UNCOVERED WILL
ASSIGNMENT
Identify and locate all living heirs-at-law and successors-in-interest to one Samuel Smith* who died intestate in 1854, domiciled in Massachusetts. After calculating the heirs of his seven children, it was established that one heir, through intestacy and as a beneficiary of certain Wills, held 50% of Mr. Smith's estate. This heir died intestate, survived by one child, Muriel Day of Rhode Island. Day died a widow in 1963 with no known heirs, no probate, no obituary, no additional grave stone inscription, no land records--in essence, nothing that would provide information on her heirs.
SOLUTION
With a 50% interest at stake, I began retracing my steps. In a small community it was my assumption that someone had to have been a part of her life. One of my re-calls was to the cemetery where Day was buried and after a fruitful talk, I was referred to an historian who had written a piece on Day’s predeceased husband. I contacted this historian who “had a hunch” as to the identity of Day’s heirs. He put me in touch with a woman who referred me to her father, Stuart Wilson, who was a distant relative of Day’s step-father. Wilson, now 82, advised me that Day did in fact have a Will and that he filed it with the clerk’s office in 1963. However, upon contacting the clerk’s office, I was again advised that no Will was on file. After relaying this information to Wilson, he sent me a copy of the Affidavit and Will he filed. His Affidavit stated that the decedent had no real or personal property at the time of death. I contacted the clerk’s office once again, with evidence now that a Will had in fact been presented to them but perhaps not probated, and after a thorough search and survey of town personnel, it was discovered that the Will of Muriel Day had been sitting in the Treasurer’s safe at the Town Hall for over 50 years! The Will was then filed for probating, and in accordance with its terms, Day’s 50% interest in the Estate of Samuel Smith was bequeathed to her sole beneficiary, Stuart Wilson.
RESULT
Title to the property in question was cleared and sold for a substantial benefit to our client and the heirs.
*All names and locations are fictitious in order to protect the privacy of our clients and the individual heirs.
INCORRECT DOMICILE
ASSIGNMENT
Identify and locate all living heirs-at-law and successors-in-interest to one Paul R. Ward* of New Bedford, MA (the “Decedent”). According to a 1935 Deed, locus was conveyed to Peter N. Faulk, Trustee for the Decedent (“Trustee”). No subsequent transfer was recorded. I researched the death of the Decedent which resulted in a long list of possible matches but no facts to confirm or eliminate each match. I was dead-ended.
SOLUTION
I began to research more fully the only information available--filings at the Registry of Deeds. I discovered a reference to the Decedent with a middle initial “W,” not “R.” With such a common name as Ward, this detail could be significant; still this did not produce any distinct matches or clues. I then focused on the Trustee, hoping to find a reference to the Trust for some possible leads. There was no Trust instrument on record, but I did uncover, in one of the numerous recordings under the Trustee name, that the Trustee was from New Bedford, and that the Decedent was from Middleboro (and not vice versa). When researching a person with a common given name and surname and no date of birth, no relatives, no spousal information, and no street address, this alternate domicile provided something concrete to go on. I narrowed my results to three U. S. Census records for 1920, 1930 and 1940 which identified one Paul R. Ward, the son of Clifton R. and Ethel Ward, born circa 1919, and living in Middleboro. I still had to authenticate that this was in fact the Decedent named in the 1935 Deed. After further research I found and relied upon the following: (1) a recorded Deed from the Trustee to the Decedent’s father Clifton R. Ward; and (2) evidence that the Trustee was a brother of the Decedent’s mother Ethel (Polk) Ward. With these established connections, I then found the Decedent dying in Dallas, Texas, a widower, survived by two sons and two children of a predeceased son, all of whom I identified and located.
RESULT
My client obtained was able to plead for clear title to the property.
*All names and locations are fictitious in order to protect the privacy of our clients and the individual heirs.