The interest in “Make a Will” month has rekindled media interest in probate researchers’ work, and it was in the course of researching some case studies that the case of Sally Winds was brought up.

   Sally died in Belgium, an only child, having been born in Brussels and lived her whole life there, apart from a brief stint during the Second World War when she was evacuated by her parents to spend time with her mother’s relatives in England.

   Her British mother had been one of nine children, with an additional seven half brothers and sisters from her father’s first wife, who had passed away in 1893.

   We were asked to locate Sally’s English relatives from her mother’s side, the descendants of these 16 siblings, as her Belgian father was an only child, and each of them had no other living relatives to whom the estate could be distributed.

   As is common in such circumstances, research took us far and wide all over the UK and beyond, to Switzerland, Canada and Australia. However, we were pleased with our progress and our tree grew to several tens of beneficiaries entitled to a share in what appeared to be a substantial estate mainly comprising two properties in one of the affluent areas of Brussels.

   Our research started in 1999, and two years later we were still researching descendants – it is only really in the past few years that so much information has been available on the internet. Even ten years ago, details available at the click of a button today could take days or even weeks to complete. Curiously, however, news about the estate was difficult to come by. The genealogist who had asked for our assistance had confirmed that there were two properties in desirable areas of Brussels; however, they could not confirm the value of the estate so that we could inform the heirs.

   Another two years passed, research was long finished and still the genealogist was elusive. It emerged that there were some complications arising from the fact that the deceased had not had full mental capacity towards the end of her life, which gave rise to particular questioning from the Ministry of Finance. Although this information was vague, it did at least partially explain the length of time that the matter was taking. A Belgian attorney had been appointed to help progress matters, but then the line went silent again.

   Despite of repeated telephone calls and letters to the genealogist, we heard nothing. Understandably, by the fifth year of waiting, even the heirs were tired of our excuses and began to ask for details of our Belgian contact in order to see if they could get anything out of them. They were, however, met with similar resistance.

   One day, on another one of our chasing telephone calls, we were put through to someone new. Our long-standing Belgian contact had retired and the file had been taken over by a new agent keen to finalise this matter, which by now had been dragging on for almost seven years. The conversation shed new light on the matter – the deceased had allowed the properties to deteriorate to such an extent that neighbouring flats had also been affected, and had launched various actions to recoup reparations. For this reason, distribution had been halted pending the outcome of the various actions, and the attorney who had been appointed was as difficult to get hold of as the new contact’s predecessor.

   We were also provided with the details for the attorney, to see if perhaps direct contact with him might expedite the process, or at least provide new information. Fed-up heirs also wanted an update and at least an idea of when the matter was due to be finalised, if at all.

   Again, we had little response. Finally, at the beginning of 2009, a full ten years after the death of the deceased, we received a final call and then a letter settling the estate. The drive-by valuation, which had estimated the value of the estate, had hugely overvalued the properties’ worth, and the court cases, coupled with further deterioration to the properties before they were eventually disposed of, had let the real values slip even further in the meantime.

   Lastly, due to the degree of relationship our heirs had to the deceased, Belgian inheritance tax came to over 60 per cent, in effect leaving the ‘intestate’ estate insolvent. The 70 or so beneficiaries were left with nothing, after all the waiting and effort. Some of them even had recollections of the deceased and had been extremely sad to hear first of Sally’s death, then of the circumstances surrounding her death, and finally of the fact that nothing remained of her estate.

   Reason indeed to encourage clients to make a will!

Kasia A. Oberc is a relationship manager at Fraser & Fraser. Find out who you are looking for: contact us on 020 7832 1430 or e-mail legal@lostkin.co.uk