by Linda McGrory
MILLIONS of euro left by Irish emigrants with no
next of kin have been repatriated here by
heir-hunting firms while more fortunes go unclaimed
at the British Treasury. One company alone
distributed more than €5 million to beneficiaries
here in a recent 18-month period.
The windfall includes sizeable estates left by
childless Irish emigrants who died in England and
Wales with no known family and without making a
will.
The Treasury has now published an historical list of
unclaimed estates dating back to the 1990s to track
down potential heirs.
The ‘bona vacantia’ (ownerless property) list of
more than 10,500 unclaimed estates features hundreds
of Irish-born men and women who died intestate
between 1997 and 2012. Many of their estates are
worth little but others include bank savings, life
insurance policies and real estate valued at tens of
thousands of euro.
In one recent case, Irish heirs were sought to
inherit the sterling equivalent of almost €2 million
euro left by a childless widow in upmarket Belgravia,
London.
Irish cases account for about 10 per cent of the
caseload of one of the UK's biggest probate research
firms, Fraser & Fraser.
One of its three Ireland-focused teams repatriated
some €5.1 million euro to unsuspecting beneficiaries
here in a single 18-month period up to 2011.
The individual estates, originating mainly in
Britain and the US, were worth between €23,000 euro
and nearly €2 million euro.
"We have a good success rate with Irish cases
because often we are dealing with large Catholic
families and therefore there are more potential
beneficiaries to look for," said partner Neil
Fraser.
One case involved 89-year old Elizabeth Malhotra
(nee Grogan) who died in London in 2009 leaving an
estate valued at £1.7m (almost €2m) Belfast-born Ms
Grogan had emigrated to America in the 1950s where
she married airline executive Mohan Malhotra from
Pakistan. The couple, who had no children, moved to
London in the 1990s where they lived in Belgravia.
Ms Malhotra's estate has recently been settled and
is to be distributed among a large number of distant
cousins, many living in Belfast.
Many Irish surnames such as Murphy, Kelly, O'Brien
and O'Connor feature on the Treasury's lists of
unclaimed estates. Not all are first generation
Irish while the birthplaces of those who are, is not
always known.
The list includes the estate of Michael Delaney, a
70-year old bachelor who died in Luton, Bedfordshire
in 2000, leaving £45,000 (53,000 euro). Fraser &
Fraser cannot find any heirs for Mr Delaney’s money.
"He may have had a brother but we don't think there
are any next of kin," said Neil Fraser.
William Thomas O'Donnell (79) who died in Plaistow,
London, on November 6, 2002 could also have heirs
here. His estate, worth £40,000 (47,000 euro),
remains unclaimed eleven years after his death.
Estates held with the Treasury can be claimed with
interest up to 12 years after a death and without
interest up to 30 years. Details of unclaimed
estates dating from before 1997 have not been
computerised.
Fees are charged by probate researchers but
potential heirs can also stake claims directly
through the Treasury.
Click here for full historical
unclaimed estate list
Some unclaimed estates of Irish emigrants in the UK:
Poignant legacy of those with no kin. Are you heir
to any of these estates?
John Sean O'Meara (Bachelor, 84 years): Died
Lewisham, London, April 2012.
Mary Riordan (Spinster, 84 years): Died Chelsea,
London, November 2007.
John Watson (Bachelor, 82 years): Died Plaistow,
London, October 2012.
Eugene Fitzpatrick (Widower, 88 years): Died
Brighouse, West Yorkshire, February 2007.
Nora Linahan (Spinster, 68): Died Huntingdon,
October 2012.
James Emmett O'Reilly (Marital status unknown, 58
years): Died Harrow, Middlesex, April 1989.
Maureen Lock (nee Purton, 75 years): Died Basildon,
Essex, November 2012.
Anthony McDonagh (Widower, 89 years): Died Halifax,
West Yorkshire, February 2008.
Denis Shortiss (Marital status unknown, 81 years):
Died Northolt, Middlesex, November 2012.
Patrick Joseph Russell (Widower, 81 years): Died
Islington, London, January 2012.
Patrick Joseph Hendrick (Bachelor, 78 years): Died
Islington, London, April 2012.
Michael O'Donnell (Marital status unknown, 45 years)
Died Gillingham, Kent, June 2003.
William Berkeley (Bachelor, 93 years): Died
Brighton, East Sussex, August 2012.
John Jo O'Reaghan (Single, 71 years): Died Stafford,
Staffordshire, January 2013.
Michael Duffy (Bachelor, 74 years): Born Wicklow.
Died Tooting, London October 2003. |
