Administrator search

When someone dies and there are no apparent next of kin, you may be faced with the possibility of having to write off your time and costs. The Bona Vacantia division are not obliged to refund your fees, but there is equally an opportunity to continue with your estate administration if a potential Administrator can be found.

This situation may arise when a client of yours passes away or as an enquiry from a member of the public when a friend or neighbour has died with no apparent living next of kin.

You could be considering referring the case to the Bona Vacantia division, but by using our free service we will help resolve this issue one way of another.

If the family has died out completely, then the Bona Vacantia division should be notified, and we will help with this process, again at no cost to you.

However, the Government Legal Department have no interest where there may be a valid will or entitled kin living in priority to the Crown. If you suspect there are surviving kin, the chances are the Crown will ask you to make reasonable enquiries first, before referring an Estate to them.

We often identify and locate surviving kin in such situations free of charge and extremely quickly, whereby we can ask one of the next of kin to act as Administrator and appoint your firm to act. We then put you in touch directly with the prospective Administrator to agree your usual terms.

We do not ask for a referral fee either so your independent integrity is wholly preserved.

We have 3 in-house legal consultants (SRA regulated) but do not administer estates ourselves. Therefore, if we encounter a need for a Power of Attorney or other legal complexities arise we are well equipped to deal with these ourselves, again at no cost to you.

We have referred numerous Intestacy cases back to solicitors who contact us in this way numerous times.

We will also search for a Will free of charge and for additional assets too, so that all formalities are taken care of.

This alternative course of action not only ensures you do not miss out on generating income or recovering your fees, but also provides a free and speedy solution to the problem of a Deceased allegedly having no next of kin.