For potential heirs, date of hoarder’s death is pivotal

For potential heirs, date of hoarder’s death is pivotal


By Tim Graham / The Buffalo News, N.Y.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
http://www.bostonherald.com
Northeast

Few paid any attention to Teddy Wroblewski, a Niagara Falls hoarder who went missing for two years in his own home until he was found dead in the basement last March.

But a Buffalo News story about the seven-figure fortune he and his late mother, Anna, left behind prompted many Western New Yorkers connected with the last name Wroblewski to hope they had hit the jackpot.

Several people came forward in hopes they could claim the inheritance.

"We had an unusual amount of calls," Niagara County Surrogate’s Court Deputy Chief Clerk Michael Veruto said. "It’s not rare to get one call on a file where someone says, ’I think I’m related to somebody who passed away.’ Usually, nobody calls.

"But we don’t often have a news story that says there’s potentially a couple million dollars involved and that we don’t know who the heirs are."

Court documents show Wroblewski and his mother, who died while he was missing, left behind a Merrill Lynch mutual fund worth $1.2 million -- but no wills or direct descendants.

Teddy Wroblewski was an only child. A distant cousin-caretaker didn’t inform any other relatives about the death -- or even publish a public death notice -- yet did file papers to become administrator for the estate.

Veruto estimated his office received at least a dozen calls within two days of the story, which ran in August. While none of those calls produced an heir to Wroblewski or his mother, relatives eventually emerged to file valid petitions for the Wroblewski fortune and apparently box out the stealthy caretaker.

The date of Wroblewski’s death will determine who receives the money. He disappeared in February 2009. His mother was in a Niagara Falls nursing facility and died nine months later. Her only child’s remains were discovered last March.

And that’s where determining who will receive the money can get frustrating.

It’s fair to assume Wroblewski died while his mother still was alive, but pinpointing a date would be arbitrary.

Wroblewski’s body was described as "mummified" on the coroner’s report. His body was so decomposed he was identified through serial numbers on a plate and screws from a medical procedure. His missing person report listed him at 6 feet and weighing 180 pounds. His remains weighed 104 pounds.

With so little to examine, the coroner recorded his date of death as when he was found.

That means that Anna Wroblewski’s estate would have transferred to her son for the time he was missing.

Unless the date of death gets changed, the money will be distributed to his heirs, not hers.

The original petition was filed on behalf of Howard Baney, a distant cousin of Anna Wroblewski who aided the Wroblewskis while they were alive. Baney handled their estates, including funeral arrangements and cleaning out their house at 2025 Grand Ave. in Niagara Falls.

Baney buried Anna in an unmarked grave at Oakwood Cemetery. He had Teddy cremated -- a decision that will make reviewing the coroner’s work all the more difficult -- and declined to bury him in a plot that had already been purchased near his mother and father. Baney didn’t hold memorial services and instructed Zajac Funeral Home not to run death notices in the paper.

The News located a Florida family with heirs closer to the Wroblewskis on the family tree than Baney. Michael, Jeffrey, Christopher and Marybeth Westlund -- first cousins once removed -- notified the court of their interests Sept. 13.

The Westlunds, however, withdrew from the process when Irene Skurski and Richard Wroblewski, both of Niagara Falls, came forward Oct. 4. They are first cousins to Teddy on his father’s side.

Stanley J. Collesano, attorney for Skurski and Wroblewski, claimed Teddy’s date of death will not be challenged. Baney’s attorney, David Boniello, did not return a call seeking comment.

The improbability and expense of getting the date of death changed would be a significant deterrent for Baney. It would require a trial with a prolonged discovery phase and expert testimony. The burden would be colossal.

And even if a judge were open to changing the date, which new date over the course of the two years Teddy Wroblewski was missing should be chosen?

"No one knows exactly when he died," Collesano said. "It is arbitrary. The coroner says he died on March 31, 2011. That’s the date we have to go with because that’s the certain date."

Collesano estimated the estate won’t be closed for another six months because he is responsible for proving there are no closer heirs. Research is being done in Poland, where Teddy Wroblewski’s father was born.

"We know of two first cousins here, and there doesn’t appear to be any other first cousins," Collesano said. "We’re doing research to substantiate there are no other heirs with a greater right."

The Skurski-Wroblewski cousins were granted administration of Teddy Wroblewski’s estate. Baney still is the administrator of Anna Wroblewski’s estate and will continue in that role until the case is closed or someone petitions to have him removed.

Baney still is entitled to a commission for acting as Anna Wroblewski’s fiduciary. The percentages are set by law. If the estate’s value closes at the estimated $1.2 million, then Baney should receive $39,000. He has been reimbursed about $10,500 in expenses.

News Niagara Reporter Thomas J. Prohaska contributed to this report.

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