Obviously an estate cant be distributed until the full existent of a the family is known, and there are times when this can be a very drawn out process, but once the full extent is known then we can calculate the exact share each beneficiary is entitled to. So it makes no difference who an heir is represented by or even if they can do the work themselves.
With these cases currently a claim of a single heir is lodged with the TS however you only have to prove that the possible heir has greater entitlement than the crown. That means that at no time do you have to prove the full extent of the family or even that you have found the closest heir. It is only when the oath is sworn at probate that you have to discuss the make up of the family, to the best of your knowledge at the time.
This being the case you can have a single family that is represented by more than 1 firm of genealogists, some heirs doing it them self and some doing nothing hoping it will all be sorted out.
Having said that it makes no difference who or if any one represents an heir there are other point that must be said at this time.
I have no objection in anyone doing it themselves, especially when there is a close relationship and the heir knew the deceased, some times we are only contacting heirs knowing that it is likely they will go by themselves, because we have done the research and there is an off chance we may recover some costs, remember at the start of a case there is no way of knowing what degree of heir we will find. I do however think we are a little hard done by if we have done all the work in finding the heir only to miss out because when the heir really didn't know the deceased.
There are huge differences between different firms of genealogists, some will only work the easy, profitable stems of a family and sign contracts at a very low % and then hope that no one does the research on the other stems so they can pick up an extras fee for writing a report.
There is also a huge level of service difference between F&F and most of our competitors. We are luck and have a big office with the support staff to make sure heirs are kept fully up to date, smaller firms some times have to make calls from toilets have no access to there files and really are hoping that the bigger firms are doing all the real work so there clients are there to come in at a later date.
Fees are never talked about on Heir Hunters because it is in our contract, with the producers. The main reason for this is because we don't want to set a precedents, every case is different and thus the fees are very different. I have seen fees of between 1% and 40% however they represent different cases entirely. A low fee i.e. one that is between 1 and 5% is only offered by very few firms they are the ones hoping to put in charges in at later dates for other things and usually when they are behind another firm in contacting an heir. Fees between 5% and 10% are again trying to undercut another firms fees because the firm is second of third to an heir, or if the estate is very big or the heir very close the the dec and thus the research is very easy. Standard fees are between 10% to 1/3 on English cases depending on a few factors, and up to 40% on US cases this is because the fee pays for more than just the genealogist in the states, because there legal system is a lot more complicated attorneys have to be instructed and the fee covers there cost as well. VAT is also payable (at the date the contract was signed, not when it is paid out).
Hope I have answered a few questions and remember that if you do get approached by one of us the cheapest fee is not always the best and never pay upfront.
