The lawyer who managed to find the missing heiress ended up earning 600 thousand euros in the case
When a person dies and has no heirs, all assets pass into the hands of the state. This is exactly what happened to the Spanish Ascona family, whose last member was thought to have died in 2014. After three brothers, Maricarmen was the last of the family to die, leaving behind a fortune estimated at 5.7 million euros. This money, due to the lack of a complaint from a family member, was left to the Spanish tax authorities.
According to Country in fact, it is the second largest inheritance received by the Spanish state in this century. But you may need to return to the starting point. It’s just that Luisa Ascona stepped in, demanding the same money for being Maricarmen’s cousin. The documents presented did not convince the state, and the woman will even have to go to court to try to return the money to which, according to her, she is entitled.
The aim is to challenge a 2016 decision in which a judge declared the state Maricarmen’s heir after finding several accounts and assets that value more than 6.3 million euros in the province of Biscay, where Bilbao is located. Of this money, 600,000 euros were withdrawn to pay for a lawyer who played a key role in the case, leaving 5.7 million, which is claimed by Louise, who is now 86 years old.
A small part of the cake worth more than 154 million euros. This is the amount that the state has collected since 2000 from more than 1,500 unclaimed inheritances, which gives an average cost of about 100 thousand euros per process.
And this is not due to a lack of attempts on the part of the state, which encourages anyone who can help find the recipient of an unclaimed inheritance. This promotion can reach 10% of the total value of that very inheritance.
This is where Marina Munoz Ruiz comes in, the lawyer who was responsible for establishing the connection between the legacy left by Maricarmen and Luisa’s appearance at the scene. A real lottery and this is the largest amount ever received in this type of event. It was this lawyer who discovered Louise’s relationship with Maricarmen, a direct cousin, about whom nothing was known until that time. It’s just that Louise’s father, who was Maricarmen’s uncle, had disagreements with the family and ended up getting upset with the other members even before his daughter was born. Now, unaware of the existence of this family connection, Louise could receive a large sum.
The fight continues now with Louise, who wants to get rid of the legal problems and bureaucracy, focusing only on getting back the money she thinks is rightfully hers.
