I am dealing with the administration of an estate. Under the terms of the Will two different individuals are bequeathed a gift of £1,000 and £500 respectively.
We have tried, without success, to locate these individuals and have also checked with the other beneficiaries to see if they know the whereabouts, but they do not.
Given the sums involved, it seems to me that it is not cost effective to instruct a tracing agent to try to locate these individuals and I am now left in the position where I am close to bringing the estate to a conclusion and we have the £1,500 sitting on our deposit account.
I seem to recall from having researched this before, that there is a way in which we can pay this into Court, to allow the estate to be wound up, but I am not familiar with this process. If anyone is able to provide any kind of guidance it would be greatly appreciated.
Using a tracing agent is not expensive as one might originally thought. You could even try 192.com if the names are unusual or even companies house which gives free director information. If you need further assistance please get in touch
I recently used a tracing agent, who found the missing beneficiaries in less than a week for a fixed fee of £150 plus vat, on a no find no fee basis. Much quicker and cost effective than an application to court.
I used a company called TraceInline. Their contact telephone number is 02392 988966. Their fee structure is set out on their website. I found them very efficient and helpful. Good luck!
I’m a bit late to the conversation, but in case you still need help tracing beneficiaries I can recommend Dominic Hendry at Estate Research - 01942 826500 / dom@estateresearch.co.uk (although I’m not sure how their fees compare to those stated above).