Heir Hunters TV programme

[northern_rose]

Watched this morning.
Amazed to see a copy of a death cert -"We were able to get it online"!
Was there a time lapse of a day or two?
It seemed to be instant.
Can someone explain?
Oh twere that easy!
Kooky

I noticed this too - it was for two recent (since 206) deaths. I wonder if FF have access to more recent certificates on line for what I imagine would be a HUGE subscription?  Can you explain please Neil?

[Nick29]

Lots of people on Ancestry have copies of certificates online, and F & F have a special subscription to Ancestry (see an earlier post by Neil), so it's possible they got a copy there.  You can't get certificates in the UK online from the GRO or any Register Office, because it's not legal.

[davidft]

Lots of people on Ancestry have copies of certificates online, and F & F have a special subscription to Ancestry (see an earlier post by Neil), so it's possible they got a copy there.  You can't get certificates in the UK online from the GRO or any Register Office, because it's not legal.

Sorry but I think that is misleading.

True you can order certificates online from Ancestry, but they then have to get them from the GRO and they are certified copies and take about a fortnight to arrive - and are VERY expensive

[violeign]

I think what Nick29 is getting at is that people attach scans of certificates in their possession to their family trees on Ancestry.

You can of course order certificates from the GRO directly online, there has been talk of digitising certificates and making an image available when you place an order, but you have to have the certified hard-copy as well.

[davidft]

I think what Nick29 is getting at is that people attach scans of certificates in their possession to their family trees on Ancestry.

Opps, hadn't thought of that!

[Nick29]

I think what Nick29 is getting at is that people attach scans of certificates in their possession to their family trees on Ancestry.

You can of course order certificates from the GRO directly online, there has been talk of digitising certificates and making an image available when you place an order, but you have to have the certified hard-copy as well.

Yes, that's what I meant.  Sorry if I didn't make it clear.  Neil F. said that Fraser & Fraser pay a fortune to Ancestry for a subscription, because the fees that you and I would pay are for private use only, and not for business use.

[Eking]

As I said the sooner we get involved the better in most cases.

We have worked cases given to us by neighbours that we have solved and the heirs have been able to attend the funeral. It is the best for every one.

Just last year we worked a case that started at over 1.3 mill at the time of death, £300k in property and £1mill in Shares mainly RBS. Because IHT (40%) has to be paid at the value at time of death there was a bill for about £400k to the Gov, it took 2 years for the case to land on our desks and 5 days to have a claim accepted by the TS after that. In this time the share value had reduced to less than £100k by then it was too late to use a dead of variation hence the estate ended up being small. The shares really were a toxic asset worth negative £300k.

So the quicker we can get a case the better

So why do some cases take longer than others to get onto to the BV list ?

How much dies the TS investigate before putting it on the list.

[PBirchwood]

Talking about the search room in the Irish Life building, the person wandering around carrying books is me and my company is Celtic Research. We've contributed 7 stories to the show; 4 shown and 3 more to come.
Not only does Neil F buy drinks for people, including competitors, he has also been known to buy lunch!

[madpants]

Welcome to Rootschat! 

I was watching the other day trying to read the spines on your books    cos they looked like Terry Pratchetts