A woman from Berkshire has inherited a share of £250,000 after a ten-year search across three continents to find relatives of a German man who died without a will. Manfred Sielaff, 71, passed away alone in Germany in 2015, leaving an unclaimed fortune of more than £250,000.
Finders International, featured on BBC's Heir Hunters, was tasked with tracing any entitled heirs. The investigation spanned the UK, Zimbabwe, Germany, South Africa, and Australia, following a family story that began in wartime Germany and moved to colonial Africa before reaching the UK.
Lead researcher Katelyn Bennett described it as one of the most complex cases they had handled, with missing records requiring years of persistence. Eventually, they contacted Judi, 56, from Berkshire, who was astonished to learn of her connection to Manfred. Her mother, born in Poland during World War II, was sent to South Africa as a baby, and later married four times, complicating the genealogical search.
Judi, born in Zimbabwe before moving to the UK, was identified as Manfred's first cousin once removed. After nearly ten years, she travelled to a Berlin court with extensive documentation to secure the inheritance. Last month, the court granted the certificate of inheritance, with five beneficiaries sharing the estate. Judi and her sister will each receive around £70,000.
Judi said, 'It feels like a fairy tale. This money will make a huge difference to my life and the lives of my children. We’re hoping we’ll finally be able to buy a family home.' Finders International CEO Simonne Lewellyn praised the monumental effort, saying, 'We are absolutely delighted to unite Judi and her family with this windfall.'
