Can long-distance relatives have a claim to an inheritance?
You may be too young to remember this, but there was a time when long-distance relationships were a lot more difficult to maintain. Before the days of cell phones and email, your options were limited. And let's be honest: If a person is truly in love with you, are they really going to care about the few extra hours it takes to send a letter over the weekend?
Inheritance
The answer seems pretty obvious: Of course, long-distance relatives have a claim on an inheritance. As long as they're related to you, they deserve their slice of whatever you leave behind!
The law
When you've got distant relatives, it's natural to want to keep in touch with them and maybe even invite them to family events like weddings or funerals. But if you're the inheritor of a large estate, you might have a problem if certain long-distance relatives try to lay claim to your inheritance. The law is clear on this issue: only heirs who have a physical presence in the deceased's home state have a legal standing to claim an inheritance from that person's estate.
Owning a property
In most cases, the place where a person lives is assumed to be his or her primary residence. However, when a person owns property in another state along with his or her home state, that other property may be considered secondary—for instance, if your mother had lived in New York for 20 years and owned a condo in Florida for 10 years, there would be no question that she was primarily a New York resident.
State
When there's no obvious primary residence and multiple people are clamoring for an inheritance from the deceased person's estate, it can become an issue of which state has the best claim on their property—in other words, which state has the most real ties to what they left behind. This can take some time and investigation to determine.
If you have questions, you can get a free consultation with the Best Probate Lawyers.
Parklin Law - Probate Lawyer
5772 W 8030 S, # N206
West Jordan UT 84081
(801) 618-0699
