• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Uncle dies intestate

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

G

gdine

Guest
New York. My husband's uncle died intestate. My husband was related to uncle's wife. Uncle's wife and my husband's mother were sisters. Uncle's wife predeceased uncle. Is my husband entitled to any of his uncle's estate, which is being processed by county office. There are some distant relatives of uncle who are also related to him on the uncle's mother's side. The County told my husband that estate will go to them and that he is not entitled to any part of estate. Can my husband contest before estate is distributed? We received a letter from the Public Administrator's office who informed us of uncle's death. They told us that they arranged funeral and sold home at public auction and they are still collecting estate and have not set up a court date as yet. Do we have any legal claim to estate? Please advise.
 
Last edited:


G

gdine

Guest
Uncle's estate

New York. The value of estate is approximately $700,000.
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Unfortunately, you do not have a claim. The law mentions that if there is surviving spouse or children, the only eligible heirs are only the brothers and sisters of the uncle.
 
G

gdine

Guest
Uncle died intestate

New York. Dear Dandy Don: Uncle did not have any brothers or sisters, or children, only distant relatives on his mother's side. Does this mean that children on his wife's side do not have any claim to his estate. They are just as much relatives through marriage as his distant relatives are. The ones who are claiming the estate are children of cousins who were related to uncle's mother? Please advise. My husband, who is nephew of uncle's wife, was like their surrogate child in his childhood. What do you think? Should he hire an attorney to represent him to redeem an interest in the estate. If yes, what should the attorney's specialization be in?
 
Last edited:

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Thank you for the clarification, and in light of the new facts, please allow me to change my answer.

It turns out that it may be worth investigating to find out whether or not you have an interest in this estate. If there are no brothers and sisters of the decedent surviving, or no children of these brothers and sisters, then it would next go to grandparents equally or their children per capita, or if none, to the "next-of-kin" (Section 4-1.1 of New York Consolidated Laws, Estates, Powers, and Trusts).

I have no way of knowing whether "next-of-kin" would include whoever is the nearest relative who files a claim for the estate, or whether that would include more than 1 category of nearest relative. Only a New York probate attorney could help you figure this out (perhaps also with the assistance of a professional genealogist to chart the exact relationships of all parties).

Good luck to you--this certainly is a most interesting situation!!

DANDY DON ([email protected])
 
G

gdine

Guest
uncle dies intestate

New York. Dear Dancy Don, Thank you for your help with this matter. I will write again soon. Thank you. gdine
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top