Claims Conference Late Applicants Fund (LAF)

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The Claims Conference has established a Late Applicants Fund (“LAF”) of €50 million to accept applications from certain natural persons, as described below, who are heirs of former owners of Jewish property/assets located in the former East Germany for which the Claims Conference received proceeds as Successor Organization under the German Property Law 1990.

This fund has been established taking into consideration the following factors:

That the Claims Conference has full legal title to the unclaimed property/assets it received as a result of its filings under the Property Law; that the final deadline of the Goodwill Fund was March 31, 2004 – more than a decade after the Goodwill Fund was established to make ex gratia payments to certain heirs; and that the Claims Conference Board of Directors has repeatedly decided not to reopen the Goodwill Fund;
That the Claims Conference requires certainty in the amount of available funds in order to make the necessary allocations for desperately needed welfare services to Nazi victims such as homecare, pursuant to the principles set forth at the establishment of the Goodwill Fund;
That certain heirs of former owners of Jewish property in the former East Germany have missed both the statutory deadline under the German Law and the deadline of the Goodwill Fund but have nevertheless requested part of the proceeds obtained by the Claims Conference for the property/assets formerly owned by their ancestors.

Applications 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 (c), above:
Spouses of the persons listed under (b), (c) and (d);

Legal entities will not be entitled to receive a payment.

Members of the same family who would like to apply to receive a payment from the Late Applicants Fund should each complete and submit a separate application form.

Even if you submitted a letter, inquiry or late application to the Goodwill Fund to the Frankfurt office (or any other office) of the Claims Conference after the deadline of the Goodwill Fund of March 31, 2004, you must still complete and submit an application form to the Late Applicants Fund in order to be considered for payment.

View the list of former owners, properties and assets

Applications can be filed directly with the Claims Conference for no fee. There is no need for applicants to pay a fee to any party.

Download the LAF Application Form in English

Download the LAF Application Form in German

The LAF will be open for a period of two years commencing on January 1, 2013 (“Filing Period”). In respect of a claim made within the Filing Period and subject to the provisions below, applicants may be awarded a payment from the LAF if they demonstrate that they are a rightful heir in a manner satisfactory to the Claims Conference.

Upon the expiration of the Filing Period, the Claims Conference shall determine the percentage of the net proceeds of the asset that the eligible heir will receive. This determination will be based on the number of eligible claims received and the net proceeds obtained by the Claims Conference for the claimed assets.

The amount received by each individual heir will additionally depend upon the following factors:

a) whether any payment has already been made by the Goodwill Fund or the Late Applicants Fund for the portion of the property/asset for which the heir is applying; and

b) whether there exists any heir with a better entitlement to the property or the portion of the property for which the heir is applying; and

c) the portion of the property to which the heir is entitled.

In no case 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, are be deducted from the initial proceeds from the sale, compensation payment or settlement regarding the property or assets.

In addition, in no event 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.

Please review the LAF Rules and Procedures.

The Board of Directors may determine, in its sole discretion, that the administrative costs of the LAF shall be borne by the LAF.

In the event that after the distribution of payments from the LAF, in accordance with the directives of the Board of Directors, funds remain in the LAF, these funds should be used for the benefit of needy Nazi victims as determined by the Board.

Although the LAF will accept applications during the Filing Period, it is unknown when payments will be able to be made to eligible applicants. Payments made from the LAF will be contingent upon:

a) the German Restitution Courts making a final and non-appealable decision verifying the entitlement of the Claims Conference to a particular property or asset (this is something over which the Claims Conference has no control) and if relevant, the sale by the Claims Conference of the property; and

b) applicant(s) demonstrating their entitlement as an heir by presenting proof of inheritance acceptable to the Claims Conference within the later of one year from the date the application is submitted to the Claims Conference or one year from the date the Claims Conference informs the applicant that it has received a positive final decision from the German Restitution Authorities.

All communications regarding the Late Applicants Fund should be submitted to:

Claims Conference Successor Organization
Sophienstrasse 26
D-60487 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Fax: 49-69-97-07-08-11
Email: claims-conference-laf@claimscon.org