§ 72.43 - Conditions under which estate can be released by consular officer.

The consular officer is responsible to the United States court having probate jurisdiction over the estate and to the parties in interest for the personal estate in his possession. He must be prepared to deliver the estate to, or otherwise dispose of it according to the wishes of, the legal representative of the decedent upon the presentation of satisfactory evidence of the latter's right to receive the estate, and upon the payment of the prescribed Foreign Service fees (§ 72.52). Determination of what constitutes satisfactory evidence of a claimant's right to the personal estate of a deceased citizen is also the responsibility of the consular officer. The consular officer, therefore, must satisfy himself that the evidence which he accepts is sufficient to relieve him as provisional conservator. Friends, traveling companions, employers, and business associates are not competent to relieve the consular officer of the duties and responsibilities enumerated in the regulations in this part, unless duly authorized as legal representatives of the estate (see § 72.18). Satisfactory evidence of a claimant's right to the personal estate of a decedent may be supplied in the manner indicated in § 72.44.