Heir Hunting companies

[LizzieL]

My brother and at least one cousin have been contacted by a probate genealogists. One cousin has signed up with them, my brother is undecided and I have not had any documents from them myself, although we all have the same relationship to the deceased.
Does anyone know the answers to the following:
If only one of the heirs signs up, would they be the only one to get a share of the estate?
If all entitled heirs get their share, would they all have to pay the heir hunters commission, even if they hadn't signed up with him? There might be another HH company on the trail and they might snap up some of the other heirs.
What would happen if the heir hunter had failed to find all the entitled heirs and the estate was distributed and more heirs turned up later? There are 15 heirs on our side of the family (deceased father's siblings) and I know the deceased's mother had several siblings as well, but don't know how many living descendants there are now.

My brother has been sent a family tree by the HH, which includes three children of a first cousin of the deceased which they definitely did not have. Just a co-incidence of combination of surname and mother's maiden name. I haven't seen the tree just been read snippets by my brother over the phone, but I suspect they aren't the only errors.

[LizzieL]

Another question: The deceased had one child - a daughter. I have not found a marriage or death for her in England / Wales, but if she did turn up - or her descendants - after the estate had been distributed among cousins/ second cousins, what would happen?

[Flattybasher9]

"Admission of claims

BVD will deal with, and admit, the first fully documented claim they receive which is supported by sufficient evidence.

Once a claim is accepted BVD do not need claims from other relatives, as their claim is protected by law and should be made direct to the successful claimant or their representative, as it is their legal duty to deal with the estate appropriately.

Administrators details will only be released to someone who has a potential claim to the estate, or represents someone who does, or to someone who has some other legitimate interest in the administration of the estate. If you request administrators details you must make clear what your interest in the estate is."

From :- https://www.gov.uk/guidance/make-a-claim-to-a-deceased-persons-estate

Regards

Malky

[Rosinish]

The deceased had one child - a daughter. I have not found a marriage or death for her in England / Wales, but if she did turn up - or her descendants - after the estate had been distributed among cousins/ second cousins, what would happen?

So it's possible the daughter is still living & from the initial post do you think this is your relative who is now deceased 

Annie

[LizzieL]

In the last few minutes with a couple of emails and without having to buy any further certificates, I have discovered the deceased was a spinster and therefore not my relative. I had a candidate for the real deceased with right dob and this is now confirmed. The date of death I had on my tree was right all along (from rellies and probate index).
So this company of probate genealogists have spent time researching a tree and contacting/ signing up people who are not related to this particular deceased person at all. I will be interested to see the tree which was sent. Maybe they just got it off Ancestry

[Rosinish]

I will be interested to see the tree which was sent. Maybe they just got it off Ancestry

That wouldn't surprise me in the least 

You should apply for a job Lizzie to help them out  , good for you but a pity no 'windfall'!!! 

Annie

[groom]

Have they now told your brother and cousin that they are not entitled?

What would happen if the heir hunter had failed to find all the entitled heirs and the estate was distributed and more heirs turned up later?

When the solicitor dealt with my mother's estate we were asked if we wanted to take out an insurance in case other beneficiaries surfaced. However as we knew there was no one else and her will had left everything to my brother, sister and me, we didn't bother. I presume that heir hunting firms cover themselves by insurance.

[LizzieL]

Haven't heard from my brother yet, he'll be home from work in about half an hour.

I have an email address for the company (they asked me to confirm my address so they could send me the forms! The address they had was from 2002 electoral register and not my current one) so I suggested they should consider the alternative lady I had found, who was a much better fit for the deceased - birth registered in right quarter and single!

[groom]

Doesn't sound as if they work in the same way as some of the big companies who feature on the television programmes. They always appear to be very sure before they approach people, and if you found an alternative quite easily, so could they.