Trying to trace 2 SOLICITORS.

[Colin Rowledge]

Hi Colin



I wouldn't expect there to be as it wasn't part of her estate.

Assuming at this stage your grandfather solely owned the house then his will is the critical one.

The will should have named his Executors, has he named the solicitors as his executors?

The will should also state to whom the residue of the estate should go to after the distribution of specific bequests, if any.

The house is simply part of the estate but his sister can stay there until she dies. My understanding is that only then can the estate be wound up. Whether the house was then sold or not depends upon the benificiaries who are to receive the residue of the estate.

I don't know whether there was a requirement to change the ownership of the house from your grandfather to the Estate of your grandfather or not but once his sister died it would either be changed to the name of the benificiary of your grandfathers will, or, if it was sold in order to distribute the proceeds, then to the name of the new owner. Either way it would be the executors responsibilty to arrange.

Are you suggesting that your father was named as one of the ultimate benificiaries of your grandfathers will be didn't receive his share?

Andy

Hello Andy.
Thank you for the above.

At this stage, I cannot ascertain, how the residence was registered or when exactly it was purchased. I have had no success with the Registry office in that instance and as the solicitors files are sealedby the S.R.A, there is no access to theose records to find details of the transaction. I do know that my step grandfather was in Canada for my wedding in March 1972 and after visiting his sister in England, returned to Australia with the intent of selling up there and moving back to England. We recieved a letter from him in 1973 telling us that he was living with his sister and that he was going to invest in a property in Weymouth. After that and until his death, letters, greetings cards etc.[starting in June 1974, or possibly that Christmas] the address was in Weymouth.

Now to his will. It was written on October 21, 1976. He died 3 months later on January 30, 1977. Probate was dated October 26, 1977. The net value of the estate was [in sterling] was 10,446.73, which I presume, included the value of the residence at that time. Bequests were made to the 2 solictors, my mother and I and one other person. We received ours in late 1977 or early 1978. The residue was to be held 'in trust' for my Dad. After we received our bequests there was no further communication with my mum nor I and to my knowledge, my Dad was never informed of his status.

The Executors were the 2 solicitors.

Given the circumstances relating to the occupancy of the residence after his death, said residence could not be disposed of until after March 6, 1983 [the date of death of his sister] I would think that between January 30, 1977 and March 6, 1983, the value of the residence would have increased and that when sold by the Executors, additional duties would have been paid and the proceeds of the sale added to the amount that was being held 'in trust'. This probably happened later in 1983 or possibly 1984 and communication should have been sent to my Dad.

My parents had, by this time, retired and had moved from the place of abode in 1977 that was mentioned in the will from 1976. As noted, since my Dad was unaware of his status, there was no requirement as far as he was concerned to notify the legal firm of his address change. This is why I am of the opinion that he never received his rightful share.

It was only when we received a copy of the will in early 2010 that these matters were made known to us.

[arthurk]

Hi Colin

My gut feeling is that you're going to need a solicitor to help to sort this out. Sometimes they know how to open doors that are closed to the rest of us. I'm not a lawyer, but I think it's possible that the money is being held in some kind of clients' or executor's account somewhere; or, if they genuinely believed that the heirs named in the will (ie your father) could not be traced, then it might have been referred to Bona Vacantia, which I mentioned earlier in this thread.

Consulting a solicitor will obviously cost money, and you might decide it's not worth the expense in the end. I don't know what the situation is in Canada, but in the UK some solicitors will do an initial consultation for free, and then give you some idea of the prospects and likely cost; alternatively, some insurance policies include access to a legal helpline where you can get similar initial advice free of charge.

Arthur

[jac65]

Hi Colin

I agree with Arthur, legal assistance would be your best option.

Am I right in assuming that your father is deceased? If that is correct then who was the executor of his will?

They would or should be able to access your fathers financial records to see if he did in fact receive any payment from your grandfathers estate. Basically you need to make sure your father hasn't received his inheritance.

If your father hasn't then his executor should be the one chasing it up as the way I see it the inheritance would be part of your fathers estate as an amount owed to your father.

One thing I would do out of curiosity is to check the electoral rolls over a number of years to see who was registered to vote at the Weymouth address. Start from when your grandfather was alive until several years after his sisters death. Just to see if the names of subsequent occupants mean anything to you. You would probably need someone to do this locally in Weymouth.

Andy

[Colin Rowledge]

Hi Andy
Yes, you are correct - my father is deceased - February 2, 2011. I am also Executor of his estate. Part of my responsibility is to determine what monies may be available and my dad's solictor is holding up applying for probate until I can resolve this matter. Finding financial records from 1977-1985 or so is a little difficult, but we are working on this aspect.

As for electoral rolls in Weymouth - I'm looking for volunteer searchers.

Colin

[Colin Rowledge]

Hi Colin

They would or should be able to access your fathers financial records to see if he did in fact receive any payment from your grandfathers estate. Basically you need to make sure your father hasn't received his inheritance.

If your father hasn't then his executor should be the one chasing it up as the way I see it the inheritance would be part of your fathers estate as an amount owed to your father.

Andy

As the Executor of my dad's estate, I am familiar with where his financial matters were handled. Fortunately it was with 1 institution and he and my mum had accounts there for many years - at least since the early 1980's if not prior. I have an appoitment later this week with the manager and will see what I can find out.

Colin

[Colin Rowledge]

The estate that my dad was entitled to was probated October 26, 1977. I know the value of the estate then, to covert to Canadian funds to detrmine a rough deposit to look for.

Can anyone give an approximation?

In the mid 1960's it was roughly $3.00= 1 pound sterling, so I'm guessing $2.50-2.75. Would that be reasonable?

[Ken_R]

Hi Colin.

This site
WWW
.triacom.com/frame.html

will give you a number of exchange rates against the USD, at various periods of time, and

this site

www
.jhall.demon.co.uk/currency/by_abbrev.html#c

will give you the ISO 4217 currency abbreviations, which confirms that the former site lists the USD against both the CAD and the GBP.

As for working it out at this time in the morning............

Ken.

[Ken_R]

Reply to edit. No idea how that got in there. Sorry.

[jac65]

Hi Colin

The way I read it there should have been two payments to your father, firstly in 1977 and secondly some time after your grandfathers sister died in 1983 assuming the house was sold.

I'm not sure of Canadian law but would your father have been required to declare the inheritance to the Canadian authorities for taxation purposes? If so, would there be any documentation to verify this.

Andy

[Mona]

I'm not sure of Canadian law but would your father have been required to declare the inheritance to the Canadian authorities for taxation purposes?

There is no inheritance tax in Canada.