So, I had a cousin die a few months ago from cancer. Got a notice in the mail today....

[Coventina]

This really surprised me.

This cousin of mine...we were close as kids, but then my family moved away from his. I didn't see him for about 30 years or so.

I saw him just a few years ago when his mom (my aunt) died of ALS (he had been her caregiver). My husband and I flew back home to attend the funeral.

If he himself was sick at the time, he made no mention of it. Was shocked to hear through the grapevine that he had passed.

Today, I got a letter in the mail that his estate is in probate and another of my aunts (my mother had three sisters) is the executor of his estate (he was an only child).

Why would I be getting this legal notice? I have made no claim on his estate, in fact, it never even entered my mind.

He does have a daughter, who lives in the Netherlands (she's actually a Dutch citizen, because she was born there). I would have assumed she'd inherit anything her dad left, probably her grandmother's house.

Is it normal for first cousins to be sent probate letters like that?

[Meowmee]

1. From what I understand

I may be wrong, you would not be notified unless you are mentioned in a will or trust.

[Coventina]

5. I'd be really shocked if he left me anything.

Not that there was any bad blood between us.
We were pretty close as kids, we just lost contact.
We had a "nice" conversation at his mom's funeral, and that was it.

[Meowmee]

6. Maybe you can contact the lawyer and ask them?

It may be some personal items etc. or something like that.

[brush]

2. In some states it's required that relatives be notified.

It happened in my family.

[drray23]

3. This means they have determined you have an interest in the estate.

In other words, there is probably something in the succession that mentions you. It could be he left you something.

[Ocelot II]

4. Depends on the state, but relatives might be notified if they are contingent beneficiaries

or in case there are issues with the will.

[captain queeg]

7. I had an aunt who died about 20 yrs ago with no will

There was some kind of formula where each of her siblings got 1/7 of the estate (she had no children). In the cases where the sibling had died (my father) each of his offspring got a share. So I got 1/7th of 1/7th of the estate which was a piece of property in Florida. Probate ate up about half the total amount and I got about $2k. I would never have expected anything, she was dirt poor and I hadn’t seen her for at least 30 yrs.

[Maru Kitteh]

10. You and I have a wildly different definition of "dirt poor" if 2K equals

1/7 of 1/7 of a sum of money after probate.

[Demovictory9]

13. yes, if 1/7 of 1/7 of 1/2 after probate 2,000... her estate was worth 200,000

[captain queeg]

15. She had inherited my grandma's property where she lived

The property had value, she had nothing while she lived. She’d taken care of my grandma while she was still alive, she had no income of her own.

[haele]

8. Only if he had no heirs or you were mentioned in his will.

Depending on the state, if he had no children, spouse, or siblings living at time of death, nieces/nephews and first cousins may be considered interested parties as part of the probate process.

When my paternal uncle passed, my father (his only sibling), their cousin Carole, my brother and I were the inheritors of his estate of a little over $20k and a few family items he still had.

Haele

[2naSalit]

9. A few years back...

one of my siblings passed somewhat unexpectedly and left no will. Their estate was a mess and the bank holding the mortgage on the house, helped by the state, tried to sue their siblings, mother, a nephew and a half sibling for their mortgage! We had to get a couple attorneys, one for the estate and one for the "heirs". And none of us live in that state or have for decades and none of us had anything to do with their finances.

It does depend on the state, though. Some states are just ruthless.

[Coventina]

11. Good grief! Talk about insult to injury!!

You lose a sibling and their bank sues you?

The bank should have been happy they were getting all the mortgage money for however many years, and then get to keep the house itself! (Unless the heirs decided to pay it off and keep the property).

[2naSalit]

12. It wasn't pretty.

This was in One of the Great Lakes states and I think they have to notify all possible heirs or anyone who lay claim to the estate of some probate situation.

I had a job a few years ago where I was entering court docket info into a database and I noticed the language in cases of probate and settling of estates was similar. The cases named all known heirs and then also any possible heirs or others who might lay claim.

So there's that.

[mnhtnbb]

16. I discovered recently in the process of updating

my will, that in North Carolina a direct descendant may assume the mortgage on a house without any kind of qualifying process. Mortgages these days are all written--or almost all as far as I know--as not assumable. I was surprised to learn this.

So I am paying my mortgage ahead three months to set up the situation that if I should suddenly die, my sons will have some time to decide if one wants to assume the mortgage and keep the house or they both want to sell it. I've also named them as beneficiaries of two financial accounts that hold substantial assets in order to bypass probate here in NC. Easy to do. Send a death certificate and the assets are released without involvement of probate court. My estate will be worth much less than the threshold for inheriting tax free, so no need for a trust.

[Patterson]

14. Does it give you so many days to contest the will or make a claim?

[left-of-center2012]

17. They may just be casting a wide net

Making sure everyone is notified who may be involved.