Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

Re: I may be a missing heir

You need to contact an attorney in the county where he lived in Mass and ask him or her to do a search for any probates filed for your uncle. If he had a living trust there would be no probate. In that event, the Mass attorney might have an idea of to proceed.

Re: I may be a missing heir

It is unlikely that real estate has been tied up for 4 years without probate or some resolution of title. There would have to have been filed a form M-706 to remove the estate tax lien. You can call the Inheritance Tax division of the Department of Revenue to find out if one was filed.

The state Department of Health keeps records of deaths and can tell you if your uncle died and where. The estate would have been probated in the county in which he died. You can call the probate court for that county to see if probate was filed, and who the executor, administrator or attorney was. The documents are public records, unless sealed for cause (unlikely).

If the real estate was sold and the net proceeds put in an account that has had no further action, you may find your name in the state's unclaimed funds list available from the State Treasurer's Office.

If your uncle died without a wife or children, and no one was able to locate you, it's possible everything is just sitting there. If there was a wife, and she was left with little or nothing, she may have claimed a homestead or against the will. The probate court records would tell you that.