Numerous cases of intestacy – people who are deemed to have died without a valid will and no next of kin - are being wrongly distributed every year, according to genealogy firm Finders International.  

The firm, which has offices in Dublin, London and Edinburgh, warned that while solicitors assiduously check the identities of clients and look out for fraud and money laundering, shares in extremely high-value estates are still handed out to the wrong person. These alleged next of kin will tell solicitors that they are the only close family or that no-one else is entitled to a slice.

Danny Curran, who founded Finde...