Silver anniversary for the Wigan firm which has helped long lost relatives inherit more than £400m
Meet the local company that has provided countless surprises to people who come into money they never expected
A Wigan genealogy firm which has helped thousands of people inherit money they never knew existed celebrates its 25th anniversary this month.
Estate Research, which employs around 80 people at its headquarters in the town, tracks down relatives after someone dies without a will.
Founder Aidan Hutchings, 57, estimates he has helped unite more than £400m with long-lost relatives. If no beneficiaries had been found the money would have been passed to the Crown or the Government.
Mr Hutchings said: “When I started the business 25 years ago I could never have dreamed of how much money I’d have been helping to unite with long lost relatives.
“People are often incredibly shocked but it’s nearly always a pleasant surprise.
“We’ve often made people overnight millionaires by tracking them down and giving them the good news. There can be some sadness as very often the person who has died has ended their days quite isolated.
The Wigan-born entrepreneur has built one of the UK’s leading probate research and genealogy companies with satellite offices in London, Edinburgh and Toronto, Canada.
Mr Hutchings said he had never considered having the headquarters anywhere but Wigan.
Estate Research is an Official Partner and recurring Official Match Sponsor for various home fixtures of Wigan Athletic.
Likewise, employees regularly raise funds for Derian House Children’s Hospice and Wigan and Leigh Hospice through their annual 17-mile sponsored walk along the Leeds Liverpool Canal.
Over the years, his team has come across a number of unusual cases. In one instance, they came across a Manchester man whose home contained £2m in gold bars, £1m in silver bars, eight Rolex watches and £2.5m in Bitcoin.
On another occasion, earlier this year, a man died alone in hospital without a will and it turned out his estate was worth £7m.
Mr Hutchings learned the trade at two probate research firms in London, before building his own business and returning to Wigan. The firm now generates an annual turnover of £14m.
When Mr Hutchings first started out, tracing missing relatives meant searching microfiche, examining historical records and cross-referencing telephone books with a single year of electoral rolls. Today, digitised archives, online electoral registers and social media have transformed the process, making people far easier to find.
He said: “The challenge is no longer simply finding a missing heir but proving their identity and family connections to a standard that solicitors can rely on when distributing an estate.
The firm also undertakes free next-of-kin tracing for local authorities, NHS trusts and coroners, helping ensure that relatives can be identified and given the opportunity to attend a family member’s funeral.
Alongside its specialist research, the Learning Hub that Estate Research has built, now has over 16,000 legal professionals signed up to the platform. It has grown into the UK’s largest learning resource dedicated to private client practitioners and transformed the company’s marketing model, with solicitors increasingly approaching Estate Research with cases.
Estate Research is part of a specialised field that supports probate, wills, and private client practitioners by identifying entitled beneficiaries and resolving estate-related issues. Their work ensures that estates are administered correctly and that assets reach the rightful heirs.