Inheritance Paid Out To Uncle By 'heir Hunting' Company.

[Euroanchor]

Recently my Sister and I discovered by accident that our natural father had died and left quite a large sum of money. We hadn't had contact with him for a long time so were not aware of his death until years later. Anyway it transpires that he died intestate and some Heir hunting company tracked down a brother and sister of our father. Despite the brother telling them that there were 2 children, they took a £16k commission and paid the inheritance to the brother. He told them he would pay the money back if we surfaced (I didn't know whether to laugh or be angry when they told us that). They have now tried to write to him twice about this but have had no reply.
They admit that they were wrong to pay it out and also they made no effort to trace us, they accept that they will have to return the commission to my sister and myself, but we now have to decide on the next course of action. Assuming they took a 20% commission then the estate would have been £80k. Do we now sue the heir hunting company for our inheritance especially after they admitted their wrong doing, or pursue the brother and sister for money they received 3 years ago. What's the likelihood that it's still even there?
My thanks in advance for any advice.

[Euroanchor]

Sorry for the delay in answering.
In response to Barmaid, no we wasn't adopted, it was just a turn of phrase, so sorry for any confusion on that point.
My Sister has had most of the contact so far with this company and is away this week. I have asked her to get the details in writing so will wait until she's back to ask her but they have definitely admitted they knew about us before they paid out, and it was the uncle who told them. I,m pretty hotheaded when it comes to this type of matter and have said I would go straight in with a threat of suing them for incompetence or the like, but Sis wants to play it slowly and see what pans out. Neither of us are under any illusions about our Uncle and Aunt still having the money to repay. Thanks again for the input and advice.

[Euroanchor]

Forgot to ad, Themas, that's what my thoughts and plan of action would/will be. I'll keep posted when I find out anything.

[Barmaid]

Thank you for your answer Euro. I did ask that question for a reason - not out of vague curiosity.

I think you need to cool that hot head of yours!!!! I also think that you and your sister should make a joint approach to a probate specialist - either a member of the Law Society Probate Section, a member of STEP or a barrister who specialises in probate and does Direct Access

As Fred has already said, there may be a claim in negligence against the company - I cannot disagree with anything he has said.

You may be able to sue your uncle directly - what will have happened (and Dot alluded to part of this) is this: Once the heir hunters found your uncle and assessed the family tree, they will have applied for a Grant of Letters of Administration in his name and then administered the estate on his behalf. I am a little concerned that they did this ostensibly knowing of your existence - but perhaps you couldn't be traced and so perhaps they extracted a Missing Beneficiary Indemity policy which will pay you out. I am also a little concerned that they paid out only to your uncle and didn't include your aunt, but equally, this is one less person to sue. You may be able to "trace" the estate funds, but this is really complicated and needs a specialist lawyer.

I would suggest that you write to the Probate Registry and obtain a copy of the Grant (I can supply such details should you wish) and thereafter you seek immediate legal advice as i have outlined above.

[Barmaid]

Unusually, I missed Themas! Before you go straight to suing the heir hunters you need to "mitigate" your loss - consequently, your first claim is against Uncle. Thereafter what Fred and Themas says applies.

[DJHawkes]

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/History/Genealogy/Question1270789.html

[Barmaid]

Dot, the address is slightly out of date - now all grants are dealt with at Leeds. Address is

Postal Searches and Copies Department
Leeds District Probate Registry
York House
York Place
Leeds
LS1 2BA

[DJHawkes]

sorry it does look like the same address to me.

[Barmaid]

Sorry Dot. My brain read "York" for some reason. Too much Pinot. Ignore last answer.

[Peter Pedant]

oh just a thought - surrounded by lawyers I am squeaking a bit -

If the uncle has a house and house insurance, that may pay out for him. Really a matter for him.

[ Thinking about the Judge Russell case where a lady householder stepped out in front of a bus and the bus driver who had post traumatic stress was able to claim against the dead woman's house insurance. ]