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Subject: Re: Cordia Ethel Whitehead Burgess_lost Heir
Author: knort4
Date: Saturday, May 30, 2015
Classification: Query
Surnames:

5-30-2015

Please clarify your posting by explaining exactly how you found out that your great grandmother is named on an estate. Is she still living now or deceased? Did she or you receive a letter from a company that specializes in tracing, researching and locating heirs? Please mention the name of the company and the city, state and country they are located in. What city and state and country does your great grandmother live in?

I generally agree with the excellent comments that the previous poster made regarding your situation, but sometimes there are exceptions to the circumstances mentioned. If your great grandmother was deceased, the funds could have been left to her AFTER she died and the decedent's estate holding the funds for her behalf may not have done thorough enough research to know for sure that she had died and then the funds would have had to be held in escrow until she or her heirs was located. Even if she is still living, they still might not have known how to do the research to locate her. The financial information is generally not known to the public or accessible by the public except in rare instances. The heir tracing companies get their information from going to the courthouses in person or from published legal notices or they buy lists for sale from other companies. If you don't know the name of the family member or friend who died in Scotland and left her this money, then you are not likely to figure it out yourself.
An attorney will generally not be able to assist you in this particular situation.

If I were you I would do online research by using a search engine to research the company's name to see if there is a record of reliability or complaints and also using the Better Business Bureau if it is an American company.

You have the choice of dealing with the company or not dealing with them. Do NOT promise to pay any fees upfront, as most legitimate companies will collect their fee from the heirs AFTER the heirs have been paid. Have they contacted other family members of yours? If the company is asking you to pay a 30% fee or more, you are in a fairly strong negotiating position to attempt to negotiate their fee downward by telling them you are willing to pay 10% or 20%, and they will probably be inclined to accept, since they don't get any money at all if the heirs decline to agree to their terms.

keith345@hotmail.com
Genealogical Researcher

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