stories abound now of law enforcement solving cold cases by cross-referencing suspects to relative's DNA in databases such as 23AndMe and Ancestry.

Occurs to me that with abandoned bank accounts and heirless deaths, these sites are leaving tons of money on the table by failing to aggressively market that you could be due money from your provable long lost relatives.

In other words 23AndMe could market that if you're in their database and a proven relative's bank account has made it to those newspaper listings of abandoned accounts or the state is about to benefit from an estate that does not have any known descendants, they would make the connection and get a piece of the pie.
-- theircompetitor, May 05 2019

Legal Zoom on the matter https://www.legalzo...part-of-your-estate
[theircompetitor, May 06 2019]

This is not a bad idea. In fact it's a good idea. One problem is that the deceased would have to have had their genome sequenced, but that will become increasingly commonplace. Of course, you could always sequence the deceased post- mortem (or even from artefacts left behind), but I can see that being a bit of a legal nightmare.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 05 2019


I'm Spartacus's cousin.
-- xenzag, May 05 2019


Hold on a second...

this is brilliant!

I'm seeing court orders to dig up bodies to get DNA info.

TC, you should start a law firm specializing in this.

I also see examples of this estate law test going all the way to the Supreme Court.

As you can see by my double spacing each line I feel very strongly about this.
-- doctorremulac3, May 06 2019


One question - how close a relative do you have to be in order to inherit without a will? In the UK, I know that a spouse automatically inherits if there's no will, but beyond that I don't know.

I mean, technically, I'm related to everybody else if you go back enough generations. I'm probably a fifth-removed cousin of [doc], for instance.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 06 2019


Hey cuz!
-- doctorremulac3, May 06 2019


well, [MB] I don't think we'd go back to Genghis Khan, although I hear if that fortune's ever found, there'd be a lot of claimants under this scheme.

But I'm thinking even if you had to share it with a dozen "cousins", it's still better than the state getting it. So I would say at least anyone recognized as <= 3rd cousin, which takes you several great grandparents out.
-- theircompetitor, May 06 2019


Being half Ukrainian I've definitely got some Mongol blood, as verified by DNA testing. Whether or not it's the Genghster himself I don't know, but Mongolians "dated" extensively in that area.

Other half is supposedly from William Wallace's clan. Again, not sure if I'm related to Big Bad Bill himself, but having a lineage that's a cross between Genghis Khan and William Wallace might explain my sparkling personality.
-- doctorremulac3, May 06 2019


//even if you had to share it with a dozen "cousins"// Yes, but my question was whether the dozen cousins would inherit. Automatic inheritance can apply to spouses and children (and perhaps siblings), but does it apply to distant relatives?
-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 06 2019


Logical answer: Yes.

Government's answer: No, it's ours.

Break it down by family tree. First in line gets 100%, second branches split according to genetic percentage.

Of course if you're talking about taking property away from living folks and re-distributing it, that opens up a whole new batch of issues, but if it's unclaimed like the idea suggests, I would think you have a claim you could make now with current laws.

DNA tests are no joke, people are going to prison because of them. There's no reason why other legal issues such as estate inheritance couldn't be dealt with using that technology.

This really is a very clever idea.
-- doctorremulac3, May 06 2019


I think even in our Orwellian times, next of kin is next of kin. I think for the government to deny such a claim, it'd have to show that the relatedness is equal to general population. If you're a demonstrable 3rd or 4th cousin, I don't see how they can beat that.
-- theircompetitor, May 06 2019


I smell a docudrama in the making...

This is sort of going on with "the artist formerly known as Prince's" estate.
Folks lining up to get tested.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, May 06 2019


//If you're a demonstrable 3rd or 4th cousin, I don't see how they can beat that.//

Well, they can beat it pretty easily by saying that 3rd or 4th cousins don't inherit unless the will says so. However, if the current law allows "the closest known relative" to inherit in the absence of a will, then you're OK.

It's just that I don't know what the current law is on intestacy, especially in the US.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 06 2019


I don't know what the current law is on any intestinal disease, especially in Mozambique.
-- notexactly, May 07 2019



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