Notifying friends of indigent in absence of next of kin

[azpl]

Jurisdiction

Arizona

If one dies indigent with no next of kin, but several (10 or so) friends around the country, each of whom would want to know of her/his death, who would notify each of those friends of the passing? Let's also assume that it would not be appropriate (because an unfair burden) to leave a will asking any one of those friends to contact all the others (as would be the case if there were a next of kin to do the notifications).

Is there an agency with whom it can be prearranged to contact all of the decedent's friends upon his/her demise? Or would one need to use a will to list the contact info of all the friends, and then request that, say, the County (or whatever agency searches for next of kin when an indigent individual dies) notify each of them?

If the answer to both of the preceeding questions is no, can anyone offer advice on ensuring that friends are informed in the event of one's demise (whether intestate or not)?

 

[army judge]

There is no law that requires friends or relatives to be notified upon the passing of a human being.

Even a will wont ensure any such notifications being made, except to those people who are beneficiaries of the decedent's will.

In the event of an intestate's demise, notifications tend be made by word of mouth among those close to the deceased.

There are a few national services, who for a FEE, claim they'll make such notifications. I don't know anything about them, even their names because I've never maintained an interest in what they allege to offer.

 

[azpl]

Thanks for your reply.

There is no law that requires friends or relatives to be notified upon the passing of a human being.

I didn't think there was. My assumption was that, beyond the coroner or County Sheriff's office or someone in some bureaucratic office attempting to locate a next of kin, any kind of notification would be up to someone attached to the decedent.

Even a will wont ensure any such notifications being made, except to those people who are beneficiaries of the decedent's will.

That's good to know, thanks. Maybe in the absence of other options, one could name each friend as a beneficiary of some token item or sum.

In the event of an intestate's demise, notifications tend be made by word of mouth among those close to the deceased.

I understand. The problem in the given case is that 1) even that first person wouldn't get notified since none of the friends are local and thus wouldn't even read of the death in an obituary, and 2) with one possible exception, the friends don't know one another.

There are a few national services, who for a FEE, claim they'll make such notifications.

This is exactly what I was looking for. I've searched and searched using numerous combinations and variations of key words (notification/notify + service + deceased + next of kin, etc.) and always get pages of completely irrelevant results, often having to do with contesting wills and so on. If you or anyone else here could even just suggest possible combinations of key words that maybe I haven't thought of to try, I'd appreciate it.

 

[adjusterjack]

I think the best idea is for the indigent person (or anybody for that matter) carry a contact list on his person that says please notify _________ in the event of my injury or death.

No reason to overthink this.

 

[azpl]

Thanks for your reply.

I think the best idea is for the indigent person (or anybody for that matter) carry a contact list on his person that says please notify _________ in the event of my injury or death.

No reason to overthink this.

I'm not overthinking it. Picking one person to get notified would be easy. The question was about ensuring that numerous unconnected friends get notified, not just one person. Somehow I don't see a county clerk or whatever attempting to notify more than one individual on such a list.

Paying a private company a fee in advance to ensure that all contacts are notified is acceptable, I just haven't been able to find any such service.

 

[adjusterjack]

Here's a couple of possibilities that came up in my search. You'll have to check them out yourself to see if they can notify individuals in addition to businesses.

Launching of EverWatch.org, a Death Notification Service

https://bereavementadvice.org/topics/death-notification-service

 

[azpl]

Here's a couple of possibilities that came up in my search. You'll have to check them out yourself to see if they can notify individuals in addition to businesses.

Launching of EverWatch.org, a Death Notification Service

Death Notification Service

Thanks, I appreciate the leads and will check them out. I've also just found some possible additional leads under the heading of digital legacy (mentioning this for anyone else who may come along here with the same question)..