(Australian Times) A pair of penniless down and outs are about to inherit a share of a 4 billion GBP fortune after a bizarre twist in family fortunes, say charity workers.

Brothers Zsolt and Geza Peladi are so poor they live in a cave outside Budapest, Hungary, and sell scrap they find on the street for pennies.

Now they and a sister who lives in America are said to be on the verge of inheriting their grandmother's massive fortune after a life of poverty.

"We knew our mother came from a wealthy family but she was a difficult person and severed ties with them, and then later abandoned us and we lost touch with her and our father until she eventually died," said Geza, 43.

They learned of their good fortune after homelessness charity workers in Hungary were contacted by lawyers handling the estate of the brothers' maternal grandmother who died recently in Baden-Wurttenberg, Germany.

Under German law direct descendents are automatically entitled to a share of any estate - that would pass from the boy's dead mother to them.

Geza added: "If this all works out it will certainly make up for the life we have had until now - all we really had was each other - no women would look at us living in a cave. But with money maybe we can find a partner - and finally have a normal life. We don't know yet if she even told our grandmother about us - I understand it was only while they were carrying out genealogical research that lawyers found we existed."

Volunteer Gyula Balazs Csaszar - who works for Budapest's Maltans charity - told ATV television: "We were contacted by a lawyer asking us to find the brothers.

"He claimed he could help their lives with a large sum of money."

The grandmother's name was not revealed to prevent fraudsters trying to cash in on the inheritance but a spokesman for the legal firm said: "We know who we need to speak to and that is the two brothers who we are pretty sure are the grandchildren - there is no need for anyone else to be informed."

Now the brothers are obtaining copies of their mother's death certificate and proof of their family connection as the rightful heirs before travelling to Germany to claim the billions, reports ATV. (Australian Times)