Perane, specialists in inheritance recovery, have cautioned that charities are losing out on substantial sums of legacy bequests that were overlooked by the original executors.

In the past 18 months alone, two well known UK charities have received £125,000 each through the repatriation of legacy gifts, thanks to the detailed work of sector specialists, Perane.

Dozens of other charitable organisations have received smaller amounts in recent months, with more than £700,000 repatriated.

The total so far identified for charities by Perane is £1,816,647 which, it is almost certain, would never have been located by the organisations themselves.

You can see a full breakdown of the funds so far located and repatriated to charities on Perane’s website.

The company is urgently seeking to work with all of the organisations for whom funds have been identified to recover the money rightly owed to charities, large and small.

Perane works to identify and trace historic legacies that may have been missed by the original executors.

Through a newly developed in-house search engine, and as part of the process of searching for unclaimed assets, Perane has already repatriated £743,581 that has been left to charities as part of the residual funds in wills.

Perane CEO Bruce Cane says: “Many charities are unaware that these funds have been left to them and without Perane’s search engine it is doubtful that the money would ever be repatriated.

“Residual estates can be very valuable as they have not been subject to inflationary pressures. In these cash-straitened days, the value of such legacies can make a real difference to the ongoing work of every charity.”

Through its proprietary search engine, developed over the past two years, Perane has exclusive access to previously inaccessible databases and carries out searches into historic probates to locate dormant assets and repatriate the funds.

Cane adds: “Many charities rely upon the executor getting in touch with them and are concerned that a more proactive approach would create a predatory perception. For Perane to repatriate the funds, however, the charities have to legally work with us to do so. Those that do are literally quids in, financially.

“While no-one wants to see the harassment of the recently bereaved, these are all historic cases where the executor has missed a legacy and we are repatriating disbursements, which are currently dormant, to the charities with whom they were bequeathed.”

A new legal opinion for Perane by Stephen Hackett of 3 Hare Court concludes that the role of the executor continues for life and that he/she may be personally liable if they fail to fulfil their obligations to disburse the estate in line with the expressed wishes of the deceased.

Barrister Stephen Hackett says: “The executor’s obligation to get in an estate’s assets requires the use of “due diligence”.

“I am doubtful that an executor could be said to be using due diligence if

Perane has drawn their attention to an asset, and indeed a means of realising it, and

that notice was ignored or the opportunity refused.”

He continues: “If an executor were to be found to be in breach of their duty to the beneficiaries described above, they would in my view face litigation in which they would face a substantial risk of being unsuccessful. This may well result in personal liability for the executor and/or adverse costs orders.” You can read the full opinion here.

Cane concludes: “Many people leave residual amounts to charity in their wills and professional executors have a legal obligation to disburse the estate funds according to the expressed wishes of the deceased.

“However, where shares make up a proportion of the value of the estate, it may be the case that the original share certificates have been lost or those that held them moved residence and the executor has incorrect contact details, or the organisation or individual is unaware they are a beneficiary, making it difficult to complete a full picture of the estate.

“Perane is very proud of being able to repatriate these funds to the rightful owners and to enable charities to continue their great work.”

If your organisation would like to work with Perane to legally repatriate legacy funds, please contact: 01603 673260 or email info@perane.co.uk.