A woman inherits all of her father's land and property in Italy despite not knowing him.

Ami Fabrice never knew her father because he abandoned her mother when she was pregnant. However, she has now learned that she is the heiress to his land and real estate in Italy.

A 49-year-old dental nurse from Bournemouth, Ami Fabris, said her mother was left penniless when her father, Giampietro, returned to his native Italy after her older brother was kidnapped. Decades passed without contact - Ami never met her father - then in 2020 she was told he had died at the age of 72 from a coronavirus. Giampietro was living in Wembley, northwest London, when he passed away, and because he had no will, Brent City Council hired Finders International to track down his long-lost relatives.

Assets and inheritance

Her father was unmarried at the time of his death, which means Ami and her brother are entitled to all his assets, including land and an apartment in Vicenza, between Venice and Verona in Italy. Ami and her mother were living in Zimbabwe when their father left them. She did not know he lived in the UK and was just a 90-minute drive from them until she was contacted by an inherited genealogy firm after his death. Ami said: "We were shocked to discover our father had lived in the same country as us after decades with no contact. He was unknown and the memories that existed were not pleasant. My father had only brought misfortune into my mother's life, leaving us penniless when I was born."

Inheritance process

The Italian property has been transferred to Ami and her brother, but the whole process will take a long time and will require local lawyers in Italy before she receives any money. Current estimates put the cost on the Italian side at around €3,000 for legal fees and the next stage will be to sell the property, which could take six months to a year. The property itself has not yet been valued, so it is difficult to say how much money the siblings will ultimately receive after expenses are deducted. The cheapest rural plot with a residential building is worth over €50,000. "Finders International will only receive a fee after the siblings receive their share after the inheritance is fully finalized. Ami separately inherited £7,000 from her father, but after covering legal and other expenses she has no money left.

Gratuitous inheritance and inheritance rules

If someone dies without a will and their family cannot be found, the estate is declared a "bona vacantia", which means "inviolable estate". Each inheritance must be accepted for 12 years before it passes to the Royal Estates, and interest accrues on the money withheld.

International hereditary cases

Daniel Carran, Founder and Managing Director of Finders International, said, "Recent research by Will Aid, a will-writing charity, found that over half of adults in the UK have not yet made a will. Those who die without a valid will can leave their loved ones with little control over their assets and potentially subject to costly legal problems and delays in resolving probate issues. While there are many cases where large inheritance amounts (in the millions) are found, in most cases the individual shares will not be large. Large financial winnings are rare because inheritances often have to be divided between all living next of kin." Geoffrey Odds, chief legal secretary of the Association of International Professional Inheritance Researchers, added: "In the last 50 years there has been a significant increase in international inheritance cases due to increased global migration. This means that many family members and next of kin now live in other countries. The good news is that the chances of our professional inheritance research firms being able to find them are getting better. Social media and the digitalization of public records have helped with this, and we expect much more collaboration between global genealogists in the future to connect family members with their rightful heirs."