What Should I Do As An Executor If I Have Missing Beneficiaries?

Today, family units are more complex and diverse. It is not unheard of for individuals to have had multiple marriages, meaning modern, blended families are on the rise.

When families split, individuals from that family may move away or even lose contact with the deceased, which can become particularly problematic if they remain named in a Will because they can become difficult to locate.

Despite this, anyone named in a Will as a beneficiary will still be entitled to receive an inheritance no matter where they are; therefore, the executor must take reasonable steps to search for them.

Myerson's Wills, Trusts, and Probate lawyers discuss the duties of the executor and what steps to take to locate the beneficiaries of a Will.

Missing beneficiaries are individuals who are entitled to receive their share of an estate but cannot be located.

If you are presented with a beneficiary who is unknown to you or someone whose location is unknown, you will need to try and trace them.

You should be aware that this duty can take a significant amount of time and effort and can slow down the administration of the estate, so you should carefully consider the different options that are available to you.

There are several ways to locate beneficiaries, and these can include:

- Speaking to family and friends

• • This is a great first step, as other people may be able to provide you with useful information or fill in any blanks you may have. Often, older generations may have a better understanding of the family history or may remember details that others will not.

- Conducting your own research

• • You could start by checking public/local area records, scouring the internet, or even searching social media pages. Due to the sheer amount of social media platforms available to us today, this could be a useful way of searching for someone and can provide more information about their location, family members and where they reside.

- Placing notices in the newspaper

• • Though this is not a legal requirement, this is an effective way to search for someone because even if the beneficiary no longer lives in the area, the notice may be seen by someone who knows them.
  • These notices are otherwise known as 'Section 27 notices', as Section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925 enables trustees and personal representatives to protect themselves from liability against any claims from beneficiaries that they were unaware of at the time they distribute the property in question, provided that the notice is set out in the correct way.
  • The notice gets placed in The London Gazette and a local newspaper relevant to the area of the deceased and sets out a period of at least two months for any interested person to inform the executor about their entitlement.

- Instructing a professional, such as a tracing agent or genealogist

• • A skilled tracing agent could possibly provide a quicker resolution to the matter as they would have better tools to conduct an investigation, including several different types of databases, which would otherwise be unavailable to yourself.
  • Again, using specialist databases, genealogists would be able to construct the family tree and relay information on to you, such as the missing beneficiaries' contact details.