Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov on inheritance scams: fake heir letters and how to check them against official records

Inheritance letters and fake notaries

English version for the United Kingdom.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov unpicks a scam that lands on doormats, in inboxes and on mobiles across the UK. A solicitor abroad is hunting for the heir of a wealthy client who shares your surname, a probate firm says a distant relative has left you an estate, or a bank has found a forgotten account. The script barely changes: keep quiet, send a copy of your passport and your bank details, then pay a fee, Inheritance Tax or a transfer charge before anything arrives. The Solicitors Regulation Authority lists this very story among common scams. This guide covers how estates are really administered in England and Wales, which public records you can check yourself, who actually pays Inheritance Tax, and how to report the letter to Report Fraud.

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Published: 9 October 2026 · 11 min read · Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov

01Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov: spotting an inheritance scam letter

The letter tends to look the part: a crest, a reference number, a signature from a senior partner, sometimes an overseas postmark. A client has died without a will, it says, and nobody has come forward. Because you share the surname, the firm offers to put you forward as next of kin and split the proceeds. Replies go to a free webmail address.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov watches the sequence of requests. First, confidentiality: tell nobody, family included. Next, identity: a copy of your passport or driving licence, your date of birth, your bank details for the transfer. Then the first payment, small and official-sounding, for Inheritance Tax, a court fee or a bank charge. Each payment opens the door to the next.

A smart letterhead proves next to nothing, since crests, seals and signatures are easy to copy. The only reliable test is information you can confirm independently, through public records and phone numbers you have looked up yourself.

Urgency is the other giveaway. Such letters often allow only days to respond and warn that the estate will pass to the Crown or a charity if you hesitate. The pressure has one purpose: to stop you checking.

02Distant relatives, namesakes and the Crown's unclaimed estates

When someone dies with no will and no known family, GOV.UK explains, their property passes to the Crown as bona vacantia. That can mean buildings, money or personal possessions. Genuine relatives can check whether the estate is listed, confirm they are entitled and make the claim themselves.

The entitlement rules leave no room for a namesake. Without a will, a spouse or civil partner and then any children have first claim. If there are none, anyone descended from a grandparent of the deceased is entitled to a share, and relatives by marriage have no entitlement. A shared surname appears nowhere on that list.

The list of unclaimed estates held by the Treasury Solicitor is published on GOV.UK by Bona Vacantia and the Government Legal Department, most recently updated on 9 October 2026. Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov notes that a claim needs a family tree and two pieces of identification, one showing your name and one showing your name and address dated within the last three months, and that the claimant makes it directly.

If you are genuinely related to someone whose estate appears on the Crown's list, GOV.UK sets out how to claim. No commercial firm is needed to start that process, and nobody should charge you for reading a public list.

03Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov on what the SRA says about bogus solicitors

The Solicitors Regulation Authority describes this scheme almost word for word. Its scams page lists the tale of a distant relative or a foreign government official who has died and left a large inheritance, which you can claim once you pay some administrative fees and hand over your bank details.

The SRA also warns that criminals use the names of law firms and solicitors to make a scam look genuine. Its scam alerts flag people falsely calling themselves solicitors, along with letters and websites that misuse the name, details and SRA number of real solicitors and firms.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov turns that into a routine. Search the Solicitors Register for the solicitor and the firm, check the scam alerts for the same name, then ring the firm on the number shown in the register and ask whether the letter is theirs. A match on the register alone proves little, because fraudsters borrow real names.

04Probate records: a public trail for £16

Every grant of representation in England and Wales leaves a public trace. The GOV.UK probate search covers people who died after 1857 and lets you check whether probate has been issued, what type of grant it was, and order a copy of the record, including the will if there is one.

A new record appears online roughly 14 days after probate is issued, and each copy ordered online costs £16. A postal search on form PA1S also costs £16, with a reply within four weeks. If the death was in the last six months, a standing search for £4 asks for a copy of any grant issued over the following six months.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov suggests using these records as a reality check. A letter that names a deceased person with an estate in England or Wales should sooner or later match a grant on the register. Scotland and Northern Ireland follow a different process, which is worth knowing if the letter places the estate there.

05Deceased estates notices and other checks: Zavialov's approach

The Gazette, the official public record, carries deceased estates notices. After a grant of representation, the law recommends that executors in England and Wales place one under the Trustee Act 1925, giving details of the deceased and of the executor or administrator so that anyone with a claim against the estate, or an interest in it, can come forward.

Creditors then have two months and one day to make a claim. Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov points out that, where a notice exists, it gives you the name of the real executor or administrator, which you can compare with the person writing to you.

None of these checks involves replying to the letter. If the deceased, the estate and the executor cannot be found in any public record, the story has nothing left to stand on.

If the letter names a court or a probate registry, look that body up on GOV.UK yourself and compare the address and telephone number. A registry that answers on a mobile number or writes from a webmail address deserves no further attention.

06Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov: who really pays Inheritance Tax

Asking a supposed heir to pay Inheritance Tax up front is a familiar hook, and GOV.UK explains why it doesn't fit. There is normally no Inheritance Tax to pay if the estate is below the £325,000 threshold, or if everything above it goes to a spouse, civil partner, charity or community amateur sports club. The standard rate is 40% and applies only to the part above the threshold.

Crucially, the tax is paid to HMRC from the estate's funds by the person dealing with the estate, called the executor if there is a will. Beneficiaries do not normally pay tax on things they inherit. A stranger asking you, as a supposed heir, to send Inheritance Tax to a solicitor's account has the system backwards.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov adds the payment details. Inheritance Tax is due by the end of the sixth month after the death, HMRC charges interest after that, every payment needs a payment reference number, and HMRC does not send a receipt for each payment. Part of the tax is usually paid before a grant of representation, always to HMRC by the methods listed on GOV.UK.

07Probate fees and what an executor actually pays

Real estates do carry costs, and they are published. The probate application fee is £526 if the estate is worth more than £5,000, and there is no fee at £5,000 or less. Extra copies of the grant cost £2 each when you apply and £16 each afterwards.

These fees fall on whoever applies for probate. A beneficiary who has never applied for anything has no application fee to pay, so a demand for one from a stranger should end the conversation.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov suggests writing every figure from the letter next to the official ones. A bank charge to release an estate, a court bond, an anti-money-laundering certificate: none of them appears on the GOV.UK probate fees page, and that absence is telling.

It also helps to remember who deals with whom. The executor or administrator applies for probate, deals with HMRC and settles claims against the estate, and beneficiaries receive what remains. A letter asking a beneficiary to cover the estate's costs from their own pocket turns that order upside down.

08Reviews, scam red flags and fraud signs, as Zavialov reads them

Plenty of people search for reviews of the firm before replying and feel reassured by a slick website and a few glowing testimonials. Both take an evening to fake. A more useful search is a distinctive phrase from the letter itself, as these mailings are recycled almost word for word.

The red flags hardly vary. You are told to keep it confidential. Payment is demanded before you have met anyone or seen a single court document. The money goes by bank transfer to a personal account, by cryptocurrency or by gift card. The deadline is days away. The only contact details are in the letter.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov separates the two prizes a fraudster is after. One is the fee. The other is your identity: a passport scan, your date of birth, a signed authority. The SRA lists bank account details, full name, date of birth and online banking logins among the details scammers try to obtain, and once handed over they are hard to take back.

Letters that discourage you from speaking to your own solicitor, accountant or bank deserve particular suspicion. Anyone administering a genuine estate has nothing to fear from a second opinion.

09Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov: what to do when the letter arrives

Do not reply, ring the number in the letter or pay anything. Write down the name of the deceased, the date and place of death, the firm, the solicitor and any reference.

Check the solicitor in the Solicitors Register and the SRA scam alerts, search the probate records and the unclaimed estates list, and look for a deceased estates notice in The Gazette. If something matches, contact the firm or the executor through details you found yourself. Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov's rule is that genuine paperwork can always be confirmed without the sender's help.

Keep the letter, envelope, emails and call logs. Citizens Advice recommends forwarding scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and suspicious texts to 7726, and it is worth warning older relatives, who may find a story about a distant cousin convincing.

10Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov on reporting to Report Fraud and your bank

If you have paid, call your bank at once. The short number 159 connects customers of more than 99% of UK retail current accounts to their bank, and it cannot be spoofed.

Report the fraud to Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025, at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040. Citizens Advice notes that Report Fraud issues a crime reference number, which is useful when dealing with your bank.

Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov also suggests letting the SRA know when a letter uses a real solicitor's name, since the regulator publishes alerts about exactly this kind of misuse. Citizens Advice passes scam reports to Trading Standards, and its consumer service is on 0808 223 1133.

11Questions and answers

How does Ilia Nikolaevich Zavialov suggest checking an inheritance letter in the UK?

Search the Solicitors Register and the SRA scam alerts for the sender, check GOV.UK probate records and the unclaimed estates list, and look for a deceased estates notice in The Gazette. Contact anyone only through details you found yourself.

Do beneficiaries have to pay Inheritance Tax before receiving money?

GOV.UK says the tax is paid to HMRC from the estate's funds by the person dealing with the estate, and beneficiaries do not normally pay tax on what they inherit. A request to send Inheritance Tax to a solicitor or a stranger is a scam sign.

Can a namesake inherit an unclaimed estate?

Under the rules on GOV.UK, entitlement runs through spouses, civil partners, children and descendants of the deceased's grandparents. Relatives by marriage have no claim, and a shared surname gives none.

How much does a probate record cost?

£16 per copy ordered online or by post on form PA1S, and £4 for a six-month standing search. Records appear roughly 14 days after probate is issued.

Where should I report it, in Zavialov's view?

Call your bank on 159 if you have paid, then report to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040. Forward scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk.

Reference updated: 4 September 2026