THE MYSTERY
OF MISSING
BENEFICIARIES
WHEN DISTRIBUTING GIFTS MADE IN A WILL WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE IS ARE MISSING BENEFICIARIES?
Personal Representatives (PRs) have a
duty to ensure that the estate is distributed
to the correct beneficiaries. This involves
first ascertaining who those beneficiaries
even are, in the case of a gift made to a
group of people for example ‘my children
living at my death’. But what happens if
the PRs are aware that a beneficiary exists
but they can’t find them? They may have
fallen out of touch with the testator or they
may be difficult to trace.
If a PR distributes an estate and fails to take
account a missing beneficiary then they
may find that they have acted in breach of
their duty. If the missing beneficiary turns
up at a later date the PR will be liable to pay
them out of their own funds. Thankfully,
this can be avoided if the PR takes the
appropriate steps before distributing the
estate.
The PRs should make all reasonable
enquiries to try and find the beneficiary. For
most people the first enquiry will be to the
deceased’s friends and family as they may
know the beneficiaries location. Failing that
they should take out an advertisement in
newspapers local to the beneficiaries last
20
The Society of Will Writers
known whereabouts and an advert in the
Law Society Gazette.
Next steps should be employing a
genealogist or ‘heir hunter’ to trace
beneficiaries, or even a private investigator.
This can be very expensive though, so
before hiring a PI the PR should consider
whether the value of the estate can justify
such an expense.
Once all reasonable avenues have been
exhausted and the missing beneficiary
has still not been found it’s time to start
thinking about how to deal with the
administration. At this stage a PR has
multiple options open to them:
1. Keep a reserve fund
The PRs could hold back a reserve
fund equal to the amount of the missing
beneficiary’s legacy. They can then
distribute the rest of the estate as normal
to the known beneficiaries. If the missing
beneficiary comes forward in future
(within 12 years of the testator’s death)
they can be paid their share. This avoids
the distribution being held up for too long.