Inheritance Bounty Hunters Cash in On Finding Mr Wright

On a dark night in Scotland, two visitors left a calling card at the home of John Douglas Wright. When he later called the number, Mr. Wright learned that they worked for a tracing agency and he was due a small inheritance of about £15,000 if he could prove that he was the Mr. Wright they were looking for.

After meeting with the tracing agents, Mr. Wright provided them with a copy of his birth certificate and signed an agreement granting the tracing company a finder's fee of one third of his inheritance. Hidden in the fine print, where he missed it, was also an agreement to compensate them for all expenses related to locating him and proving his right to the inheritance. When the dust settled, Mr. Wright received a check for just £3501- the remainder of his share of the inheritance after the tracing company took out their expenses and finder's fee.

Is this a normal occurance? It happens more than most people realize, according to this article in the Sunday Herald. Tracing missing heirs has become big business. Some companies even try to profit some selling books which promise to teach you how to become an heir hunter. There have also been many cases of phony inheritance scams, so it is healthy to be skeptical when approached by an heir tracer - especially by email. There are, however, also many legitimate genealogists and investigators who specialize in tracing missing heirs.