The Late Applicants Fund
The Late Applicants Fund (“LAF”) of approximately 250 million shekels (€50 million) was established for the benefit of the heirs of previous owners of Jewish property in the former East Germany that was confiscated or forcibly sold by the Nazis from 1933 for which the Claims Conference received proceeds as Successor Organization under the German Property Law 1990. This Fund was designed for the above mentioned heirs who have missed both the statutory deadline under the German Law and the deadline of the Goodwill Fund, which was established by the Claims Conference as well, but nevertheless request the proceeds obtained by the Claims Conference for the property/assets formerly owned by their ancestors.
The deadline to file claims to the LAF is 31 December 2014. Following this date, the Claims Conference shall determine the percentage of the net proceeds of the asset that the eligible heir will receive. In no event will the amount received by an individual heir (or a group of heirs, if there are a number of heirs to one asset/property) exceed 80 percent of the net proceeds received by the Claims Conference for the asset. “Net proceeds” is the amount after taxes, mortgages, the cost of appraisals, legal fees, insurance and other charges, in any way related or connected with the property or asset, compensation payment or settlement regarding the property or assets.
Furthermore, in no case will any heir receive more than he or she would have received if he or she had made a timely claim under the German Property Law 1990.
Claims to the LAF will be accepted from the following heirs of the former owner:
The immediate testamentary heir of the former owner;
Children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren of the former owner;
Siblings of the former owner;
Children of the siblings listed under (1), above:
Spouses of the persons listed under (2), (3) and (4);
Our firm represents clients in their claims to the LAF and deals with all matters related to their claims, including conducting an initial assessment of eligibility, drafting the claim and the associated documents in English or in German, questioning the client and his relatives, researching the subject matter of the claim etc. In addition, if needed our office represents our clients in their appeals to the Independent Appeals Authority of the Claims Conference.
