Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York
No Will, No Relative, Mementoes of Our Friendship
A friend of mine passed away without a Will. As far as all of us (his friends) know, no relatives -- at best, a distant cousin somewhere in England that not even the Police or Public Administrator has been able to locate. (I've been in touch w/ both.) The only ''property'' he had are his photographs, scrapbooks, letters, and miscellaneous personal effects. He'd been a subletee where he lived and rented the furniture. What will happen to his personal effects? Is there any way we, his friends, can ''rescue'' these things if they're to be thrown away or would they be sold. Some of his pictures and letters were from famous people (he was in show business), but only real collectors would know the worth of letters from long-gone English stage and film actresses. He was buried in a city cemetery (aka Potter's Field) as there wasn't any money, and none of us had any for the funeral, etc.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: No Will, No Relative, Mementoes of Our Friendship
Someone will have to handle his estate. This person will need to go to Probate court, and file the necessary papers. That person could ask the court for permission to distribute his personal effect among his friends, since there is no family.
Re: No Will, No Relative, Mementoes of Our Friendship
You have already mentioned the one person who
controls the answer to your question, the Public
Administrator. He will determine what can be
done to the personal effects. If they are truly
of no monetary value, I cannot imagine him
objecting to there dissemination to individuals
rather than being scrapped and thrown away. Ask
the Public Administrator
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