TITLE 22 - FOREIGN RELATIONS

CHAPTER I - DEPARTMENT OF STATE

SUBCHAPTER H - PROTECTION AND WELFARE OF AMERICANS, THEIR PROPERTY AND ESTATES

PART 72 - DEATHS AND ESTATES

72.46 - Consular action on disagreements between claimants.

If rival claimants or administrators (administrators may be appointed in different jurisdictions) demand the personal estate in the consular officer's possession, he should refuse to deliver the estate until an agreement has been reached, or judgment rendered, as to which claimant or administrator should receive it, and the consular officer so informed in writing. If, after one year, agreement has not been reached between rival claimants, or judgment rendered, the consular officer should notify all parties concerned and sell the entire personal estate at auction in the manner prescribed by 72.37, with the exception of jewelry, heirlooms, and articles which may have sentimental value to relatives, regardless of intrinsic value. Should any of the personal property not have been taken into physical possession previously (see 72.29), the consular officer should take possession of such property and, after preparing a supplementary inventory in the manner prescribed in 72.35 and 72.36, include this portion of the estate with that already in his possession. The proceeds of the sale should be converted into United States dollars and after payment of local debts (72.39) and collection of the fee prescribed by 72.52, should be transmitted, with any unsold portion of the estate in the consular officer's possession, to the Department of State for forwarding to the General Accounting Office for safekeeping and lawful disposition as conservator of the estate (22 U.S.C. 1175).