CHANCERY'S MYTHICAL MILLIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 29, 27 February 1909, Page 3

CHANCERY'S MYTHICAL MILLIONS.

Til El' ARE KEALLY NOT WORTH TKOI'BLLXU ABOUT. <)uite a number of people in Britain und the colonies imaginu iliey are entitled to some of the money which lies iiiielaimed in the -Court of Chancery (-ays a Homo paper). A good J,,.,) 0 j nouscUii(! j s written about the untold millions wliieli are supposed to lie in Chancery, hut the fact i; there are ao "hundreds of millions" of unclaimed money, or, indeed, anything approaching to it. The total amount iiuv In the Court of Chancery, unclaimed, is only a little over £1,100,000. And that i;I,IUU,UOU is divided into as many as 3400 separate (ictou.its—one hall ol which do not exceed £l5O in value, and ouly one-sixteenth of them exceed XIOUO. Lists of "next-of-kin heirs" and "lieirs to money" which are issued by various persons arc not oliicial publications, and many of them sometimes contain gross "misstatements und ;x----aggeratious." It would be as well to understand, tou, that the paymaster-general does not throw information about broadcast, and give it just for the sake of asking. Enquirers have to supply him with a written rajuest, and satisfy 'him that they have some = ort of interest in the matter on which they seek for information.

.SI'ECiFKJ EVIDENCE 11EQU1KED. Even if a solicitor is instructed, the paymaster will want to know exactly who the person is 'who instructs Mm, iind Hint Ik has a bcnedicftil interest in tli« funds in court. It should also be noted that the money in Chancery is not there haphazard and lying about anyhow, so to speak. Ail the money is placed to the account of specific actions and particular causes, and when application is niado the dumber and correct title o,f the action or cause must ylways be jjivun, otherwise it will be almost impossible fur the paymaster to trace the account in the. books.

As the ollicials most properly point out, it is very misleading for anyone to assume that, just because the surname of the rightful owner of property is exactly 'the same as his own, that that is sufficient evidence to ground it claim. A jjpod deal more spccillc evidence will be necessary before the ollicials will investigate the accounts and give information thereon. 11l this conucdion, the paymaster notifies that he is not there to give legal advice to all and sundry as to the •tops necessary to be taken, to gel money out of Chancery. The proper people to do that are the solicitors of the Supreme Court.

SATISFYING THE PAYMASTER. Assuming that a man has evidence of a genuine claim and can satisfy the paymaster on this point, he can then obtain what may prove to be very useful information from the latter regarding the amount in court, and the dales of the orders which ail'ect it. For this privilege lie will pay lialf-a-cvown. If lie wishes to inspect, the orders, affidavits, certificates, and reports referred to in the particular cause in which he Is interested, he can see Ihcin. if before 1870, at the Public liceovd office, Fetter Lane, and if after Hint year, at the filing department of the central office in the Strand.

lie should distinctly remember, however, that funds in Chancery will only be dealt with under the direction of an order of the court—that Is to say, assuming a man has a claim, he must le"allv prove it to the judo's salisfactFoil. '.ind the iudi'c must then make a formal order for il to be i< vi.l to him before the claimant in bundle the money.

TEDIOUS AND EXPENSIVE.. Those who know anything of Chancery procedure will understand that to obtain such an order is- a tedious and «- iipTisive operation, and. Indeed, hardly worth the trouble. Tu fact, the officials themselves are quite frank about it. "In ninuv cases." they say. "funds have remained in court for more than a century, and to prove a title may involve an expenditure quite out of proportion to Hie amount recoverable." Some of these accounts go as far back as 172(1. and quite a largo number between 1750 and 1800. As can be imagined, the thousands of accounts affect all sorts and conditions of men, and women; even railway comimnii". waterworks, dock companies, and Uool boards arc concerned, while such 'surnames as Smith, Brown, and .Tones i fin nr. pages upon pages of the boolts. I From the above it will be seen that 'the fabulous sums of money which are Win" unclaimed in Chancery arc more or less mythical. There are no fabulous sums 'there at all,