A SWEDE’S ESTATE

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 43, 14 November 1940, Page 12

A SWEDE’S ESTATE

t Search For Legatees NEPHEW’S CLAIM An originating summons was brought in the Supreme Court, Wellington, by Nils Birger llenilriekssmi, of the 1 parish of Breared, in lhe province of Holland, Sweden, suing by his attorney John Thomas Martin, Consul for Sweden in Wellington, asking lhe Court to deckle whether Johan Aaron Benson, late of i’orangahau, farm hand, deceased, was i lhe same person as Johan Aron BenglsI sou, who was horn in lhe parish of Vessige. Sweden, on December 22, .1841, and il so was Nils Birger Hendrieksson a nephew of Johan Aaron Benson. The ease was heard by Mr. Justice Ostler. .Mr. !■’. ('. Spratt appeared for plaintiff, and Mr. G. 1. Joseph for the New Zealand Insurance Co.. Ltd., trustees in lhe estate of Johan Aaron Benson. Mr. Spratt said that Johan Aaron Benson came to New Zealand in 1875 in the ship Fritz Reuter, which left Hamburg in Germany in .December, 1874. In 1.887 Benson commenced work as a farmhand in the employ of the late Sir George Hinifor at lhe hitler’s farm at Porangahan, and continued in such employment till his death, which occurred at Waipukurnu on August -J, 1917. There was no evidence that deceased ever married. Deceased left an estate, which, at his death, was worth £5737/15/2, but has increased in value to £9-197/8/6. By his will, he left £2OO to each of the three children of William Anderson, and the residue of his estate he left upon trust for his brothers and sisters in equal shares, and in the event of any of them being dead or predeceasing him the parent’s share was to be divided equally between such parent’s children. Deceased . appointed Sir George Hunter executor and trustee of his will, and ivlien Sir George died in 1939 his nephew, Cyril Hunter, as executor under his uncle’s will, became trustee. In 1938. Cyril Hunter retired from the trusteeship, and appointed the New Zealand Insurance Co., Ltd., to act in his place. Probate of the will was obtained on .September 1, 1917, the death duties paid, and later the three children of William Anderson received their legacies, but apparently the trustee made no effort to ascertain and locate the residuary legatees till 1933 when some inquiries were made in New Zealand. The search was rendered difficult by the fact that deceased was a man of very few words, and had apparently told nobody in New Zealand that, he had brothers and sisters. In 1935 inquiries were commenced abroad through the Swedish Consul. it being generally known that deceased had originally come from Sweden. The inquiries prosecuted b.v the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sweden located plaintiff. Nils Birger Hendricksson. who claimed that lie was a nephew of a man named Johan Aaron Bengtsson, who was born in Sweden in 1841, but had later loft the country, and that this man was Johan Aaron Benson, the deceased. Records of the birth of Johan Aaron Bengtsson and of his subsequent departure in 1562 |o Denmark were then located b.v the authorities in Sweden, along with numerous other records relating to his parents, his brothers and sisters, and nephews and nieces. A study of file parish records showed that Johan Aron Bengtsson bad one brother and throe sisters, and at least 16 nephews and nieces. The records show that the three sisters died before their brother. Johan Aron Bengtsson, and that the brother, Anders Johan Bengtsson, emigrated to America in 1874. So far investigations had failed to locate this person or his descendants (if any). In the light of what had been set out, i Mr. Spratt submitted that for the purpose of Hie present originating summons, service should he effected on defendant i company: and that because of the doubt . as to the identity which must necessarily ’ exist till the Court made its order in i terms of the originating summons, the I large number of possible legatees and the < great difficulties which at presejiJ had to be overcome in endeavouring to-trace | I

them, and then effect service, no other order as to service was necessary or desirable. After hearing counsel’s submissions, his Honour said there was sufficient evidence to justify him in answering both questions in the originating summons in the affirmative. On the application of Mr. Joseph, permission was granted to the New Zealand Insurance Co., Ltd., as trustees, to advertise in a paper in Sweden and a paper in the United States ot' America in order to ascertain if there were any further claimants to the estate. His Honour directed that costs should be paid by the estate.