When Marcel* died in hospital in 2018 with dementia, there were no details about his family.

There was no will either and the NSW Trustee & Guardian launched a worldwide search to find the rightful recipients of the Sydney man’s fortune.

Marcel had lost contact with his family long before he developed dementia, according to the NSW Trustee & Guardian.

But when he died there were photos, documents, and mementos uncovered about his family that he had kept for years.

It delivered clues to the government organisation’s Genealogy Unit, a specialist team that investigate who are entitled to deceased estates.

In the last 12 months alone, the team has located beneficiaries from across the globe in over 200 estates.

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In Marcel’s case, the team obtained his birth certificate and discovered that his parents were born in France and he had four older siblings – names that matched some of the photos found in his belongings.

They also confirmed he had no partner or children so his French connection led them to Europe.

Unlike in Australia, most European countries register births, deaths, and marriages at the local council level.

Paris, where Marcel’s father was born and where he married his mother, is broken…