At Fraser and Fraser we’re often asked if we can find absent owners of empty properties (or where deceased their executors or next of kin) overseas. The answer is, of course, “Yes we can” but overseas is a big place – some countries are straightforward to work in while others can present an interesting professional challenge. In any event, our job is to help Empty Homes Officers BEHBIU* and if that means an interesting professional challenge, well, we roll up our sleeves and get on with it.
The cast
Take the case of Fred Applewood (deceased) and his property in the East Midlands. Fred had served with some distinction in World War 2 and had found himself in the Philippines in the post-war years. He met and subsequently married Adarna, his Filipina girlfriend, and they returned to UK together and settled in his home.
The background
Many years later, Fred died without having made a valid will and his estate, including his house, passed to Adarna as on his intestacy. She continued to live there until her death and, in common with Fred, Adarna hadn’t left a valid will so her estate, including the property, would pass to her next of kin as on her intestacy. Fred and Adarna hadn’t had any children and nobody knew anything about Adarna’s family although she had spoken to neighbours about her relatives “back home”. After Adarna’s death, the property was left empty and sat on the council’s list of problem properties list for years, becoming a thorn in the council’s side with the usual neighbour complaints and low-level vandalism you might be familiar with from your own list of problem empties.
The brief
This case came up in in conversation during a meeting between me and the EHO who was relatively new in post and wanted to make her mark. We were enjoying a coffee when she shared what she knew about it (almost nothing beyond the address and Fred and Adarna’s names) and asked me if there was anything I could suggest to get it dealt with?
The rules
Cases like this might look more or less impossible on the face of it: a deceased Filipina with no will, no family in UK and no known family anywhere else? Could it be dealt with? I hope it’s no surprise that although cases like this might present the interesting professional challenge referred to above, they are by no means impossible. It’s simply a case of understanding which country’s rules of intestacy are going to apply (in this case England and Wales) and which country research is going be necessary in – and that’s going to be the country of the deceased’s origin, in the case the Philippines.
Getting it done
At Fraser and Fraser we operate world-wide which means we can solve all the problem cases our clients send to us for resolution. In this case, we had to consult records on the ground in different islands in the Philippine archipelago and we showed that Adarna had been the only child of her parent’s marriage to survive into adulthood. Her parents and grandparents had predeceased and her next of kin was in the class of her uncles and aunts of the whole blood and, where predeceased, their issue. To put it in plain English, we would be searching for her cousins. We reconstructed her paternal and maternal family trees and identified 48 living cousins, going on to locate them all in Luzon, Cebu, Biliran and Palawan.
Although the cousins hadn’t known Adarna, they were sorry to learn of their distant relative’s passing and, unsurprisingly given their distance from the East Midlands, were pleased to accept our offer of assistance in administering her estate.
Key milestones and the upshot
It didn’t matter that the property had been empty for so long. As soon as the EHO asked us for help we started work and made progress in the Philippines. In this, as in all deceased owner cases, the key milestones were (i) identifying and locating the right people, in this case Adarna’s next of kin; (ii) applying on their behalf for the grant of representation to the estate; (iii) preparing the property for sale and disposing of it once the grant arrived. We kept the EHO updated throughout and she was able to keep her manager updated and the neighbours at bay.
Postscript
We were delighted to assist, the priority at all times being to help our EHO client BEHBIU* - and she did indeed make her mark.
Could you use help with your problem empties? We deal with straightforward absent owner traces as well as more complex ones like this deceased owner matter all the time and would be delighted to discuss them informally with you - perhaps over a coffee if you’re free?
Call me on 07850 739812 or mail [email protected] – we’d love to help.
*You know – Bring Empty Homes Back Into Use.
