If I told you how many letters we send out of our offices every single day, you’d be staggered. In fact, we are! Family Wise – as a company – has expanded beyond our wildest dreams in the last six months alone and the number of ‘heir hunting’ cases which are signed to us in frankly monumental.
Often, I (as MD@FWL) have very similar conversations on a number of occasions over the course of a day. People receive our letters (sometimes, along with letters from other companies) and wonder, “What’s occurring?” Many of the cases we work on are from the Unclaimed Estates list which is published on a daily basis (at varying times) by the Government Legal Department (formerly the Treasury Solicitors). If the family tree is simple to work out, potential heirs may receive anything from one to ten letters along with telephone calls and, from some companies, unexpected house guests.
It’s a tough decision to decide which company to choose to represent you and each individual has their own reasons for making their choice. Once the case is being progressed – whether probate is required or not – as administrators of the estate, our next battle is to ensure that we have located and engaged with all heirs. We never cease to be amazed with the number of people who do not engage with us for ages…. seriously? It’s not hard to comprehend! We hear the word ‘scam’ more times in a day than our combined total of hot dinners in a week…. but when you have been notified that we are administrators in an estate where you are entitled and we are simply trying to pay you the money which is legally yours, why wait?
In recent months, I have been threatened with police action for ‘not administrating an estate fast enough’. Fast enough?? Police action?! Get real! Sorry, Mr/Mrs/Miss Beneficiary but, if your brother/cousin/sister/whatever doesn’t engage, guess what? We cannot just pay their entitlement out without receiving any instructions or proof of identity documentation from them! Nor can we assume they are disclaiming because they aren’t communicating with us! It’s called THE LAW.
At FWL, we are ethical, professional and diligent. We proceed with estate administration as swiftly as possible but we will not cut corners. Simple. So, please…. if you receive a letter from us, reply. We won’t bite, honest!
