Roman Blum no heirs: A wealthy real estate investor and Holocaust survivor died last year and could leave his entire $40 million fortune to the state of New York, as he has no living heirs or relatives who could claim it.
Roman Blum, who died in January 2012 at the age of 97, also didn’t leave a will, as first reported by the New York Times.
“He was a very smart man but he died like an idiot,” said friend Paul Skurka.
Forbes magazine pointed out that if no relatives or heirs come to claim the millions of dollars within the next three years, the cash will go to the state of New York.
Before he died, Blum was urged by his longtime friend and accountant to draft a will before his death. However, he died soon after before it could be made. His ex-wife died in 1992.
“I spoke to Roman many times before he passed away, and he knew what to do, how to name beneficiaries … Two weeks before he died, I had finally gotten him to sit down. He saw the end was coming. He was becoming mentally feeble,” friend Mason D. Corn told the Times
He added: “We agreed. I had to go away, and so he told me, ‘O.K., when you come back I will do it.’ But by then it was too late. We came this close, but we missed the boat.”
The Times reported that authorities have searched across the world to find any relatives but could find none.
Forbes estimated that nearly 2.5 million Americans died in 2012 and failed to leave behind a will.
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