Missing heirs

Following the inception of the new inheritance law, Jason Green of Collas Day was appointed by the Royal Court as administrator of the real estate of the late Thomas Le Normand.

He believes he may be one of the first advocates to be appointed in a case where due to uncertainty as to ownership and lack of information as to the whereabouts of all heirs to a property, a property, 2 Les Monmains, cannot be sold without an administrator being appointed. Here, he tells us a bit about the new law and the property, in hope of finding its true heirs.

The house is on the market with Goldridge Estate Agents and Brennan & Co, which are acting as joint sole agents.

The property itself is a traditional semi-detached dwelling house, which fronts onto a quiet, mainly residential street just North of St Sampson's Harbour.

The property is priced at £198,000 and is in need of repair, refurbishment and total modernisation but on completion will provide an attractive home.

Scope to extend is a real possibility, given the good-sized enclosed garden to the rear, although normal planning applications will need to be made.

At present, accommodation comprises a lounge, dining room, kitchen, bedroom and attic room, however extension to the rear will enable family accommodation to be created. Outside, the rear garden is unmade and enclosed by granite walls and timber fencing.

Before the law was enacted, all heirs to a property had to be located and involved in its sale so as to give good title to a purchaser. Since the new law, the administrator, once appointed by the Royal Court, can sell and give good title to a purchaser but cannot distribute the proceeds of the sale until the court approves the distribution and basically the heirs have been located.

The owner, Thomas Le Normand, died in 1953 – at a time when the eldest son had preferential rights and daughters were discriminated against. Consequently, inheritance rules from 1953 apply to the distribution of the estate, but as some of his heirs have also now died post 1954, the more modern rules will apply to some of the distribution.

The house has not been lived in since 2003 and needs complete renovation.

As Thomas did not make a will and died without children, his heirs are descendants of his late brothers and sisters.

Many of these descendants have been traced and, so far, we believe there are in excess of 40 heirs entitled to a share in the sale proceeds of the house. They are living all over the world but many are in Guernsey and Jersey.

There are some branches of the family that we have little information on – in particular heirs of four of Thomas's siblings, Eugene, Harry, Francois and Louis (Len) and his niece, Trixie Pomroy. I also have names for heirs but no addresses.

If anyone believes they are entitled to a share in the sale proceeds, contact Jason Green 734262 or email Jason.green@collasday.com