Posted on 10/24/2022 10:03:53 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
A Gage Park man's $11 million estate will be divided among 119 distant relatives, officials said.
Joseph Stancak lived a quiet life in Gage Park and was found dead in his modest bungalow on South Troy Street in 2016, according to the state treasurer’s office. Little is known about him — except that he left behind a fortune, said Rudy Quinn, president of Linking Assets Inc., a company that finds unclaimed money.
Stancak never married, had no children or immediate family and died at 87 years old with no will, Quinn said. He was a lifelong Chicagoan who owned a boat named “Easy” and invested in mutual funds, said treasurer’s office spokesperson Greg Rivara. Neighbors told CBS News he lived frugally.
“No one knows what this guy did and what led him to diversify his wealth in the way that he did. … And we didn’t know his property would balloon to $11 million,” Quinn said. “We had to get creative.”
Stancak’s six siblings are dead, and none of them had children, Rivara said.
“In my office I have a scroll 15 feet long that can go across the entire room,” Piercey said. “I’ve never seen a case this complicated before.”
“And we don’t even have a picture of the guy,” Rivara said.
(Excerpt) Read more at blockclubchicago.org ...
Now being consumed by taxes and inflation.
I’m surprised the State isn’t seizing the estate.
And a bunch of undeserving relatives.
I believe that is my long lost Uncle Stancak.
Haven’t seen him in years.
7 kids in the family and not one had kids. That’s the saddest part.
Uncle Rudy!
Cousin Joe! Damn, I wondered where he was and had no idea he died. Time to contact the Chicago authorities. 🤣🤣🎶
“I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?” - Ecclesiastes 2:18-22 NIV
OMG! It’s my long lost great uncle Joe!
Some lawyer is going to make about $10M here.
***The 119 heirs to Stancak’s millions are in Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and “there’s a handful in the Chicago area,” Piercey said.***
Dang! I was hopeful I was one of his heirs because of my Czech family history.
I am the 8th sibling
That’s pretty sad, I agree.
$93K each. Not bad!
As he was 87, he likely had around 50 productive years where he was making money at a job. If he put 20% away on even a modest income, and invested in something similar to a indexed mutual fund based on DJIA or S&P 500, it makes sense he would have that kind of money today, even after some 20 years of retirement (and I'm just guessing he retired at the traditional age).
Plus, since he didn't have a wife or kids to support, he might have socked away even more than the 20% of income.
Anybody can become a millionaire on a modest income. All you need is the discipline to set aside a portion of your salary each pay period - and time.
Illinois estate tax about $1 million, but no Federal tax.
So $11m and 119 claimants.
$92,000 each (minus the lawyers cut of course).
I’ve got one of those right now, though only about $2M at the moment. Guy (fellow church member I never met) found dead in his house, no will, no wife, no kids, no siblings. One of the pastors calls me because I do probate, court makes me temp administrator for the sole purpose of locating the will. The only “will is a partially drafted one on his computer. Court says, “Tag, you’re now the permanent administrator, find the heirs”. We’re up to descendants of his great-grandparents at this point.
I don’t know about IL, but Texas basically doesn’t have an escheat statute for intestate estates. You just keep looking.
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