The Estate of Mr P

This is Gemma’s story:

The Local Authority could provide us with some background information about Mr P. They told us that Mr P passed away in his residential home which he also shared with his late parents and late brother.  Mr P had no children and was never married, and his brother also never married and had no children. Initial enquiries also confirmed that Mr P never left a Will and so we set out to follow and apply the Rules of Intestacy rules by locating maternal and paternal siblings of Mr P’s parents and their descendants.

Through our expertise, passion and dedication, we identified and contacted the nineteen beneficiaries over 5 stems. The first beneficiary we located was Mr G who agreed to be the Personal Representative for the Estate. From the outset he was passionate, informative, sensitive, expedient and in no uncertain terms . . . he exceeded our expectations. He has played an integral part in the Estate Administration and I am very grateful to him and his dedication to diligently carry out every duty required of him.

It has been a tremendous pleasure speaking with all nineteen beneficiaries and very refreshing to see distant family members (although they might not have known of Mr P) show such an interest and passion for Genealogy and their family history.

Mr P lived in a rented house along with his late parents and late brother and although we are not certain how long they lived there, we were able to locate rent cards from the 70’s indicating just how long this close and loving family had shared the family home.

As Cases Managers, we do not always get to attend the home of the person who has passed away. In this case I was very lucky to visit the family home and get to know Mr P and his family a little better through this visit.

The home was full of memories, personal belongings and tokens of the past. We found personal belongings for Mr P, and his brother, as well as his mother and father. Among the many things I found were diaries and hand-written notes. They provided me with a great insight into who Mr P was and the kind of life he lived.

One note was extremely touching and sad. It spoke of his late brother’s passing and how much he missed him. I felt very fortunate to have come across this note and made sure to put this safely aside for Mr G; whom I knew would treasure and appreciate Mr P’s thoughts and feelings. Other notes and diary entries spoke of aunts, uncles and cousins whom we had already identified as family members. It was very touching to begin to see not only a blood connection but also a close family connection.

A thorough search of the home also enabled us to locate and confirm many financial assets we were not previously aware of. This enabled us to increase the value of the Estate substantially and the inheritance due to a well deserving and caring family.

To reduce the cost being incurred by the Estate we needed to hand the property back to the Landlord asap. The property was therefore cleared, with all the personal belongings and paperwork sent to myself for inventory. The inventory work begun with a critical review of the paperwork and ended in a two-day shredding marathon.

Mr P and his family had kept paper work going as far back as the 60’s. Among many interesting things, I found the Will of Miss P, who was the late aunt of Mr P, and sister to his late father. This was very exciting; I was already aware of Miss P and this proved further confirmation of the close relationship between the extended family members that we would otherwise not be aware of.

Once I completed the paperwork inventory I begun an 8-box inventory of personal belongings ranging from records, ornaments, ceramics, coins, a large stamp collection and something the youngsters would not have heard of . . .  cassette tapes! Many items were identified to be of a high value and included Elvis Presley records in pristine condition. Around 40 items were added to eBay and as a result an extra £400.00 was realised for the Estate.

Those that did not sell on eBay after a month and other items of a low value were taken to a Car Boot sale and an additional £100.00 was made.

Having spoken to Mr G since May 2017, I was very excited to finally be meeting with him and his wife; driving the three and a half hours to his home to hand over the personal belongings of a family nature and the remainder of the personal belongings that had not sold at the Car Boot. Mr G then donated these to a charity store; something I believe Mr P would have appreciated.

Over a cup of coffee and cake, we spoke about Mr P and the family tree. Together we read through his diary and discussed any remaining questions they had about the genealogical research involved. Family photo albums were given to Mr and Mrs G to go through in their own time.

My visit represents one of the final stages of the Administration of the Estate. The last piece being to distribute the Estate amongst all the family beneficiaries and share the family tree with them.

Although I never had the opportunity to know Mr P personally, I do believe that he would be happy with the way his Estate had been handled. Mr G and all the other beneficiaries have been a pleasure to speak with and have made the administration of Mr P’s Estate a rewarding experience.

I am very grateful for the many learning curves and experiences I have had working on this case and the trust placed in me by the family. I will be sad to conclude the Estate of Mr P; though happy to have enriched so many lives through my work; both financially and through the reawakened memories being shared and spoken about amongst the family.

Below is a picture of Mr G with his wife and their family tree…