When Mary Petroff passed away at the age of 97 on September 5, 2011, she left behind an estate of $1.3 million dollars. Unfortunately Mary died without a Last Will & Testament or surviving relatives closer than first cousins once removed. Mary’s father had immigrated from Bulgaria to the United States in 1912 where he married and had two daughters Mary and her sister Anne. Mary lived her entire life sharing a home with her sister Anne in quiet anonymity until sister developed dementia and had to move into nursing facilities. Mary’s sister Anne died in 2009. Mary passed away two years later in 2011 without any heirs. Only after their deaths was it learned the two sisters had amassed a small fortune investing in the stock market from an early age. Who would now inherit Mary Petroff’s estate?
After Mary’s passing it become clear that Mary Petroff had not drafted a will and had left behind no known heirs. In such instances a public administrator is appointed to administer the NY estate until which time legal heirs come forward and prove by a preponderance of the evidence at a kinship trial, their entitlement to inherit under the NY estate law.
In this instance 34 cousins once removed living in Bulgaria asserted their rights to inherit Petroff’s Estate as her legal heirs. In the end the Court determined there to be 48 legal first cousins once removed all residing in Bulgaria, with $660,646 distributed to Mary’s paternal heirs and $660,646 distributed among Mary’s maternal distributees.
What are NY kinship estates?
In a typical NY kinship estate, where someone dies without a NY will or surviving relatives closer than first cousins, letters of administration will issue to the Public Administrator in the NY estate of someone whose next of kin are unknown. When the Public Administrator accounts and the heirs are still unknown, their interests are protected by a court appointed guardian ad litem and the interests of New York State are protected by the Attorney General. If no NY estate lawyer appears on behalf of distributees and/or kinship is not established, the proceeds of the NY estate will be deposited with the NYC Department of Finance for deposit into the Abandoned Property Fund.
The burden in proving kinship in NY estates
In kinship proceedings, the case is usually broken down into two cases, the maternal heirs and the paternal heirs with a NY estate lawyer representing both sides. When the NY estate lawyer successfully proves kinship, the proceeds are split in half, with half of the proceeds of the NY kinship estate going to the maternal heirs and the remaining portion to the surviving paternal heirs. At trial claimants have the burden of proving kinship as their NY estate lawyer must establish that they are decedent’s closest surviving blood relatives as defined in EPTL 4-1.1. This burden is met by a preponderance of evidence ( Matter of Whelan, 93 AD2d 891, 461 N.Y.S.2d 398[1983]). For NY kinship to be established to the satisfaction of the Court, the NY estate lawyer must make an evidentiary showing (1) how each is related to decedent, and (2) that no other persons of the same or a nearer degree of relationship survived decedent. Upon proof that no heirs other than those before the Court exist, the class of heirs may be “closed”. When persons of the nearest degree of relationship establish [their] standing, those more remote are excluded.
How to Prove kinship In a NY Kinship Estate;
In all cases involving pedigree and the distribution of intestate property, it is first necessary to establish the identity of the common ancestor and from that point to construct the true family tree, to which all claimants must attach themselves to be successful” (Matter of Whalen, 146 Misc 176, 180, 261 N.Y.S. 761 [1932], “When persons of the nearest degree of relationship establish [their] standing, those more remote are excluded” A person “who seeks to establish an interest in a decedent’s estate as a collateral relative must show that all lines of descent which would precede his or her claim as a distributee are exhausted”. It is this combination of oral and documentary proof that establishes not only claimant’s status, but that the classes are closed. The pieces of evidence fit together in a perfect picture, like a mosaic, when status is established.
Once kinship is established the Court will render its decision directing the public administrator to release the funds to heirs based on the credibility of the evidence and determination of facts.
If you or a loved one are a cousin of someone who died without a will and no known relatives closer than first cousins, you will need legal counseling from an experienced New York Kinship Lawyer. For a free consultation feel free to call one of our Estate Lawyers at the Law Offices of Jason W. Stern & Associates at (718) 261-2444 for a free consultation. Our Queens estate lawyers have nearly 75 years of combined NY estate law experience handling these often treacherous NY kinship cases for families like yours in the counties of Queens, New York, Kings, Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Nassau, Richmond, Orange and Dutchess.