Petition To Determine Heirs: Fill & Download for Free

Generally, the probate laws for the State the parent dies in would take effect. When someone dies intestate and unmarried and there is no heir available to petition to administer the estate, the County Counsel (or equivalent) appoints a public administrator through the probate courts. The administrator then handles pulling together and evaluating the assets, posts a death notice, settles debts, locates heirs, and distributes any inheritance after their fees.If the parent had just one child and was not married, it is likely that child would be the sole heir to the estate unless another relative petitions to be considered an heir as well, and then a judge would make a determination based on the inheritance laws of that state.NB: I'm not a lawyer but I've administered my share of trusts and Wills and intestate estates.

A great Bar exam hypothetical question. I’d like to add to what Mr. Ross has most ably said. Here, I will take the position (opposed to that stated in the question) that “you” are the rightful heir or beneficiary and recipient of the funds.First of all, your problem is not really with the lawyer, who is acting solely in his agency capacity. Your problem is with the Personal Representative (PR) of the Decedent’s estate or the Trustee of Decedent’s trust. The attorney is simply acting on behalf of the PR or Trustee, whose bears the responsibility of properly determining the identity of the Decedent’s heirs and beneficiaries and what each should receive resulting from the Decedent’s (Uncle Henry’s) death. Clearly, the PR or Trustee has not fulfilled his/her duty by wrongfully making a distribution effectively to a stranger of the estate or trust. (The PR or Trustee may have a claim against his/her attorney, but that’s not your concern.}Now, consider the case of the Decedent’s estate. The problem now is that time has passed and the estate has likely been closed. If so, the estate would need to be re-opened by the Court for you to present any claim against it. As it happens, at least in Washington, an estate may be re-opened if an heir or beneficiary failed to receive Notice of Probate, which you did not, as the PR failed to send it to you. Therefore, you should file a claim against the estate for lack of Notice of Probate, an absolute procedural defect, and you will need to join with it a petition to re-open the estate if it has already been closed. The court should grant your petition and approve your claim, Westhagen v. Harby, 78 Wn.2d 934 (1971), unless the court finds that your name and address were not reasonably able to be found by the exercise of due diligence (Estate of Little, 127 Wn. App. 915 (2005)). (You can’t intentionally disappear off the face of the earth and reasonably expect the court to honor your claim if you have been so successful in hiding that nobody could find you.)The issue now is who pays? The estate does, but at the personal cost of its PR or at the cost of the supposed heir or beneficiary who “wrongfully” received the distribution that rightfully should have been paid to you?As for the latter, the PR might attempt to get the “wrongful” recipient to disgorge his/her funds received on the basis of the equitable charge of “unjust enrichment. See, for example: Unjust enrichment At first blush, the “wrongful” recipient has been unjustly enriched —- they have benefited at the expense of the estate, and it would be unfair to allow the recipient to continue to receive the benefit without paying something for it (despite the fact that they were not at fault). Were I representing him or her, I would argue that the PR and his/her attorney had the duty to determine the proper recipients, that your identity and location were readily able to be determined and found, and that they had been negligent in failing to properly exercise their duty; thus, that they, and not the “wrongful” recipient, should bear the cost of their mistake, as the “wrongful” recipient is effectively an innocent victim of the PR’s irresponsibility. [The notion that the recipient no longer has the funds is irrelevant.] That would leave the PR and the attorney to fight it out between themselves as to their respective responsibility and the degree to which each failed to exercise it, and if they failed to do that, the court would do it for them.Another reason why the PR and his/her attorney should be found personally liable is that the funds paid to the “wrongful” recipient depleted the assets of the estate, reducing the amount to be distributed to all of the rightful distributees. They should not have to bear the cost of the PR’s error.In any event and regardless of your particular position in this mess, please do consult with an experienced probate attorney in your jurisdiction to determine its relevant laws and how they may affect you.Richard Wills, retired probate attorney originally licensed in CA & WA

In Washington, the procedure is to file with the Court following the Decedent’s death a Petition to Determine Heirship.Richard Wills, retired probate attorney originally licensed in CA & WA