Private Eye Finds Heirs to Unclaimed Estates

Mary Applegate listened in disbelief to the caller. She and her siblings stood to inherit more than $200,000 from a forgotten aunt, said the man, who described himself as a genealogy researcher.

Applegate, of Cincinnati, Ohio, had met old Aunt Margaret only once—back in the 1940s. How could the stranger on the phone know she was kin to Aunt Margaret? Or that her aunt had died without a will?

He knew, as Applegate quickly discovered, because his job is finding heirs to unclaimed estates. Gerard Cushing of Kissimmee, Fla., is a member of a little-known profession of researchers, or in some cases detectives, who track down relatives of people who have died without a will or known next of kin.

Their efforts can change the lives of new heirs—some become rich or at least better off. Others are delighted to find long-lost relatives they didn't even know existed.

Applegate, 69, says she bought a new car and paid off her condo with the windfall Cushing helped her and her siblings claim. "It was like money blowing out in the air and catching it."

But not all "lost legacy" stories have happy endings. Consumer advocates say it is not uncommon for con artists to call or write unsuspecting people falsely claiming they are due to inherit thousands of dollars from a relative's estate. The scammers offer to help the relatives collect the bogus inheritance for a fee.

Don't be fooled, cautions Stephen Larson, president of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA).

Before signing anything, he says, consumers need to check the heir finder's credentials and to verify the claim by finding out more about the relative, what the estate is worth and where it's located.

CUSHING'S CASES

Cushing, 66, a licensed private eye, has been solving lost-legacy cases for 30 years. He cruises courthouses, thumbs through personal records and archives, employs other researchers in states around the nation and surfs the Internet to find clues to a decedent's family tree.

"What we're trying to do is identify the (legal) heir," says Cushing.

Fees for heir finders can be considerable. Cushing typically charges 10 to 331/3 percent of an estate's value. Many states, however, place caps on the amount an heir finder can claim—usually up to 30 percent.

Once Cushing earned $250,000 after finding heirs to a New York estate worth about $1 million. But Cushing says he also spent about $50,000 tracking down those heirs—two first cousins—with frequent trips to their homeland Germany and paying related legal fees.

Cushing says his expenses to trace a case can quickly mount. He hires attorneys to represent his findings at kinship hearings, where a judge determines who the legal heirs are as well as their right to an estate. He pays other researchers to help him track down a case. He also foots the bill for travel, hotel, translators and other fees related to a case.

WHAT'S THE CATCH?

"The biggest hurdle I have is convincing the person of my legitimacy," Cushing says. "They're concerned about what it's going to cost them, what's the catch."

Larson says there is a legitimate need for heir finders but consumers must use caution.

"Clearly there's a need to assist people in getting their money back because the state can't find everybody that's owed money," he says. But, he says, consumers "should always contact their state to see if they have any money coming to them."

Unclaimed property isn't just estate property. It can also include abandoned, forgotten or unclaimed assets such as dormant bank accounts, safe deposit boxes, personal items, uncashed federal tax refunds and stocks and bonds.

When Cushing does decipher a family's paper trail and locates the members who are sometimes two generations removed from the deceased, months, if not years, can pass. Then he and the relatives must prove their relationship to the deceased, and their claim, to a judge.

BEGIN AT THE END

Cushing begins his research at the hospital where the person died, then contacts the funeral director, then moves on to the cemetery "to see if the person is buried with any other family members," he says.

He looks for relatives in computer phone directories and on genealogy sites. "I use naturalization records, ship lists or immigration records—whatever resources would help me pinpoint a village or town that a person came from overseas," Cushing explains. "Most people I find are usually cousins, who would share [an inheritance] to the same degree because they're in the same bloodline."

THE STATES' TAKE

When people pass away without a will, their assets typically are held by the state in which they died until relatives prove their right to it. Forty-two states report retaining a total of $15.6 billion in unclaimed property, which includes estates and other types of property and assets, according to NAUPA manager David Milby. He says there is far more in treasuries from other states across the nation.

Most states place no time limit on when relatives can claim their share of a person's estate, says NAUPA's Larson, an executive for the treasurer's office in Iowa, which oversees the state's unclaimed property program. He says states usually allocate unclaimed funds for public services like education, safety and road improvements.

Sheila Clancy, spokeswoman for the comptroller's office in Texas, which currently holds over $900 million in unclaimed property, says heir finders are not necessary to reclaim a property.

Of course, one must know a next of kin has died to make a claim on an estate.

Ann Burcher of Umatilla, Fla., was caught off-guard when Cushing informed her that she and her brother were among the heirs to cousin Evelyn Behrens' $724,000 estate.

"I was shocked that I was a possible beneficiary and that she didn't have a will," says Burcher, who last saw her cousin about 20 years ago.

Adds her brother, Edward Behrens, 63, of Nazareth, Pa., "It's something you dream about."