Heir Restoration End Searches Are Maddening
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February 2, 2009 Heir restoration end searches are maddening. Then there Attorney Zwick turns are the cases that nag Zwick until he finds an estate’s rightful owner. sleuth to track down “Sometimes we find the beneficiary right away,” he said. “Sometimes it takes weeks. But there are some that I’ll work on long-lost beneficiaries and then set aside. And it’ll sit there with By Carol Lundberg my files, and it will start bothering me that I didn’t find the person I was looking for. Matthew L. Joswick had dismissed the idea “So I dig in my heels and try again until of finding his clients’ uncle. I find them. Sometimes it takes years.” The clients - two women who were the beneficiaries of their mother’s estate - hadn’t Lost and found seen the old fellow in years, and weren’t Joswick’s clients usually don’t go looking “We’ve had a lot of problems even sure if he were dead or alive. for the missing heir, he said. It’s often too thanks to the ‘Nigerian royal His address, even one from long ago? expensive, particularly if the heir is missing They had not a clue. as the result of a family falling-out. family’ e-mail scams. People But attorney Michael J. Zwick did. In the case of the women with the miss- don’t believe that we have Accidental heirs are not particularly com- ing uncle, their mother had died within days mon, said Joswick, of Troy-based Barron, of her sister. Their mother had a will. anything so they ignore it.” Rosenberg, Mayoras & Mayoras PC, which But their mother’s sister did not, nor did specializes in probate, estate planning and she have children, so her estate, worth a — Michael J. Zwick, elder law. When wayward uncles lose touch little less than $50,000, was in limbo. president, or are estranged from family, often the other The presumptive heirs were the wom- Assets International beneficiaries of an estate have little interest an’s siblings, one of whom was the mother of begins, he doesn’t even know how much in finding them. So the missing heir’s share Joswick’s clients, so the two women would the estate is worth. of the estate is deposited with the county, of- share part of the $50,000. Sometimes, Zwick doesn’t have to look ten never to be found by its rightful owner. Then there was that uncle who, without hard to find a great case. Last month, a lead Zwick is the president of Southfield- knowing it, had a determined ally. much more promising than the missing un- based Assets International, a private-inves- Michael Zwick’s hunting expeditions cle landed in his lap. tigator firm with a double-barreled focus: to begin wherever there are notices of estates It’s the kind of lead that tries his pa- hunt down those missing beneficiaries and with missing heirs. His company’s 12 staff tience, if only because it has the potential persuade them to let his company retrieve members find leads by combing through re- to be so lucrative. A lawyer in the probate their money, for a fee. cords in the Wayne County Probate Court division of a large bank called for help in He may follow a paper trail that wanders or in the state’s legal newspapers. tracking down one of the heirs to a $750,000 all over the world. The firm has found heirs One of those searches uncovered a men- estate. and assets throughout the United States and tion of the uncle. One recent morning, Zwick, unable to Canada, and in Europe, Israel, Pakistan and “We never know if (the missing heirs contain his excitement, said, “We think we South America. are) dead or alive, or if we’ll ever find them,” found him. He’s living or staying in Europe.” The stacks of papers that lead to dead- Zwick said. Sometimes, when the search Continuted on next page February 2, 2009 Continuted from previous page cal competitors to speak of, Zwick said. “Private investigators will do this kind of Long-lost beneficiaries work on an ad hoc basis, but that’s about it. Attorneys themselves don’t want to be pri- Days later, Zwick talked to the would- some potential clients need convincing. vate investigators, so they don’t usually take be beneficiary. “We’ve had a lot of problems thanks to on the business of tracking down missing He was the wrong man. the ‘Nigerian royal family’ e-mail scams,” heirs,” he said. “I guess we have to just keep looking,” Zwick said. “People don’t believe that we “I like this work better than I liked be- Zwick said, letting out a sigh that sounded have anything, so they ignore it.” ing a criminal and civil litigator,” which he as if his soul had deflated. Zwick or one of his colleagues will meet was before 2004, when he joined Assets That search continues. with an heir living in or near Southeast International as a partner. “I do get to see Most attorneys, Joswick said, give up Michigan. If the estate is large enough, he’ll these cases conclude in a happy ending.” after a simple Internet search; but Zwick’s travel out of state for the meeting to allay a Such was the case with the missing un- company subscribes to a handful of propri- client’s suspicion and fear of fraud. cle. etary databases and has developed its own The face-to-face meeting doesn’t usu- “One day, Michael (Zwick) called me to software to make once-impossible searches ally make a difference, despite Zwick’s tell me that he was representing the broth- fruitful. honest face and lawyer credentials. Of all er of the decedent women,” Joswick said. Once the company finds an heir, one of the potential clients who agree to review a “This was the infamous long-lost relative Zwick’s staff members makes contact. contract from Zwick, only one-third sign. that no one has seen or heard from in years. “We tell them we’ve located this estate In most of the cases in which Zwick can- “Whether the daughters, or in this case, and will disclose all of the information for a not get a client to sign, the initial contact by the nieces, would have looked for him or fee,” Zwick said. “Information is a valuable Assets International gives enough informa- not, this at least does offer a sense of closure commodity.” tion for the heirs to get in touch with distant for the family. The estate matters are com- The fee is usually 20 percent to 35 per- family members. They find the information pletely settled.” cent of the amount the beneficiary receives. they need to collect on their own. If you would like to comment on this It is not paid upfront, Zwick said, and it “Then they’ll just contact the probate at- story, please contact Carol Lundberg does not come out of the non-missing heirs’ torney directly,” Zwick said, and shrugged. at (248) 865-3105 or carol.lundberg@ portions. “Nothing we can do about that. That’s their mi.lawyersweekly.com. If the heir agrees, the firm sends a simple choice.” one-page contract for his or her review. But Assets International operates with no lo- © 2009 Lawyers Weekly Inc., All Rights Reserved. Assets International 24123 Greenfield Rd., Ste 301 • Southfield, MI 48075 248-557-4960 or toll free 877-327-4199. www.Assets-International.com.