Italian genealogy company claims my relative is entitled to an unclaimed inheritance — is this legitimate?
A relative of mine recently received a registered letter from an Italian genealogy and inheritance company called E.D. Genealogia, partner of the following companies: HISTORIKERKANZLEI, Probate Research Hungary, GENEALOZI D.O.O. and Carpathian Genealogy Research SRL. In the letter, they state that my relative may be entitled to an unclaimed inheritance from a previously unknown family member.
I already made some background checks from Linkedin profiles (company and employees), Lawyer (Italian Bar Association) checks, etc. and everything seems fine.
What makes this interesting is that the letter correctly references other relatives from our family tree, including birth and marriage dates dating back to around the 1920s — information that my relative already knew and was able to verify.
We tried calling the number provided in the letter, but they refused to share any additional details unless my relative first signs a private agreement and provides a copy of their ID card and tax code (codice fiscale).
They explained that:
- the agreement is supposedly non-binding,
- we would not have to pay anything if the inheritance claim fails,
- and the company would cover all legal and research expenses in that case.
However, an important detail is that they are asking for a 30% commission on the net inheritance amount.
Does this sound legitimate to you? Would you trust a company like this? Has anyone here had experience with E.D. Genealogia or similar inheritance/genealogy firms in Italy?
Are there some precautions I can take? Other than asking a lawyer obviously.
Thanks in advance, and have a great day.
Edit: thank you for all the answers! I will tell my relative to proceed and then post an update so it can be useful for others.