Upon hearing that TPR has located assets in their names, some clients ask, "Well, all right, but why do I need your help in recovering them? Can't I just fill out a form or two on my own?"

The answer: Maybe. Some cases are straight-forward, but many others are far from it. One of TPR's recent victories has been a hard-won battle spanning seven years and two continents.

One of TPR's English researchers set out to find the owner of some unclaimed shares and dividends amounting to GBP 62,000. Although the account was in Britain, the shares were registered to Mr. N, a citizen of Sierra Leone.

Starting with only a name and a country in 2003, our researcher managed to contact one of Mr. N's distant relatives, who offered what he believed to be Mr. N's last known address. Correspondence sent to this address went unanswered, but, as the researcher noted, the country had been in the throes of civil war. Notices that he posted on genealogical web sites and other queries brought him into contact with many people sharing Mr. N's surname, but no immediate kin. More dogged sleuthing uncovered the fact that Mr. N had been a member of the Masonic Lodge in Sierra Leone; the Secretary of the Lodge reported that Mr. N had died in 2000. The researcher persevered, contacting a nephew, and finally, the two executors of Mr. N's estate in 2008.

After five years of detective work, two more years of paperwork ensued. International cases can be legal quagmires. Which country has jurisdiction? Will one country recognise documents issued by another? What are the tax implications in each? Are necessary documents (such as shareholding certificates) even available?

In the case of Mr. N, his executors signed an agreement with TPR to recover the asset in the UK. TPR then obtained an Affidavit of Foreign Law, required in all international cases to assure the British authorities that the correct party is making the claim. The case notes include a mind-boggling list of documents travelling between London and Freetown. In January 2010, the British court issued the grant of probate. When the UK inheritance tax requirements have been researched and met, Mr. N's estate will be able to take possession of the dividends. Without the original share-holding certificate, however, the issuing company will not release the shares. TPR will pursue yet another paper trail to this end.

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