World-wide search for $1.4million inheritance
Written by Cassandra Seaborn
From Sydney to Paris, discover the in-depth search our genealogy researchers took to track down Marcel’s* family.
Years after losing contact, Marcel’s family were shocked to learn they would inherit his $1.4 million estate when he died.
Marcel lost contact with his family long before he developed dementia, but when he died, it was discovered that he had kept photos, documents, and mementos from them for years, long after they last saw each other.
They were keepsakes that provided the first clues to finding his family when he died.
When Marcel died in hospital in 2018, nobody knew who his family was. Without anyone to arrange the funeral, the hospital asked NSW Trustee and Guardian to step in and help.
As arrangements were made, it became clear that Marcel had died intestate - without having left a valid Will - and that he had left a substantial estate.
When a person dies without a Will, NSW Trustee and Guardian’s genealogy researchers can be tasked with tracking down people entitled to their estate from around the world.
The Genealogy Unit is a team of specialist researchers with extensive experience locating those entitled to deceased estates. In the last 12-months alone, the team has located beneficiaries from across the globe in over 200 estates.
NSW Trustee and Guardian genealogy manager, Louise Brown, says it is our statutory duty to find who is legally entitled to an estate.
“When someone dies without leaving a Will, NSW intestacy laws set out the order of who will be entitled to a share in the estate, starting with their spouse or de facto, then children and so on”.
Evidence to rule out each ‘category’ of family member needs to be located before moving on to the next.
The step-by-step search
Searches to identify who would be entitled to Marcel’s estate began once Letters of Administration were granted by the NSW Supreme Court.
The hospital knew Marcel’s date and place of birth, so his birth certificate was quickly obtained. It revealed that Marcel’s parents, Robert and Louise, were born in France. It also revealed that he had four older siblings – names that matched some of the photos found in his belongings.
After confirming that Marcel didn’t have a partner or children, his connection to France meant that the search headed to Europe.
Unlike in Australia, most European countries register births, deaths, and marriages at the local council level. Paris, where Robert was born and where he married Louise, is broken into 20 registration districts. Robert and Louise didn’t remain in one place for long, so each district needed to be checked. Documents for them were eventually located in four of these districts.
Louise says birth registrations for each district needed to be checked individually.
“After finding Marcel’s parent’s birth and marriage records, we needed to identify all their children from both before and after their marriage. Half siblings and full siblings are equally entitled to an estate, but only full siblings would have been listed on Marcel’s birth certificate.”
Once the French searches were complete, the search for Marcel’s family returned to Australia.
While his parents had since passed away in New South Wales, his siblings had relocated to Queensland and Victoria.
Further investigation revealed Marcel was the last surviving sibling of five.
Eight nieces and nephews were found alive and were all entitled to a share of his $1.4 million estate.
“For Marcel’s nieces and nephews, research carried out by NSW Trustee and Guardian’s Genealogy Unit not only brought them a significant inheritance, but it also gave them closure regarding their uncle and another link to their family through the photos and documents that Marcel had kept for so long”, said Louise.
“Tracking down Marcel’s family was a great outcome for our Genealogy Unit. We are required by law to carry out in-depth searches like this, and his story demonstrates the lengths we go to, to find who is rightfully entitled to an estate.”
Marcel was remembered fondly by all his surviving nieces and nephews.
*Names changed to protect privacy.
Definitions
- intestate
When a person dies without a valid Will, they are said to have died ‘intestate’. In this situation, the law sets out how the estate is shared among relatives.
- beneficiaries
People, charities and organisations who you decide will receive or benefit from your estate when you pass away.