Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
… The Article reaches three main conclusions. First, heir hunting is a booming business. Indeed, the Article unearths 219 agreements between heir hunters and heirs from twenty-seven American states and eleven foreign countries. Second, heir hunting can be socially valuable. Heir hunters sometimes locate long-lost relatives after everyone else has failed. Third, heir hunting is also problematic. For one, the Article’s multivariate regression analysis reveals that cases with heir hunters are especially likely to devolve into litigation. In addition, heir hunters usually pay for the heir’s attorney, thus creating a stark conflict of interest. Finally, heir hunters charge exorbitant fees and routinely contact heirs before the administrator has even tried to locate them. Using these insights, the Article critiques existing approaches to heir hunting and suggests reforms that would enable the legal system to harness the practice’s benefits while limiting its costs.

Horton, David and Weisbord, Reid K, Heir Hunting (February 24, 2020). University of Pennsylvania Law Review, volume 169 (2021 forthcoming); Rutgers Law School Research Paper.

First posted 2020-03-06 06:19:41