As the year draws to a close, we have been reflecting once more on the many varied cases we worked on in 2022, writes Maeve Mullin, Finders Ireland’s director.
Case highlights
Often, our research into the families of those who pass away without leaving a will reveals many entitled relatives, as was the case of an elderly man who died in the UK. The man had not been married and had no children, and his parents were deceased and there were no siblings.
We located 43 relatives who were entitled to a share of his estate, 22 of whom were in Ireland with the remainder spread across the UK, the US and Australia.
In another case where the person in question died in Ireland, we located 51 second cousins in Ireland, Northern Ireland, UK, France and US. This research is on-going.
The record, however, was a total of 62 beneficiaries in the case of a gentleman who died in the UK, with 29 of those heirs resident in Ireland and the rest to be found in the UK, the US and Canada.
Sometimes, we pass on news to families that they hadn’t known. This year, we dealt with a case where we located two women named in the will of someone who had died in Ireland. The two women named in the will were known to be in the UK, but that was the entirety of what was known about them.
We found the two women, who turned out to be cousins of the deceased, and who had not known until then about their cousin’s death.
In another case, we located the nieces and nephews of a deceased woman, who had not known that they had an aunt. The woman had been the eldest of their parent’s siblings and blind since birth. She had spent all her life in care.
We also worked on a case where we discovered that the sole beneficiary to a deceased person’s estate was his brother, a ward of court. Tragically, shortly after we made contact with the authorities, the brother also passed away.
Vacant properties
One of the core elements of our work is locating the owners of vacant properties. Ireland has a housing crisis and finding out who owns these properties can help free them up to go on the housing market.
Research we carried out for a county council resulted in us locating one such property owner, who lived at the far end of Ireland away from their property and who hadn’t realised it belonged to them.
Awards & Accreditations
Our office was awarded the All-Ireland Business Foundation (AIBF) All-Star Accreditation this year. This was given to us in recognition of our “outstanding contribution to quality and standards in probate genealogy”.
We were also short-listed for the Service Provider to the Legal Profession category at the Irish Law Awards.
Events & Charity Donations
And finally, 2022 saw the return of in-person events, which we welcomed. While we organised and took part in many webinars in early 2022, we also travelled the length and breadth of the country meeting solicitors and barristers at events in Donegal, Kerry, Galway, Cork, Limerick, Kildare, Kilkenny, Monaghan and Dublin. As our chosen charity for the year, we contributed €1 euro for every raffled entry to the Peter McVerry Trust, delighted to make a significant contribution to this very worthy cause. Many thanks to all those that entered our raffles.
It’s been a busy, but most enjoyable year here at Finders Ireland in Dublin. We’re very much looking forward to putting our feet up for a little rest and relaxation over the Christmas period, all the better to greet 2023 with enthusiasm.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Finders Ireland!