Bruce Cane Perane & C0

Legacy search service for charities launched

A legacy search service designed to ‘streamline the coordination required between charities, executors and financial institutions where legacies are divided between a number of organisations’ has been launched by a Norfolk-based inheritance recovery business.

Perane and Co have launched what it describes as a ‘one-stop-shop’ service for charities, as a central conduit through which the identification of unclaimed assets, coordination between charities and, and communication with executor and financial institutions flows.

Where an individual leaves a residual estate to one or two charities the distribution process is relatively straight forward, says Bruce Cane, CEO of Perane.  Where there are more the process can be more time consuming and complex, adding the aim of the new service is to simplify processes when an individual leaves a residual estate to be divided between various charitable organisations.

“We work with the charities in order to facilitate the disbursement of these legacies. When it involves multiple beneficiaries, it is usual practice for one charity to take the lead and co-ordinate with the remaining parties.

“But navigating a process with increases in the workload for already overstretched and understaffed charities is difficult, which is why Perane can now offer this as a one-stop-shop service, removing stress from all parties involved.”

Cane continues. Through access to, and understanding, the dormant asset landscape and resources, Perane is able to source all the documentation, handle the paperwork and communications between the relevant charities and the executor.

“We understand that in many cases charities are unfamiliar with what we do because this is new ground for them. Because of the technology we have developed at Perane, we are able to recover assets missed by the executors in the original winding up of an estate.

“There are huge sums involved in lost and dormant legacies, with an estimated £50bn held by financial institutions in unclaimed or lost assets. Perane has recovered and distributed £20m so far, with more funds being identified all the time.

“Our pioneering software enables us to search previously inaccessible databases showing deceased share and pension ownership. To date, we have identified more than £2m left to charitable organisations and we work hard to repatriate unclaimed assets to the charities they were left to.”

Perane and Co offer a range of services to probate practitioners, executors, and charities, including locating unclaimed and dormant financial assets, obtaining UK birth and death certificate and other UK documentation; and tracing lost beneficiaries.

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