Sage-Tips

What happens if you Cannot locate a beneficiary?

If a beneficiary doesn’t receive what they’re entitled to from the estate, the executor or administrator may be liable to pay this themselves. To help protect against any possible claims, the executor or administrator needs to take all the necessary steps to find the beneficiary before distributing the estate.

What happens if someone in a Will Cannot be found?

If a beneficiary cannot be found If there is money in an estate administered by the Public Trustee, and the beneficiaries cannot be found, the funds will eventually go to Alberta’s provincial treasurer. If beneficiaries are found later, they can still get their money.

How do I find a missing beneficiary?

Finding missing beneficiaries – the research process

1. making local enquiries, visiting family members face to face, conducting searches in libraries and archive offices.
2. searching through birth, death and marriage records.
3. using historic family trees to trace individuals.
4. searching through online archives.

What happens if the executor of a will Cannot find a beneficiary?

If an executor cannot locate a beneficiary, the courts will need to be convinced that the beneficiary should be deemed deceased. Before the court will do so the executor most show and document that they’ve done the following: Reached out to any living spouses or family members of the beneficiary.

What happens if an executor of a will is unable to act?

When there are multiple executors named in a will and one executor doesn’t wish to act, it may be possible for them to renounce, or to have power reserved to them. Power reserved means that the executor who doesn’t want to act won’t need to, but they can choose to become involved at a later stage if they wish.

What happens if an executor Cannot locate a beneficiary?

If an executor cannot locate a beneficiary, the courts will need to be convinced that the beneficiary should be deemed deceased. Before the court will do so the executor most show and document that they’ve done the following: Sought the beneficiary’s last known mailing address.

What happens when an executor Cannot find a beneficiary?

The executor/administrator would need to prove to the court that all efforts have been made to trace the missing beneficiary. If the court agrees to grant the order, it will be made on the presumption that the missing beneficiary has died.

What happens if an executor of a will does not want to act?

If the executor refuses to apply for the Grant of Probate, then a beneficiary (or next of kin) can write to the executor to give notice that they are applying to court for someone else to administer the estate. The next of kin can apply for the Grant once they have obtained a court order.

What happens if executor loses capacity?

If a sole executor loses capacity after the testator passes away and a Grant of Probate has been obtained, the Grant will be revoked and any appointed attorney will be able to obtain a new Grant, which will be made with power being reserved to the originally appointed executor, should they regain the necessary mental …