Teacher stunned by £28k phone call about cousin she hasn't seen in 20 years

A retired teacher has been left shocked after getting a phone call informing her that she's inherited £28,000 from a family member she hasn't seen in 20 years.

Joan Williams, 82, received a call from Finders International - who feature on BBC show Heir Hunters - after her cousin Allan Reay, 74, died alone in a nursing home. Allan, who died in 2022, had not made a will and had no known next of skin to inherit his estate, which was worth £28,000.

This means Joan, who had not seen Allan in over 20 years, was a beneficiary of his estate and would be given the money. Joan, who is originally from Marshe-by-the-Sea, North Yorks., but now lives in France, was left shocked at first but has decided to use the money to go on holiday.

She said: "I was sceptical at first. It's not the type of phone call that I would expect I was definitely suspicious.

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"As I live in France I asked my son, who lives in the UK, to look into it and it was soon confirmed that Finders International is a reputable firm that works extensively throughout the world on cases just like this. "I inherited a windfall I wasn't expecting and was utterly surprised.

"You just don't expect something like that to happen to you. My husband and I plan to spend it on a holiday or maybe even a cruise."

Allan was an only child, never married and had no children. He lived with his parents Rhoda and Henry Rhea in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, and stayed in the property after they died in 1968 and 1990.

Joan's memory of Allan was that he was a chatty, amicable person and she said they had exchanged Christmas cards over the years. She said: "My father and Allan's mother