A team of international heir hunters, genealogists and probate researchers are solving inheritance cases across the globe from their base in Thanet
Blanchards, in Ramsgate, is one of the top probate research firms in the country with a team of 25 staff and two sister companies. But it started from small beginnings when it was formed in 2011 by Thanet born Adam Blanchard from an office at his home.
Soon daughter Sophie joined the business and they moved to an office which was just the hallway of another firm’s premises in a small building in Deal. The pair started out by signing a few small cases per month.
Over the following decade, the business rapidly grew to a 25-man team and two sister companies in Ramsgate. All staff, bar two, are Thanet residents. It is now a thriving international heir hunting firm.
Company boss Adam, 55, said: “At the beginning I was doing everything entailed in the job in a very small office room in my house.
“Surrounded by files and knowing my daughter Sophie was going to be joining me, I knew we had to upgrade our space, so moved to a hallway of another office. Though still small it accommodated our two man team well enough for the time.
“As our team rapidly grew, so did our office spaces. We moved from Deal to a new office back to my hometown of Ramsgate and then again to our larger office now housing our 25 man team.
“I began Blanchards in 2011 at age 44. Over a decade later, we have grown into one of the country’s largest probate research firms, finding substantial new wealth for people all over the world.”
Their work involves tracing beneficiaries who would be entitled to an estate. This is carried out when the Intestate (the deceased) did not write a will and no close family could be located to claim the estate.
Staff use their expertise in genealogy to trace the nearest heir. In most cases the beneficiary will not know the Intestate, being a distant relative. It is the duty of Blanchards’ staff to become heir hunters by tracking down those entitled to the estate and beginning the process of transferring it to them.
Adam, now living in Margate, Sophie, 26, and the team have worked on numerous cases of intestacy around Thanet and the surrounding areas. They have also worked on numerous probate and abandoned properties in Margate and Ramsgate. This is a process where they are informed of an empty property and trace the deceased’s next of kin..
Find out more about Blanchards at https://blanchardsltd.co.uk/