Tew

When someone dies without leaving a will and there is no known relative to inherit, Her Majesty's Treasury takes the money. Unless, that is, the Heir Hunters or probate detectives can find previously unknown family members, in the small window of time they are allowed.

If they do and can get them to sign a contract, they get a lucrative commission on estates that are often worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. The lucky heirs receive money they never knew could be theirs, and set about planning how to spend their windfalls.

In this series, we follow a well-established firm of heir hunters, Fraser and Fraser, and some of their rivals, as they race to find any heirs and sign them up before the competition. In the process, they reunite long lost family members and find lots of skeletons in lots of cupboards.

The programme also gives details of hundreds of unclaimed estates worth millions of pounds, and invites viewers to contact the Heir Hunters website if they think they may have a claim to some of the money.

Alan John Tew left 70,000 pounds. The Heir Hunters compete to find any surviving relatives before the Treasury takes the money. We meet two sisters whose lives were transformed by a cousin they never knew. Plus details of other unclaimed estates worth 523,000 pounds.