Frequently Asked Questions

The process of making a claim is a legal process and therefore, we must have authority to act which is what the contract provides us with.

No. We will never charge you anything. We take a percentage commission from individual entitlement, so you will only ever receive money. You will only ever have to pay for the postage of your contract and ID to us. However, we are currently able to accept scans of your paperwork removing the cost.

The percentage commission is agreed at the beginning of the process and is included on the contract provided. This varies from case to case. Disbursements are any costs which are spent in the administration of the estate. These could include but are not exclusive to the following: certificates, postage, wills, probate applications, statutory notices and certified copies.

None. You will not incur any costs at any point in the process bar the supply of your contract and ID (postage). We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and we comply with all data protection regulations.

The 14 days clock starts from the date that the contract was counter-signed by a member of FWL team.

If someone dies without leaving a will, it is referred to as dying intestate.

Whilst a gross value of the estate can often be obtained in a relatively short space of time, there are often many disbursements and liabilities that we are obliged to investigate and ensure are paid out of the estate. This can include payments for a funeral or overpaid benefit, as well as retrieving overpayments of care fees or rent. As a result, we will not give an exact value of the estate until we are ready to make the final disbursements to all beneficiaries. These will be issued to you in the form of a set of estate accounts sent via post (or where possible email if you are a non-UK resident) for your approval.

An insolvent estate arises when a deceased person’s debts are greater than the total value of assets. The company takes on all cases at their own risk and would never ask a signed beneficiary for any money, even if the business has incurred costs in their work. It simply means that there is no money left to be paid out to the beneficiaries.

The process can take anything from nine months to upward of three years.

Regular updates are rarely available. Case work is on-going, and estates take some time to settle both financially and in terms of contact with sometimes numerous beneficiaries. Updates will be provided by us to all beneficiaries on an estate when available.

Due to data protection, we cannot give out any beneficiary’s contact details without their permission. If you wish to be put in touch with relatives, we can pass on your details with your consent and inform them you wish to get in touch.

Yes, we need to have your up-to-date contact details to keep you informed of updates and important information. If you have not already provided your email address, it would be useful to us if you provided it as this would minimise costs of postage on the estate.

All entitled beneficiaries and any relatives which connect them to the deceased. We provide copies of our research including a family tree as part of our service.

When the estate accounts are sent out, we will ask whether you wish to be paid by BACS or cheque. If you wish to be paid directly into your bank, we will need your bank account details.

Not all blood relatives who have survived a deceased person have an entitlement. Under the Administration of Estates Act 1925, if a person has died without leaving a will and there is no surviving spouse, people who are descended from a grandparent of the deceased could potentially be entitled to share in his or her estate.

If you are related by marriage (e.g. if the deceased person was your stepfather or mother or your brother or sister-in-law – although your children might be entitled in the latter case), then you have no legal entitlement to share in that person’s estate.

This is rare. More often than not, there are other relatives who have a similar family relationship to the deceased.

This is a legal process and we need to confirm your identity by law to prevent fraudulent claims. The list provided is a government provided list and therefore, we cannot accept forms of identification not specified on the list.

In line with anti-money laundering regulations, we require a form of identification proving who you are and a form of identification proving where you live. E.g., a driving licence and utility bill.

Currently, we can accept high-quality scans of your contract and two forms of identification. All corners of the document are in the scan and the image is clear. Please note we cannot accept photographs.

If your birth certificate was issued within a year of your birth.

If you do not want to send your originals, we can accept certified copy documents. You can take your originals and copies to a solicitor or the Post Office and they will certify the copies. They may make a small admin charge for this service. Then simply pop the countersigned copes in an envelope and post these to us.

You may feel that you do not want to send your original ID documents by standard post, we recommend, if sending valuable original documents, that you send them to our offices via Special Delivery mailing pouch. We will have them certified by our company solicitor and return them to you as soon as possible, via Special Delivery.

We will require your original Power of Attorney (POA) documentation if you are signing on behalf of someone you have POA for. However, we still require two forms of identification for the entitled beneficiary (the person you are signing on behalf of).

After receiving your two forms of identification, it takes a maximum of a week to process your identification and send it back to you.

We will only post valuable forms of identification via Special Delivery such as an original birth certificate or a passport. Items such as household bills or medical letters will not be sent via Special Delivery because they do not hold financial or personal value. We will not return certified copies of your ID.

Yes, we can accept identification if it is addressed to you and your partner e.g., Mr and Mrs X.

Yes, the address you provide on your contract has to match both forms of identification you send in.