Unable to locate heir

[Steve1963]

Jurisdiction

Texas

I am the executor and POA of a friend that is dying of cancer. He has a will with 8 shares of his estate to be equally divided. There are 2 heirs that no one knows their whereabouts or even if they are still living.
What happens and how long will this hold up settlement of his estate?
Thanks is advance.

 

[army judge]

I am the executor and POA of a friend that is dying of cancer. He has a will with 8 shares of his estate to be equally divided. There are 2 heirs that no one knows their whereabouts or even if they are still living.
What happens and how long will this hold up settlement of his estate?
Thanks is advance.

IF he were to rewrite HIS will, leaving the unknowns out, his estate could settle quicker.

If the UNKNOWNS aren't in his will, no need to bother locating them.

No one has to split their junk up equally between their surviving relatives.

In fact, there is no law that requires you to leave your junk to relatives.

People are free (and often choose to do so) give their junk to churches, schools, charities, animals, pets, friends, and even governmental bodies.

 

[Steve1963]

He has no family, I know 6 of the 8, it is a substantial amount of money, not junk by any means.

 

[army judge]

He has no family, I know 6 of the 8, it is a substantial amount of money, not junk by any means.

Its all junk, IF you're dead.

However, if he had that much JUNK, he'd HIRE a TRUSTED attorney to do his bidding.

 

[Steve1963]

"bidding"?? All I want to know is what happens if the unknown two can't be found? It might be junk to you, but he work hard his entire life to accumulate a 7 figure estate.
Never mind, I'll contact an attorney that can answer a simple question.

 

[adjusterjack]

I am the executor and POA of a friend that is dying of cancer. He has a will with 8 shares of his estate to be equally divided. There are 2 heirs that no one knows their whereabouts or even if they are still living.
What happens and how long will this hold up settlement of his estate?
Thanks is advance.

1 - The POA is worthless after he dies.

2 - You are not the executor, you are only nominated in his will. You become executor when the will is filed with the probate court and you get your court papers acknowledging you as executor.

3 - Dying of cancer doesn't mean he's not mentally incompetent. If he's competent and you are that good a friend you ought to be able to convince him to update his will so that it makes sense. If he's in a care facility, some lawyers will make house calls to take care of it. Since the estate is substantial, he's got the money to pay an attorney.

4 - Unfortunately, if he's already gone round the bend mentally, you are stuck handling the will as is and the probate court will expect you to exercise due diligence in attempting to locate the heirs. You will want a probate attorney to handle that for you as well as any other considerations if they cannot be found.

 

[Betty3]

The court requires you to make a diligent effort to find all heirs. Many lawyers have the resources to find out information on all heirs. If they still can't be located, generally the court requires a letter re the effort made to locate them.

 

[adjusterjack]

All I want to know is what happens if the unknown two can't be found?

The following website will give you a general idea of what has to happen:

What if an Heir to a Will Cannot Be Found?

The article provides an example of how it works in one state but you can google the question and add the name of your state to the search parameter and probably come up with information specific to your state.

With 25% of the heirs missing it's possible that 25% of the estate could be in limbo potentially for quite a few years if they cannot be found.

 

[army judge]

The following website will give you a general idea of what has to happen:

What if an Heir to a Will Cannot Be Found?

The article provides an example of how it works in one state but you can google the question and add the name of your state to the search parameter and probably come up with information specific to your state.

With 25% of the heirs missing it's possible that 25% of the estate could be in limbo potentially for quite a few years if they cannot be found.

Ahh, but MR. BIG has amassed a SEVEN FIGURE ESTATE, and his ADMINSTRATOR-IN-WAITING will handle EVERYTHING. I mean, a SEVEN FIGURE ESTATE is NOT nothing. But, WHY hire a lawyer, when your PAL will do it for FREE?


The MONEY CONFISCATORS will be there, Johnny on the spot to get their 50% unwritten shares!!!