Against Her Will

Newcastle Herald

Saturday December 22, 2007

By JOANNE McCARTHY

KURRI Kurri spinster Muriel English's last wish in 1999 was to leave her estate to the Australian Ballet, but she died before completing her will so the money will go to the NSW Government instead.

In the next few months her $200,000 will be rolled over to NSW Treasury, along with more than $1 million left by Georgetown widower Fritz Krischke and Gosford woman Jessica Margaret Townsend.

All three died without wills and without known relatives, and the NSW Public Trustee has exhausted attempts to find beneficiaries after a mandatory six-year search.

The three estates of more than $1.2 million will significantly boost the average $2 million in unclaimed funds transferred to state coffers each year because people have failed to make wills and have no known relatives.

Probate records show about 40 per cent of people have not made their wills.

"It's a sad case when you think about it," said Miss English's long-time neighbour and friend Diane Hyham, of Kurri Kurri, who recalled Miss English, aged 78 when she died, travelling to Sydney by taxi to see ballet performances.

"We thought the will was all signed, sealed and finished

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Against her will: Muriel's money lost to state coffers

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because we knew she'd seen a solicitor, but apparently she hadn't finalised how much was going to go to the ballet and how much to the church, so the will wasn't valid.

"What happened to Muriel scared us enough that we went and had our wills done almost as soon as we were told about it."

The late Fritz Krischke's neighbour Lyle Carathanassis was more down to earth when told Mr Krischke's estate of almost $500,000 was going to be handed to state revenue.

"Good God, that's terrible," she said.

Mrs Carathanassis remembered Mr Krischke, 79, as a retired process worker who lived in Mabel Street, Georgetown, with his wife for more than 40 years until she died in 1997, and he died in 1999.

"I'm pretty sure they were German. He would take regular walks to a local hotel and his wife would walk to the shops wearing a leather jacket," she said. "They were very private people. It's sad to think their money is going to the Government rather than a charity or something."

Muriel English is buried at Sandgate Cemetery with her parents. She lived her whole life in the family home in Edward Street, Kurri Kurri, next door to Diane Hyham.

"She never, ever married, but I think she was engaged once although she didn't talk much about things like that," Mrs Hyham said.

"She mentioned years ago that she had cousins up in Muswellbrook and I think she had one down in Sydney, and her grandmother came from the Lambton area, but she only ever spoke about leaving her money to the ballet."

There are 34 people listed on the NSW Public Trustee's "Lost Dollars" website, with unclaimed estates worth more than $12 million.

NSW Public Trustee technical services manager Joe Dougall said the cases highlighted the need for people to make their wills, particularly if there were no surviving family members.

The NSW Public Trustee had conducted exhaustive searches for relatives of Miss English, Mr Krischke and Mrs Townsend. The search for surviving relatives of Mr Krischke had gone overseas.

While the money is handed over to NSW Treasury by law after six years, relatives can still claim it, Mr Dougall said.

"The only difference is that while it's held by the NSW Public Trustee interest is paid. Once it's handed over to NSW Treasury no interest is paid," he said.

© 2007 Newcastle Herald

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