It depends if there is a will. If they died without a will, they died intestate. If they have a lawyer, they could try to be an executor and sort things out, sell assets, etc.
Here in NYC, there is the public administrator office that handles those who died intestate, selling off assets such as property and land, and also providing a cheap burial in a cheap cemetery. The money raised would be distributed to surviving heirs, friends, and distant relations.
Money goes to the state: If there’s absolutely no family (like no cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.), the money usually goes to the state where they lived. This is called “escheat.” Think of it like the state becomes their default “heir.”
Bank account access: Nobody can just walk in and take the money. The state would have to go through a legal process to claim it. The bank will hold onto the money until a court order says who gets it.
Some Distant Family (Uncles, Cousins, etc.):
Family might inherit: Even distant relatives like uncles, aunts, cousins, or even more far-removed family could inherit the money. BUT There’s usually a specific order the law follows to find the closest living relatives. It might take some time and legal work to track everyone down.
Bank account access: These relatives would need to go to court and prove they are the rightful heirs to get access to the bank accounts. The bank won’t just hand it over.
If There’s a Will:
Will decides: If the rich person had a valid will, it doesn’t matter if they have family or not. The will says exactly who gets their money and belongings.
Anyone can be in a will: They could leave their money to friends, charities, their dog(actually happens more often than you think), anyone they choose.
Executor handles it: The person named in the will (the “executor”) is in charge of making sure the will is followed and that the right people get the money. They’d get legal authority to access the bank accounts to pay bills and distribute the funds.
Depends on country, some countries take the money if there is no will or relatives. Other countries have trust funds that get the money to distribute to charities etc.
If they have no heirs, and no will, usually their entire estate and all their stuff will escheat to the government – whether that’s the State, National authorities, the Crown, or some other governing body.
Basically stuff can’t be unowned any more, so if no-one owns it after checks have been done, your government decides it belongs to them.
It might be ringfenced for certain projects or it might just go into the general pot of assets.
If they have a will, then the money will go wherever the deceased person directed. In the event that there is no will and no obvious heirs, the state would attempt to find more distant relatives and, failing that, eventually the money would go to the state. But that might take years.
This happened to my aunt’s best friend. No will, no family. She mentioned a couple charities to my aunt while she was alive. My aunt, who doesn’t live near her, has flown out maybe a dozen times so far trying to settle up the estate. Her friend owned a lot of very valuable real estate. It’s been two years and there are still a couple houses left to sell. The estate still has the money at this point. Once everything gets settled, it’s jackpot time for two small charities. Think tens of millions. One great part is that we’ve gotten to see my aunt a lot over the past couple years and she’s really gotten to know our kids.
In my state if there’s no will, the estate gets divided equally between relatives based on their relationship. It starts spouse, children, grandchildren siblings cousins etc.
If you are in the US each state has a statute that says where assets go with no will. If there’s no one in that final position, then the assets escheat to the state.
Assuming they don’t have a will, Probate court would search high and low to find a relative to give your money to.
Even a distant cousin, or a grand-niece you haven’t spoken to in 25 years
If, after a reasonable search, they truly can’t find anyone to give your money to, then the state takes it for itself. This is very rare tho, as they can usually find a relative, even a distant one, to give your riches to
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Once debts are paid, if there is no next of kin their estate goes to the government.
Whatever they want according to their will
“Throw it all in the casket it’s mine still”
This is why wills and trusts are important. It goes to covering debts and where the will says it should go.
I call dibs.
Probate Court and then Uncle Sam holds it for a bit before assuming the asset.
It depends if there is a will. If they died without a will, they died intestate. If they have a lawyer, they could try to be an executor and sort things out, sell assets, etc.
Here in NYC, there is the public administrator office that handles those who died intestate, selling off assets such as property and land, and also providing a cheap burial in a cheap cemetery. The money raised would be distributed to surviving heirs, friends, and distant relations.
If there’s no one to inherit and there’s no other provision made, assets “escheat” to the state. That is, the government gets it.
They look for next of kin, cousins uncles nieces nephews, etc
Usually the state will take everything.
Escheat
I imagine dead rich people have a lot of family.
It depends :
No Family at All:
Some Distant Family (Uncles, Cousins, etc.):
If There’s a Will:
Depends on country, some countries take the money if there is no will or relatives. Other countries have trust funds that get the money to distribute to charities etc.
If they have no heirs, and no will, usually their entire estate and all their stuff will escheat to the government – whether that’s the State, National authorities, the Crown, or some other governing body.
Basically stuff can’t be unowned any more, so if no-one owns it after checks have been done, your government decides it belongs to them.
It might be ringfenced for certain projects or it might just go into the general pot of assets.
In my country: any money left goes to the goverment
The government will take the money. A citizen’s only purpose was to make money anyways.
I’m accepting donations
Several participants are randomly selected to fight to the death for the inheritance.
If they have a will, then the money will go wherever the deceased person directed. In the event that there is no will and no obvious heirs, the state would attempt to find more distant relatives and, failing that, eventually the money would go to the state. But that might take years.
This happened to my aunt’s best friend. No will, no family. She mentioned a couple charities to my aunt while she was alive. My aunt, who doesn’t live near her, has flown out maybe a dozen times so far trying to settle up the estate. Her friend owned a lot of very valuable real estate. It’s been two years and there are still a couple houses left to sell. The estate still has the money at this point. Once everything gets settled, it’s jackpot time for two small charities. Think tens of millions. One great part is that we’ve gotten to see my aunt a lot over the past couple years and she’s really gotten to know our kids.
In my state if there’s no will, the estate gets divided equally between relatives based on their relationship. It starts spouse, children, grandchildren siblings cousins etc.
If there’s no one, the state gets it.
If you are in the US each state has a statute that says where assets go with no will. If there’s no one in that final position, then the assets escheat to the state.
assuming they also have no will, and answering for the UK: the government gets it. Unless you died in Lancashire, then the King gets it.
Assuming they don’t have a will, Probate court would search high and low to find a relative to give your money to.
Even a distant cousin, or a grand-niece you haven’t spoken to in 25 years
If, after a reasonable search, they truly can’t find anyone to give your money to, then the state takes it for itself. This is very rare tho, as they can usually find a relative, even a distant one, to give your riches to
The same that happens to a poor persons money