Alan Welsford
20-03-2008, 08:13 PM
For some time I have had in my possession a family tree put together by a solicitor in 1979.
A distant member of the family died intestate, and a fairly substantial tree was put together by a solicitors, to apportion his estate according to intestacy rules.
Now this raises some interesting questions.
Firstly how did they do it. Most family members they could have asked were dead, and they certainly didn't have Internet resources and online censuses to piece the families together. As dates of births are not shown for many key players, it's doubtful many certificates were bought.
Secondly my version of the tree shows people they didn't uncover, and who potentially had living descendants who were entitled to their slice.
Thirdly the record shoes that one third of the estate went a certain way because a full blood brother-sister relationship seems to have been assumed where it probably wasn't. From my understanding that line should probably not have inherited.
Does anyone know what lengths the solicitor would have been required to go to, to find all living potential heirs ? Or were they just covered by announcements made in newspapers, inviting anyone who may have a claim ?
And once the estate has been split up, is in then just tough luck, if anyone else has missed out ? (I can't see how it could be otherwise :confused:)
Alan
A distant member of the family died intestate, and a fairly substantial tree was put together by a solicitors, to apportion his estate according to intestacy rules.
Now this raises some interesting questions.
Firstly how did they do it. Most family members they could have asked were dead, and they certainly didn't have Internet resources and online censuses to piece the families together. As dates of births are not shown for many key players, it's doubtful many certificates were bought.
Secondly my version of the tree shows people they didn't uncover, and who potentially had living descendants who were entitled to their slice.
Thirdly the record shoes that one third of the estate went a certain way because a full blood brother-sister relationship seems to have been assumed where it probably wasn't. From my understanding that line should probably not have inherited.
Does anyone know what lengths the solicitor would have been required to go to, to find all living potential heirs ? Or were they just covered by announcements made in newspapers, inviting anyone who may have a claim ?
And once the estate has been split up, is in then just tough luck, if anyone else has missed out ? (I can't see how it could be otherwise :confused:)
Alan