Dying intestate in DC

josephperin

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SO, I have this side character who dies without a will. She has no family in the country, she has disowned all of her relatives living outside the country (none f them all that close by blood, anyway), very wealthy woman.

There is a stockholder waiting in the wings to take over her business.

1) Can a stockholder do that?

2) More importantly, how long will DC search for someone to give the property to before deciding it belongs to state?
 

mrsmig

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SO, I have this side character who dies without a will. She has no family in the country, she has disowned all of her relatives living outside the country (none f them all that close by blood, anyway), very wealthy woman.

There is a stockholder waiting in the wings to take over her business.

1) Can a stockholder do that?

2) More importantly, how long will DC search for someone to give the property to before deciding it belongs to state?

Just to clarify: by DC, do you mean the District of Columbia, or someplace else?
 

mrsmig

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Here's a link that might be helpful.

As far as the stock question, here's yet another link. I'm no expert on stocks, but I wonder if the woman's stockbroker, or financial advisor, or the company/companies through which she purchased the stock wouldn't have a standard beneficiary clause in their paperwork that would designate to whom the stock would go upon the purchaser's death.
 

Dennis E. Taylor

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SO, I have this side character who dies without a will. She has no family in the country, she has disowned all of her relatives living outside the country (none f them all that close by blood, anyway), very wealthy woman.

There is a stockholder waiting in the wings to take over her business.

1) Can a stockholder do that?

2) More importantly, how long will DC search for someone to give the property to before deciding it belongs to state?

You didn't specify if it's a private or publicly traded company. In either case, though, it depends on the stock distribution. As long as there's enough stock not in her name to form a quorum, the surviving shareholders will still be able to run the company. Her stock simply wouldn't be voted at general meetings. The live shareholders could vote in a new board, and that's that.

Your stockholder just has to get himself elected CEO or chairman or something.
 

ironmikezero

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Intestate death in D.C. is still subject to related statutes, regulations, etc. related to certain probate procedures (which may vary pursuant to circumstances). See link . . .

http://www.dccourts.gov/internet/globalcontentlocator.jsf

This is a potential legal morass you may want to generally avoid. If the convoluted machinations of probate are not entirely necessary for your story, I'd recommend keeping it simple, much like mrsmig and Angry Guy suggest.
 

WeaselFire

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SO, I have this side character who dies without a will. She has no family in the country, she has disowned all of her relatives living outside the country (none f them all that close by blood, anyway), very wealthy woman.

There is a stockholder waiting in the wings to take over her business.

1) Can a stockholder do that?

2) More importantly, how long will DC search for someone to give the property to before deciding it belongs to state?

3) Even more importantly, what do you need to have happen for your plot to work?

Jeff
 

josephperin

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3) Even more importantly, what do you need to have happen for your plot to work?

Jeff

I need the Probates division to be searching for an heir for a year. POSSIBLE?

Then the (evil) financier waiting in wings requests to be appointed as representative with an aim to buy the business for pennies. It's privately owned, but he lent her the money. LIKELY?

PS. I used the word stockholder in a caffeine-free state of mind. I meant financier. Apologies.
 

waylander

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I don't know how it works in DC but here in the Uk if someone dies intestate with no visible heirs and a decent size estate, then there are private companies who undertake to find heirs and take a percentage of their inheritance as fee. It doesn't matter that she has disowned her relatives; if there's no will they are entitled to a share of her estate. I would imagine the heir hunting companies would be all over this.
 
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Susannah Shepherd

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SO, I have this side character who dies without a will. She has no family in the country, she has disowned all of her relatives living outside the country (none f them all that close by blood, anyway), very wealthy woman.

How has she 'disowned' her relatives, if she doesn't have a will? Is there any other legal mechanism that can formalise disowning? Having said that, where I live, the pool of relatives entitled to inherit from an intestate is quite small so if her relatives are distant cousins it may not matter.
 

jclarkdawe

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You're asking about 500 to a 1,000 pages worth of answers.

It doesn't matter whether she disowned her relatives. Distribution is governed by the intestate laws in DC. Usually goes out at least to first cousins, and their descendants.

An administrator would be appointed to manage the estate. Usually would be someone suggested by either her attorney, her financial advisor, or her banker if family isn't around. Very rarely does money go to the government.

Search will continue for as long as it is progressing. Depending upon the amount of money involved is how serious the search is. Search will probably last five years or longer. Minimum time is governed by the statute.

Financier would be governed by whatever were the terms and conditions of the contract between him and the descendant decedent. There's no way he would be appointed administrator.

Unless she is very active in the management of her company, her death probably will only minimally effect the company.

Jim Clark-Dawe
 
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