Docket No. 2264.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on behalf of
William H. Chapman, Administrator of the Estate of William Mustoe Kinch, Deceased,
Claimant,
v.
GERMANY.
BY THE COMMISSION: –
William Mostoe Kinch, 20 years of age, born a subject of Great Britian, was lost with the Lusitania. Through the marriage of his mother, on October 7, 1909, to William Kinch, a naturalized citizen of the United States, he had become, and at the time of his death was, an American national. Following his mother’s marriage, the decedent adopted her married name by which he was thereafter known. His mother was alost lost on the Lusitania (see Docket No. 2269,[a] Liberty B. Ware, Executor of the Estate of Eunice Kinch, Deceased).
This claim is put forward on behalf of the Administrator of the Estate of William Mustoe Kinch. The only asset belonging to this estate was a legacy of $5,000 bequeathed to the decedent under the will of his mother, which legacy, following protracted litigation, was finally collected by the administrator of the decedent’s estate and, after deducting all expenses, distributed to the heirs of the decedent. These heirs were all subjects of Great Britain. No American national surviving the decedent had received or could reasonably anticipate receiving contributions from him or suffered damages from his death which can be measured by pecuniary standards.
Personal effects belonging to the decedent of the value of $119 were lost with him. A claim for this loss is put forward on behalf of the administrator of his estate, the entire beneficial interest in which is British. It appears from the affidavit of the administrator of the deceased that he left no unsatisfied debts which have come to his knowledge.
Applying the rules announced in the Lusitania Opinion, in Administrative Decision No. V, and in the other decisions of this Commission to the facts as disclosed by the record, the Commission decrees that under the Treaty of Berlin of August 25, 1921, and in accordance with its terms the Government of Germany is not obligated to pay to the Government of the United States any amount on behalf of the claimant herein.
Done at Washington January 14, 1925.
EDWIN B. PARKER,
Umpire.
CHANDLER P. ANDERSON,
American Commissioner.
W. KIESSELBACH,
German Commissioner.
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[a] Post, pages 519-520.
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