FAQ


How do I know this is a genuine matter?
  • At no point during this process will you be asked to pay
    for the release of any funds.

  • We have featured in a number of articles in the national press. You can see copies of these articles in our press section

  • A simple check at Companies House (company number 03165883) will confirm our address.

  • We are registered with the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Our registration number is 451792. This means we have passed a stringent assessment by the FSA and are
    authorised to undertake insurance mediation work.
    Through relationships with leading underwriters we
    indemnify distributions of inheritances against
    unknown or untraceable heirs.

  • The Directors are members of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and the Company can be found in their directory. Go to "Organization" field and enter "Kin".

  • The Directors also appear in the Expert Witness Directory

  • If you wish to check our entry in the Data Protection register,
    our registration number is Z8682933.

  • For extra peace of mind, we have professional indemnity insurance. The quality of our work is insured to the sum of €1,600,000. The policy has never received a claim against it.

  • Please also visit our testimonials section to see feedback
    from our clients.

 

Who are Kin?

We are a London based firm of asset researchers, genealogists and tracing agents operating nationally and internationally to trace people entitled to benefit from unclaimed assets.

What is probate genealogy?

Probate genealogy is the research of family histories with the aim of finding missing or unknown heirs to estates.

What does Kin do?

We use public resources together with modern technology, our own in-house databases and expertise to research unclaimed assets and family histories. This enables us to identify and locate statutory next of kin. We also trace named beneficiaries, whose whereabouts are unknown.

How am I involved?

It may be that an asset belonging to someone who has died has been discovered, or someone has passed away intestate, i.e. without leaving a will. The asset or estate then passes to their nearest blood relative(s) as set out by law, see our order of entitlement section and distribution diagram for clear illustrations. In some instances it is not known who the deceased's heirs or successors are; they are often distant relatives who are unaware they are related.

If you have been contacted by us it is most likely due to one of the following reasons:

- You may be able to help us with our enquiries, though not actually involved in a case directly

- You may be entitled to benefit from an estate or have a valid claim to a wasting asset

- You may have been named in a will

Why are Kin involved?

We have either been asked by a firm of solicitors to carry out research or we are working independently. In the latter case, we may be working at our own expense to trace beneficiaries to an unclaimed estate or people entitled to claim an asset. We do this as there is nobody available to meet the cost of tracing missing heirs or successors when someone passes away with no known next of kin. We may then attempt to identify and locate potential heirs under our own initiative and we must run the risk of writing off the cost of the work undertaken if no beneficiaries are found.

What if there are no known heirs?

When there are no known heirs, assets may be escheated (passed to the Crown Estates) and may remain unclaimed forever, without relatives ever knowing of their potential entitlement.

Who gets what?

Under the UK laws of intestacy, only blood relatives to the deceased are entitled to benefit e.g. the widow of a brother to the deceased will have no claim to the estate. Please visit our order of entitlement section and distribution diagram for clear illustrations.

What about adopted children?

Children officially adopted into a family are treated by law as blood relatives. Conversely, children officially adopted out of a family will not share in the original family's inheritance.

What about illegitimate children?

An illegitimate child is entitled to benefit from an estate, provided he or she can prove his or her relation to the deceased and was not officially adopted by another set of parents.

Illegitimate children with only the mother named on the birth certificate will not encounter problems if the inheritance comes through the mother's family. However, if the inheritance comes through the father's family, the relationship between a child and father can be difficult to prove if the father is not named on the birth certificate.

How does Kin get paid?

It is our preference to work on a fixed fee or time cost basis whereby we agree terms with the solicitor who will settle our invoice when the assets have been liquidated (sold).

If there is no one available to sign our terms of business we may proceed on a contingency basis whereby we ask the beneficiaries we find to sign a contract of appointment that permits the solicitors to pay us for the work involved in finding the beneficiaries, compiling reports and submitting claims. Our fee is calculated as a percentage of our client’s net share after all other costs and taxes have been deducted and is paid to us on the same day as our client is paid by the solicitor administering the estate.

Our fee is only ever paid out of the beneficiary’s distribution, not out of their personal assets, so the beneficiary will never be out of pocket. If the beneficiary receives nothing, then we receive nothing.

I've been contacted by another company!?

Occasionally when unclaimed estates are publicly advertised, more than one company will locate and approach entitled beneficiaries simultaneously. Both companies will offer their services and with similar terms and conditions. If this happens, we urge you not to sign more than one agreement but instead, please contact us immediately to discuss the situation. It is our policy to match any reasonable offer from another company. We will always welcome your call and work together to find the most comfortable solution for you.

What is indemnity insurance?

Inevitably there may be instances when not all entitled beneficiaries are traced and located. In cases such as these, we will arrange for appropriate insurance to be taken out to safeguard against later claims being made against the administrator / administratrix of the estate.

What happens next?

Once you have signed and returned the contract of appointment, all you need do is wait. We will compile a fully documented report and submit a claim to secure your entitlement. Due to the nature of the process, completion can take a number of months, especially if property needs to be sold.

Once the claim has been accepted, we will inform you and then follow the matter up with the solicitors every month on your behalf, contacting you if any further information is required. The solicitors will then wind up the case, calculate your share and send you a cheque. You are most welcome to call us at any time with queries or for an update and our staff will do their utmost to help you.