An Odd Inheritance

[marko]

So here is an odd inheritance story...something out of one of those movies.

DW received a call from our attorney who had been contacted by another attorney. Seems that a distant cousin left about $500k when he passed. He had no direct heirs of any kind and after some time and legalities, the money is to be split among DW and 9 or 10 other cousins.

Here's the thing: nobody knows who this guy was! He appears to have been a cousin of DW's grandfather. Outside of one cousin who vaguely recalls him from 65 years ago, nobody ever met him and nobody had ever even heard of him. None of the cousins knew he existed.

Our attorney says it does indeed appear legit so we're standing-by, but we’ll wait until "the money is in the bank" before celebrating.

So, unlike the movies, there's no castle in Ireland or English title waiting for us but an interesting windfall to say the least!

 

[savory]

So here is an odd inheritance story...something out of one of those movies.

DW received a call from our attorney who had been contacted by another attorney. Seems that a distant cousin left about $500k when he passed. He had no direct heirs of any kind and after some time and legalities, the money is to be split among DW and 9 or 10 other cousins.

Here's the thing: nobody knows who this guy was! He appears to have been a cousin of DW's grandfather. Outside of one cousin who vaguely recalls him from 65 years ago, nobody ever met him and nobody had ever even heard of him. None of the cousins knew he existed.

Our attorney says it does indeed appear legit so we're standing-by, but we’ll wait until "the money is in the bank" before celebrating.

So, unlike the movies, there's no castle in Ireland or English title waiting for us but an interesting windfall to say the least!

Gee, the cousins that find me , ask me for money

 

[CRLLS]

How would the first attorney know to contact your attorney on your behalf? Did he contact the other cousin's attorneys also, or just yours? Is there a data base amongst attorneys somewhere that identifies their current list of clients? I don't know how the search process works. It sure sounds fishy to me. I would proceed with caution. I hope it pans out for you.

 

[GravitySucks]

...but you must spend the night in a haunted house.

 

[38Chevy454]

It does seem strange that the guy lived and nobody in family seems to know him or even really know of him? I also question how the guy's estate attorney knew your attorney? Regardless, there seems no harm in pursuing it with caution, might just get a nice little check.

 

[gromit]

Sounds like a scam. How would an attorney know who your attorney is? Call your attorney quick, using a phone number that you know is legitimate and not one given in that phone conversation, and verify whether they called you. Even if they did call, follow YOUR money carefully. It could be someone scamming your attorney to get funds out of one of his clients.

Example: Scammer calls an attorney with a name, but he's "not sure of it exactly" or completely. The attorney's receptionist is conned into verifying they have a client with similar name. "That's it" says scammer and so it begins.

 

[marko]

How would the first attorney know to contact your attorney on your behalf? Did he contact the other cousin's attorneys also, or just yours? Is there a data base amongst attorneys somewhere that identifies their current list of clients? I don't know how the search process works. It sure sounds fishy to me. I would proceed with caution. I hope it pans out for you.

Well the story is considerably longer than my account above. "Shortened for readability". There's been a ton a back and forth between cousins, attorneys and such. The final story above is the result of almost a year of attorneys contacting attorneys contacting the courts and so on. A cousin originally called us with this and being skeptical, we called our attorney and it went from there.

 

[gromit]

Well the story is considerably longer than my account above. "Shortened for readability". There's been a ton a back and forth between cousins, attorneys and such. The final story above is the result of almost a year of attorneys contacting attorneys contacting probate and so on. A cousin originally called us with this and being skeptical, we called our attorney and it went from there.

So maybe its not a scam, but still keep an eye out for one.

With all those attorneys, hopefully it won't be like the Three Stooges episode where they inherited $50,000 (a fortune in the Depression 1930s) and after all the attorneys fees they received $4.95, lol.

 

[Alan]

This happened with my wife's sister in law a couple of years back. No idea really who the long lost relative was and by the time the estate was settled, all the discovered heirs informed and the search company's cut taken they all received about £4k.

There is a popular BBC TV show on how all this happens that my wife has watched in the past. It's 12 series long now.

I expect there are similar companies in the USA who search to find heirs to estates that would otherwise end up in the coffers of Uncle Sam.

Heir Hunters is a BBC television programme focusing on attempts to find missing or unknown heirs, entitled to deceased people's estates before the British Treasury lawfully collects the money. The show follows the work of probate researchers from a number of different firms to show how the results of time-consuming research turned out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heir_Hunters

 

[Ian S]

Something similar happened to my brother and I. A relative on my paternal grandfather's side of the family passed away and due either to lack of a will or a long out of date will, the estate passed down through the decedent's siblings' family trees. For various reasons, our family has had little contact with that side of the family and we never knew this relative even existed. My grandfather died long before I was born, my deceased father was an only child and my brother and I were his only children so between us we inherited 20% of the ~$500,000 estate. Because of how the inheritance was divided, some who were close to the person who died got nothing. All those who received a share of the estate were asked if they would make a gift to those who were left out. My brother and I decided to do that but as I recall, most of those who inherited did not. For some reason, the estate went down the family tree to children and not to surviving spouses e.g. my mother got nothing from my father's share instead his share went to my brother and me.

 

[MBAustin]

A friend of mine who is a CPA is dealing with a similar situation right now, but instead of cash it involves a large parcel of ranch land which is now very valuable. The only relatives are a bunch of distant cousins, most of whom didn't know each other at all before this came up. It's quite an effort for the CPAs, attorneys, etc., to work through.

 

[MarieIG]

[-][/-]

. . .

I expect there are similar companies in the USA who search to find heirs to estates that would otherwise end up in the coffers of Uncle Sam. . . (end quote).

Frequently in the US, the money escheats to the State.

In fact, if you don't touch your own accounts enough while your alive, you may discovery your account disappeared, only to locate it being held by the State.

That reminds me . . .

 

[ivinsfan]

Sadly I wonder how much of the 500k will be left to distribute after all the costs are paid

 

[marko]

Sadly I wonder how much of the 500k will be left to distribute after all the costs are paid

And isn't that a nice problem to have!

From what I understand, there's about a 25% shrinkage. In our case, unlike DWs other cousins, our attorney is paid through the family business (on my side) so there's no additional hit there after the original shrinkage.

Even at 35% or 40%,its a good deal considering no one was expecting it. "Gift horse" and all that.

 

[Walt34]

So, unlike the movies, there's no castle in Ireland or English title waiting for us but an interesting windfall to say the least!

And probably a good thing too. I wonder what the winter heating bill or a reroofing job on an Irish castle costs....

 

[Ian S]

Sadly I wonder how much of the 500k will be left to distribute after all the costs are paid

In our case, the only lawyer involved of whom I was aware was the one the executor was using to help wind down the estate. I don't think we actually knew the final amount we would be getting until close to the final distribution of the estate's assets.

 

[MichaelB]

And probably a good thing too. I wonder what the winter heating bill or a reroofing job on an Irish castle costs....

Roofing! When I went to Germany for a wedding I asked my brother in law about the cost of roof replacement for some of the old homes and buildings along the road one day. He laughed and said it could cost as much as the house did and would take a couple of years. The municipal council had to approve the design, materials and contractor. The new roof had to look like the original so it wouldn’t disturb the historic appearance of the neighborhood.

 

[ivinsfan]

Something similar happened to my brother and I. A relative on my paternal grandfather's side of the family passed away and due either to lack of a will or a long out of date will, the estate passed down through the decedent's siblings' family trees. For various reasons, our family has had little contact with that side of the family and we never knew this relative even existed. My grandfather died long before I was born, my deceased father was an only child and my brother and I were his only children so between us we inherited 20% of the ~$500,000 estate. Because of how the inheritance was divided, some who were close to the person who died got nothing. All those who received a share of the estate were asked if they would make a gift to those who were left out. My brother and I decided to do that but as I recall, most of those who inherited did not. For some reason, the estate went down the family tree to children and not to surviving spouses e.g. my mother got nothing from my father's share instead his share went to my brother and me.

That's how it works without a will in most places...direct blood relatives and if the direct blood relative is deceased that share gets divided among the children of the blood relative. And so on....

 

[ivinsfan]

And isn't that a nice problem to have!

From what I understand, there's about a 25% shrinkage. In our case, unlike DWs other cousins, our attorney is paid through the family business (on my side) so there's no additional hit there after the original shrinkage.

Even at 35% or 40%,its a good deal considering no one was expecting it. "Gift horse" and all that.

The final accounting will show you of course...25% seems a little on the low side...just commenting if the person would have had a will virtually all the money would have gone to the person they selected to receive it. The had a first cousin that died with 750K and no will.

 

[ivinsfan]

A friend of mine who is a CPA is dealing with a similar situation right now, but instead of cash it involves a large parcel of ranch land which is now very valuable. The only relatives are a bunch of distant cousins, most of whom didn't know each other at all before this came up. It's quite an effort for the CPAs, attorneys, etc., to work through.

Strange that someone would die owning a ranch will no will or paperwork. People are usually more concerned about knowing where their land will go.

 

[jollystomper]

Strange that someone would die owning a ranch will no will or paperwork. People are usually more concerned about knowing where their land will go.

It depends. about 15 years ago DW received a call from a lawyer in her native country, saying that she was entitled to a settlement from a land sale and wanted to verify her address to send the proceeds. We are both thinking "scam!", but the lawyer said no, this is real, you do not have to send me anything, I just need to verify the information I have on you.

We looked up the lawyer through family contacts she had, and it is an legitimate law firm. It turns out that after one set of her grandparents died there was some property that eventually a corporation wanted to purchase. Part of it was beachfront and DW remembered her father taking them to it for vacation when they were very young. The grandfather left no will, as he assumed that since his children shared it fine while he was alive, they would continue to do so. Bad idea. So her relatives in "the old country" were battling out to figure out who was entitled to the proceeds, and this went on for over 30 years. Finally a couple of her cousins there took the bull by the horns and an agreement was reached that the proceeds would be split among her grandfathers children and any grandchildren whose father or mother was was a child of the grandfather but had died. DW's father had already died, but she has a half-sister still living there that had her contact information.

About a month after talking to the lawyer, DW received a check that was surprisingly large, in the very low 5 figures. We have no idea what the total amount received for the land was, but given this had gone on for so long, and seemed more of a family "folk tale" that an actual situation, it was a very nice surprise.

 

[Sunset]

Sort of similar story.
Out of the blue, my mom got a phone call from a lawyer (years ago before scams were common).
Turned out some lady Mom had known 40 years earlier died, and left her 50K.
Mom had only sent this lady a Christmas card each year, no other contact.
This was long ago and the value today would be more like 100K.

Considering my parents had little savings , it was very welcomed.

 

[aja8888]

My still living best friend from Litchfield, CT, now living in Missouri, inherited the 1889 Courthouse in Litchfield and he didn't know it until they contacted him. Apparently, his great, great, great (?) grandfather let the town use it and said in the deed that if it's ever sold, the proceeds would go to any remaining family members.

https://www.boston.com/news/local-n...ce-1889-landmark-courthouse-with-clock-tower/

LITCHFIELD, Conn. (AP) — George Beckwith got the surprising phone call a few months ago, informing him that he soon would be an owner of a 19th-century courthouse in Connecticut, nearly 1,400 miles from his home in Missouri.

The 78-year-old resident of Goodman, in southwestern Missouri, knew about the unusual lease agreement his ancestors had signed with Connecticut officials in 1803. If Connecticut ever stopped using the property in Litchfield for a courthouse, the parcel would revert back to descendants of the six landowners who leased it to the state.

Beckwith said he had no use for a courthouse or the expenses that came with it, so he went looking for options before the state planned to hand it over on Sept. 30.

The search didn’t take long. The nonprofit Greater Litchfield Preservation Trust has agreed to purchase Beckwith’s interest in the property for an undisclosed, below-market-value price, Rybak said. The trust is the parent organization of two partnerships that own and operate two other buildings in Litchfield.

Crazy stuff!

 

[gauss]

OP,

Regarding your relationship to the recently deceased, a family tree may be of benefit to you.

You might be interested in checking out the familysearch.org genealogy site. It was free and I was able to find all my paternal grandfathers brothers and sisters from the old country (Eastern Europe) before he immigrated circa WWI.

I did have to give an email address to register, but one could always use a burner address if there are privacy concerns.

-gauss

 

[Gumby]

My still living best friend from Litchfield, CT, now living in Missouri, inherited the 1889 Courthouse in Litchfield and he didn't know it until they contacted him. Apparently, his great, great, great (?) grandfather let the town use it and said in the deed that if it's ever sold, the proceeds would go to any remaining family members.

https://www.boston.com/news/local-n...ce-1889-landmark-courthouse-with-clock-tower/

Crazy stuff!

I had a case in that courthouse back in the early 90s. It's a very interesting old building.