Contingency Fee

When we have contacted a potential beneficiary in an estate that we are researching on a speculative basis, we will ask that beneficiary to consider signing a contingency fee agreement.

That fee agreement recognizes the work we have done in locating the heir and advising of the potential interest, and agrees that the heir will pay us only a percentage of any money that he or she might eventually receive from the estate. In that way, there is no financial risk to the potential beneficiary. Should the presumed heir not receive anything from the estate, there will be absolutely nothing payable to us.

The percentage fee we ask, is set to reflect the investment and high costs involved in dealing with speculative estate matters of this kind. It also takes account of the very high risk factor; given that many of the estates we research will prove unresolvable, for a variety of reasons. These can for example be estates where the deceased’s own parentage is unknown, through cases where there are no relatives of a close enough degree to inherit, to those where there eventually prove to be no assets in the estate.

Regardless of the outcome, all costs incurred by us in researching and establishing the families and heirs involved, are our own responsibility. There are no circumstances where these are charged to beneficiaries. Professional fees charged by solicitors dealing with the estate administration and other estate debts, are paid from the estate itself, in the normal way, prior to any distribution.

At the time that the estate is being distributed, our agreed fees would usually be deducted by the solicitor dealing with the administration, and the nett entitlement would then be sent directly to the heir.

The contingent percentage fee is often the only practicable method of remuneration in matters involving completely unknown kin and intestacy. In such cases there is often nobody authorized to incur costs on behalf of the estate to find kin, and without the involvement of Probate Genealogists on such a basis, the estate would most likely pass to the State. Such a fee ensures that the beneficiaries’ involvement is risk-free, and at the same time recognizes the value of the Probate Genealogists’ service, in facilitating a real benefit to the heir, that would not have occurred otherwise.