king.

He is now International Director at Finders International, one of the largest companies in the industry, and has previously appeared on the BBC’s Heir Hunters programme. Ryan started working at the company when he was 18 when it was just a few people working in a converted flat in South Kensington.

But business is booming in the world of unclaimed real estate. The company now employs more than 150 people, and the amount of money involved increases every year.

“When I started, it took maybe five years to get a £1m property. That was a big deal at the time, and there was a sense of heaviness to it,” he said.

“Now, as a company, we are probably receiving cases worth more than £1 million several times a week – and I imagine this is due to the huge increase in property prices.”

He is working on a case in New York that is being handled through probate. After spending several years tracking down a missing nephew, one heir is now $5 million richer.

“I inherited a windfall from a stranger.”

When Alan Rae, 74, died alone in Gateshead in 2022, there were no relatives to inherit his estate, worth £28,000. Finders International soon established that Alan was an only child who had never married and had no children.

When a retired teacher from North Yorkshire, now living in France, received a phone call telling her she was in line for part of an inheritance, she assumed it was a scam.

Joan, 82, a distant cousin of Alan’s (her father and Alan’s mother were siblings), was skeptical at first, she said. “It’s not the phone call I was expecting, I was definitely skeptical.”

But after her son confirmed Finders International was legitimate, she “inherited a windfall.”

“I wasn’t expecting it and I was completely surprised. You don’t expect something like this to happen to you. My husband and I are planning to spend this money on a vacation or maybe even a cruise,” she said.

Joan had not seen Alan for several decades and was one of 10 recipients tracked down. She remembered her distant cousin as being talkative and friendly.

“I am very amazed by the whole process and how Finders tracked me down in France, along with many of Alan’s other relatives from both sides of his family,” she said.

Reuniting lost siblings

In 2023, two brothers who didn’t know the other existed got £12,000 from a complete stranger.

Raymond and Brenda Ward received unexpected letters telling them they would inherit the estate of 90-year-old George Potter, who died alone in a nursing home three years ago with no obvious next of kin — and no recipient for his estate.

Finders International discovered that although George had no children, he had an ‘illegitimate’ half-brother, born 11 years before him, called Dennis Ward.

Raymond and Brenda were Dennis’ children, but from separate relationships, meaning they did not realize they had a half-brother.

The couple now wrote to each other regularly, enjoying the connection their uncle brought them, as well as the inheritance.

How could an heir hunter track you down?

When a case comes through their office, the first step Ryan takes is to visit the deceased’s last known address.

“We talk to the neighbours, the person at the corner store, the local pub. If they have a particular religion, is there a community center nearby?” He said.

They then look to see if there are any marriage records or birth certificates that might help them find any children. He explained that the UK has extensive records, but other countries may not.

“We have to cast our net wide and try to find out as much as we can — especially now that we live in an age where people are having children out of wedlock.”

The goal is to close a case in up to three months — they even manage to find heirs before the funeral — but some are more complicated, and Ryan recently filed a 10-year-old case.

They use all the public sources available to them – from public records to the British Library and open social media accounts.

When they find someone, the reaction can be mixed.

“Sometimes there’s a feeling of guilt about inheriting money from someone you don’t know,” Ryan said.

How does the king get your assets?

Half of Britons don’t have a will, according to research conducted by Canada Life last year – and 41 per cent of those who don’t have a will don’t worry about it.

But if you die with no one present, and if there are no clear next of kin, all your assets can be handed over to either the king or the government.

There are more than 6,000 unclaimed properties in England and Wales.

Claims must be filed within 30 years of the individual’s death.

Due to a medieval rule, if a person died in Cornwall without making a will (also known as dying intestate), and with no surviving relatives, the estate automatically went to the Prince of Wales.

A similar rule exists in Lancaster for the Duchy of Lancaster – an estate owned by the king.

According to the latest accounts, the Duchy received £4.1 million of non-probate properties (before costs) in the year to September 2023.

But the Duchy has previously denied that this unclaimed money goes into royal income, saying it is given to charities or used for environmental projects or to maintain properties on the estate.

For the rest of the country, if someone or a relative dies without a will, they will be transferred to the treasury.

How do heir hunters make money?

Just under 50% of the work done by Finders International is pro bono, and for the rest, they work on a commission basis.

Sometimes, the attorney handling the deceased person’s estate can “authorize a fee.”

“But we typically do research to find people, track them down, connect them to the property and then ask them to sign a fee agreement,” Ryan said.

What to do if an heir hunter calls you

There are hundreds of amateur sleuths out there, hoping to cash in on the popularity of TV shows like Heir Hunters.

So, before signing any papers (which may ask you to give up part of any inheritance), do your research on the company – is it legitimate?

The first thing you should do is check and see if you know the name the Hunter Heir gave you, Ryan said.

“If you get a message from abroad and someone tells you that you’ve won an amount of money that’s probably too good to be true and you don’t recognize the name, I would say that’s a real warning sign,” he said.

You can always refer to Bona Vacantia, the list of unclaimed properties, to see if you know the person who died.

If it’s a distant relative you haven’t met, it may be best to enlist the services of an heir hunter, but make sure you know exactly what you’re signing up for.