By McPherse Thompson, Staff ReporterA GROUP of lawyers in the United States who are trying to administer on the assets of a Jamaican who died without a will in Florida leaving property valued at almost J$90 million, say they are being frustrated in their efforts to get certain records from the Registrar General's Department (RGD) here.
Clifford Edwards, a researcher in Jamaica acting on behalf of the United States attorneys and a firm of genealogists, said yesterday that he had been trying without success for the past year to get the required documents from the RGD, partly because public searches have been suspended for more than a year.
But when contacted yesterday, deputy chief executive officer of the RGD, Dawn Douglas, said public searches have resumed since May 13, this year and customers could now seek to access the relevant information through the Department's computerised system with the assistance of its staff.
Mrs. Douglas later said preliminary checks revealed that at least one of the documents, which Mr. Edwards requested in December 2001, required an update. This meant that a family member was required to attend the RGD's office to supply the information. She said Mr. Edwards was so informed on May 4.
She said that while the RGD required more time to check the information in order to give a full response, delays in processing applications could result from a combination of factors including registration errors or omissions and lack of registration.
According to correspondence supplied by Mr. Edwards, the US lawyers, Jeffrey Seth Selzer of Northeast 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, have been trying to administer on the estate of Herbert Pryce, a Jamaican formerly of Beeston Street, downtown Kingston, who was born in 1911 and migrated to the United States in the early 1960s.
SURVIVING IMMEDIATE FAMILY
The lawyers said Mr. Pryce died in Florida in 2001 without leaving any immediate family. As a result, they were trying to claim the assets of Mr. Pryce's estate on behalf of a Mavis Maud Howell, Samuel Pryce, Cylintia Wallace and Lynda Rebecca Williams, all of whom live in Jamaica, and whom they believe "to be the proper heirs-at-law" of the estate.
The law firm said it wants to take action in the Probate Division of the Miami-Dade Circuit Court to obtain a judicial determination before the assets are taken by the State of Florida.
However, in order to prove that the four Jamaicans were entitled to the estate, they must provide the Court with evidence in the form of vital records such as birth, marriage and death records, which they have asked Mr. Edwards to obtain.
Mr. Edwards, who heads Commercial Investigation and Research Services in New Kingston, told Wednesday Business that between June last year and February, this year, he had submitted applications and paid for 13 records of birth, marriage and death certificates, both using the seven days express and two to four weeks service at the RGD. However, to date he has received just three of the certificates.
According to Mr. Edwards, the genealogists had also asked him to carry out a public search of the records for vital information required in the case, but he has not been able to do so because that service was suspended in March last year.
In September 2001, Mr. Edwards said, he wrote a letter to Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke complaining that the suspension of public searches was preventing him from carrying out his assignment.
Wednesday Business also obtained a letter in which chief executive officer of the RGD, Dr. Patricia Holness, subsequently wrote the Governor-General explaining that public searches were suspended on March 29, 2001 because, among other reasons, the manual records were being strengthened and preparations were being made to provide electronic searches to customers. However, she did not say when that service would resume. Dr. Holness was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Frustrated at the delays, the US law firm on May 2, wrote to John Atkins, Jamaica's Consul-General in Miami, complaining that they wrote to Dr. Holness on April 9, pointing out the urgency with which those documents were required. However, up to the time of writing the letter, a response had not been obtained from the RGD.
"As you can see," said attorney-at-law Scott A. Weiss who signed the letter written to Mr. Atkins, "both this office and Mr. Edwards have attempted to explain the urgency and importance of these documents to the proper officials in Jamaica to no avail. We believe that as a last resort, you may be the only person who can assist us," he said in the letter.
Mr. Edwards said that up to yesterday he was still "getting nowhere" in his attempts to get the documents.
