I am a reluctant committee member of a large condominium and the owner of a unit has passed away.

We have no details of who he is except the copy of his passport. I have written to the embassy concerned asking to be put in touch with his executor. The reply states that the embassy will give no help due to the country's privacy laws.

Where do we go from here? May we enter the condo and search for clues to his heir, if any? Ask the local Police if they know anything? Put a notice in the appropriate column of a national newspaper of the country concerned? Sequester and auction the contents to defray mounting maintenance charges?

Ask in the "ask a laywer" section of this forum

What country operated the Embassy in this case ?

Seems legitimate for you and other members of the Committee as well as a representative of condo management to enter the condo to determine information regarding this "owner"

I don't understand why the appropriate Embassy did not get involved upon his death to issue a death certificate.

If so, privacy issues normally do not continue after death. I suspect that you may have talked to a local national at the Embassy and not a member of their foreign service