After his death, a man leaves almost a million dollars to the residents of his small town

A man has made a generous posthumous donation of nearly $1 million to the town where he lived, according to reports.

Educator Daniel Olliver bequeathed €800,000 ($856,695) to the town of Ploubezre in Brittany, located in northwest France, following his death on June 12 at the age of 57.

According to the French newspaper The Parisianthe donation was made public by Mayor Brigitte Gourhant during the municipal council meeting on Friday, September 15.

Gourhant said Oliver “had a strong work ethic” and was considered by those close to him to be “discreet, cheerful and hardworking.”

Depending on the point of sale South Westthe mayor declared: “I didn’t expect to see an administrator bequeath all his property. We sometimes see that in the newspapers, but we don’t imagine that this could happen to us.”

The money is estimated at around a third of the municipality’s budget and elected officials are now thinking about what they will do with this money. Among the options under discussion is the creation of a children’s center, according to the media.

In a similar case of a large donation to a local authority in the country, centenarian Romaine Carlès left nearly 8 million euros ($8.5 million) to the small town of Roquefort-les-Pins, located nearby from the Franco-Italian border, after his death in 2022, according to The Parisian.

Although there are several ways to leave your money after your death, there are circumstances in which it may end up under the control of the state.

When a person’s personal property has been abandoned or unclaimed after a period of time, which differs from state to state, an active process must be initiated to locate the owner of the account.

According to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission: “If the company is unable to do so and the account has remained inactive for the period specified by state law, the company must report the account to the State where the account is held. The state then claims the account through a process called “escheatment,” whereby the state takes ownership of the account.

“As part of the escheat process, the state will hold the account as an accounting entry against which the former account holder can make a claim. States tend to sell the securities in escheat accounts and treat the proceeds as state funds.

“When a former account holder makes a valid request, however, states will normally provide the former account holder with cash equivalent to the value of the account at the time of escheat.”

News week contacted the local government of Ploubezre for comment by email.