A team of international heir hunters, genealogists and probate researchers based in Thanet are set to to be a key feature in new Channel 4 show, Key To A Fortune.
Blanchards, in Ramsgate, is one of the top probate research firms in the country with a team of 25 staff and two sister companies.
Probate research refers to tracing beneficiaries who would be entitled to an estate. This is carried out when the deceased person did not write a will and no close family can be located.
Blanchards staff use their expertise in genealogy to trace the nearest heir, inform them of the estate and begin the process of transferring their new found wealth.
With millions of properties waiting to be reclaimed, the Channel 4 programme follow inheritors as they see their new property for the first time, discover how much their inheritance is worth and reunite with family members they’ve never met. After taking advice from a property expert, they must decide, do they keep it in the family or sell their Key to a Fortune?
The show features Blanchards as they trace next of kin for the high value estates and properties. The Thanet team provided five of the six cases featured throughout the series, with the programme showcasing thier work, involvement and the properties throughout. Some properties were valued in excess of £600k, highlighting their huge values as well as the overnight wealth of the beneficiaries.
Many of the properties Blanchards handle can be in ruin and in desperate need for renovation. Beneficiaries on the show decide whether to sell at auction for the fastest route to their fortune or to renovate the property to maximise value.
Blanchards 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.
Adam 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. To go from a two- man team to featuring on national television is beyond exciting.”
Adam, now living in Margate, Sophie 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.
Key To A Fortune will be screened from Sunday 24th March at 5.15pm on Channel 4.
Find out more about Blanchards at https://blanchardsltd.co.uk/
