WHEN her father walked out on her as a toddler, Laura Barts didn’t expect a single thing from her deadbeat dad.
Laura, who lives in a port town in Cumbria, was only two-years-old when he left a note in her baby brother’s crib to say he was abandoning their family to start a new life in Germany.
Over the years he caused her more heartache when he repeatedly refused to let her loving stepdad formally adopt her.
But it was this bitter decision that ended up being life-changing for Laura – in the best way.
She recently received a mystery phone call telling her she was due a £100,000 windfall from a relative she never knew she had.
Divorcee Ann Margaret Mathison died alone in Los Angeles aged 74 in November 2020, leaving behind a stunning £1.5million estate.
The millionaire, who was the cousin of Laura’s dad, was born in Glasgow in 1946 before she emigrated to the US with her parents.
She was an only child and had two short-lived marriages, which both ended in divorce.
But with no will and no known relatives, a hunt was launched to find any beneficiaries for her estate.
It’s at this point that probate research genealogy company Finders International discovered Laura and told her she was set to receive £100,000.
She told the Daily Mail: “I kept thinking, these things just don’t happen to people like me. I was completely shocked.
“I never heard of or knew of anyone related to me in the US. It was explained that the relationship between me and the deceased was through my father’s side of the family.
“I don’t know much about my father’s extended family either, as he left our family when we were very young – I was only two-years-old.”;;
Laura and her late brother were among 28 people from across the globe who each bagged a share of Ann’s huge fortune.
And she was only eligible to receive the sum because her absent father, who died in 2019, had refused to give up his parental rights.
Laura added:“The only man I consider to be my father is my step-father. He has been in my life since I was very young.
“He wanted to adopt me, but my biological father would not consent to it. Turns out, 50 years later, this refusal, which was hurtful at the time, has now allowed me to inherit from his cousin.
“I don’t have to worry about money any more. I paid off my mortgage immediately – that was such a relief. I’ve bought a lovely campervan and while I continue to work, I am just not struggling anymore.”;;
Had Laura been adopted by her stepfather, she would not have been eligible to her share of the estate.
Ryan Gregory, of award-winning professional probate genealogists Finders International, said: “On the face of it, Laura was entitled to her father’s inheritance, however she had changed her surname to her step-father’s, so the big question was whether Laura had been legally adopted, or not, by her step-father.
“If Laura had been adopted by her step-father then she was not entitled to be a beneficiary to the estate – as the connection to the estate in LA was through her biological father.
“It transpired that Laura’s estranged father had refused, despite numerous requests, to allow Laura to be officially adopted by her stepfather. Ironically, that decision has now benefited her to the tune of over £100,000.”;;
