Anyone have any experience of Blanchards Inheritance LTD

[Si Titor]

Blanchards are one of the companies that are Heir hunters that track down heirs from people that have passed away and have not made a will.
They take a fee from the estate when its finalised and the heirs get the remaining divided amongest them.
They have got in touch with my mum re a relative and it seems she is one of the heirs in the bloodline.
Does anyone here have experience Blanchards or similar, there was a tv show about this type of thing some time ago.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[kozikot]

Blanchards are one of the companies that are Heir hunters that track down heirs from people that have passed away and have not made a will.
They take a fee from the estate when its finalised and the heirs get the remaining divided amongest them.
They have got in touch with my mum re a relative and it seems she is one of the heirs in the bloodline.
Does anyone here have experience Blanchards or similar, there was a tv show about this type of thing some time ago.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Now she's been informed she can Chase it herself as some in the Show do, saves on their Cut

 

[4ndy]

I didn't think they told you who it was until you signed...... why would they ...... everyone would then do it themselves

 

[Si Titor]

I didn't think they told you who it was until you signed...... why would they ...... everyone would then do it themselves

I think its a first cousin on her Fathers side, she was married but her husband died and they had no children and she left no will. I did do some googling but unless you sign up on one of the websites with a subscription you don't get far,
Anyway they are offering 10% fee there are other relatives of my mums, her brother and sister that have passed away so their children get thier mum or dads share divided between them.

 

[btmaldon]

Ive no experience of the company. However 10% sounds like a very fair rate to me. Other types of so called specialists in recovering money charge far more for their services when you could do it yourself. At 10% I think I would be willing to let someone else do the work.

 

[Keith 66]

My mother in law had a similar approach from a company doing the same. First thing to remember they will have done considerable research into it already. Are you able to find the deceased relative possibly with no will If they were unknown to the family all along?
Do you have the time or skill to replicate all their research?
In mother in laws case it was a distant great aunt who nobody had a clue ever existed, Mils sister didnt want to pay a cut to the heir hunter company saying "we should do it ourselves". Mil told her not to be so bloody stupid as it was free money. She came to her senses & signed It got divided between 4 relatives & each got about 55k.
The Heir hunter company earnt their 10% & everyone was happy.

 

[thispoison]

My Dad had a company in Edinburgh contact him about a “sizeable estate” around 2008. My Mum had just died so I tried to persuade him to do and sign nothing without running it past me.

A lovely Mercedes arrived outside his house in the North West of England one day with a middle aged suited man and a young girl in tow asking lots of questions…. which he answered without telling me.

Turned out they came back a second and third time - third time he told me, but a little too late. They were “lovely Scottish people” he insisted.

The deal they offered was 25% plus expenses. He had signed it without telling me. He then got a statement saying that the estate was circa £160k and it was from his half brother in Dunblane who he hadn’t seen for decades. His two brothers (one dead, so his siblings) were also beneficiaries.

His share was to be less than £25k.

I got a lawyer involved and it turned out they were claiming their 25% £40k PLUS their expenses of……. wait for it…..

…… Just short of £50k to find the missing relatives.

The lawyer discovered they had contacted my uncle in Grangemouth directly (who was in contact with my Dad every few months) who knew exactly where my Dad was, and their other brothers kids and he had given them names and addresses - but it still took £50k of “research”?

The lawyer was very pessimistic as my Dad had signed, as had his brothers siblings - but on investigation it turned out the living brother had given all the details, but signed away any right to the money as he “wasn’t interested in the hassle”.

The Edinburgh firm “as a gesture of good will” agreed to forego their expenses element and offset it against what my uncle had signed away.

So, without the lawyer involvement they were planning on taking £40k as 25%, £25k from his brother plus £50k for “expenses”.

So £115k from a £160k estate for finding a half brother down the road in Grangemouth who provided addresses and names (and of course the repeated visits on expenses to ask their questions at the addresses they were given).

I think my Dad got around £40k in the end, his other brothers siblings split the same and the “Heir Hunters” the other £80k. His relationship with his living brother was damaged as you can imagine.

Interesting TV programmes, but some crooked goings on in my experience. A clear “share” is fair enough, but watch out for “expenses” !!!