Seven Years Deceased Heir Search

ALOHA

An attorney in Hawaii contacted us in 2011. He was handling a new estate. The decedent died in 2004. At the time of her death no estate was opened for her because she was believed to be destitute. Early in 2011, a bank account of hers with over $500,000 in it was discovered.

The estate attorney contacted us and advised us that he needed help with an intestate estate. There were no known heirs. Doing research on an estate in which the decedent died seven years before the proceedings were started is more complicated than a typical estate because usually some of the heirs who were living at the time of the decedent's death have since died. This case was no exception.

We discovered that the decedent had twelve cousins who survived her. Of these, five had died between 2004 and 2011. We then had to determine the heirs of each of the decedent's heirs who had post-deceased her. After our research was completed, we ended up with twenty-six eligible heirs.

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