Probate Researchers Bring Good News While Uncovering Family Secrets

The following is from Katie Dailey, Dying without a will leaves a fortune behind, women.timesonline.co.uk, March 6, 2008:

In the middle of the night, the Government publishes a list of those who have died intestate; that is without a will, and without any close relatives.***

Over the next few days, weeks or months researchers will track down long-lost relatives, etching in blanks in the family tree, and ultimately making a trip to a lucky individual. They will find out that they are entitled to an inheritance, often millions - the fortunate winners of a genealogical lottery for which they never bought a ticket.***

Each company employs mobile agents who will do the local ground work once an address for the deceased is found - that means going to local register offices and libraries, knocking on neighbours' doors, chatting up ancient aunts, and seeking out the crucial pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that might lead to a windfall;***

They also cite the case of an illegitimate, solitary woman who left a considerable estate. Having traced her mother's progeny from a later marriage, Kin's researchers discovered that the deceased was the product of the routine abuse of her mother by her grandfather.***

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.