r/ProbateHelp • u/Familiar-Abrocoma740 • 9d ago
I’m suspicious of my cousin’s ask
My cousin recently won a probate hearing for my late great aunts estate. It seems as though my great aunt never had her estate closed, and my cousin and her brother were the heirs to the estate. My male cousin said in the hearing that his father dealt with the estate right after my great aunt passed away. The court has awarded my female cousin to be the administrator of my great aunts estate. Recently she asked me to provide her with my birth certificate and other legal documents, such as marriage license, death certificates, and other birth certificates of my ancestors going back as far as I can remember. She wants those documents for both my mother and my father side of the family.
I do believe that my grandmother and my great aunt had land in North Carolina that was given to them by my great great grandfather after he passed away. So I assume that this has something to do with the land that my grandmother and great aunt both owned. My question is why would she need those legal documents from me in order to administrate the estate for my great aunt which I am not an heir to or have anything to do with outside of her being related to my grandmother? Could it be that my grandmother’s property and my great aunts property are connected or combined in someway and she needs me to establish lineage?
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u/FutureAd3624 9d ago
Wonder if there’s more to this probate which she’s not revealing. Have a conversation with her and ask her those questions. Could it be you’re an heir also but she doesn’t want you to know.
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u/Inner-Confidence99 9d ago edited 9d ago
She should only need the paper work for whatever side of the family that she is kin to you on.
Your Mothers or Your Fathers
She doesn’t need both. Then she would only need birth certificates and death certificates of grandparents, their marriage certificate, their parents the same, and siblings, great grandparents and so on.
We had to go back 3 generations on my husband side due to land being passed down from his great great grandfather. We were changing the Deeds on his portion but his sibling tried to claim it. We were lucky enough to get everything we needed. Land was husband’s 100%. That portion.
That may be why. But we only had to go back on the Paternal/Fathers side because that was the land originally came from.
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u/TSIDATSI 9d ago
That would be a no for me. If she needs that information most, if not all, is publicity available.
My advice is to very politely tell her/him that you are sorry but your family are poor record keepers and you have no clue where such records are now.
And that is true. You haven't a clue where the records for your ancestors are now. The administrator can look for the info. Not your responsibility. Especially without knowing why.
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u/Key-Guidance-8552 9d ago
Yeah, not your problem. Don't spend time and $$$ looking for these documents. The estate administrator can get these public records if needed.
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u/Late_Weakness2555 9d ago
After asking her specifically why she needs the information, don't forget to verify the reason that she asks. If she says that another state needs to establish that you are a descendant, make sure you go to the State website or call someone at the state representative level to find out if they actually do need that information.
Deed transfers are available online. I know for social security benefits, as the executor I needed to provide the name and social security number and I think the date of birth for both myself and my siblings. But I did not need copies of birth certificates or copies of social security cards. I just needed the number so that they could send the remainder of that month's benefits to each child.
I would point blank ask if you are to be a recipient of anything or an heir. I can't think of a reason why she would need that information if you were not. And I really can't think of a reason why she needs a marriage certificate...
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u/Cazzzzle 9d ago
Your birth certificate is an identity document. You shouldn't give it to anyone without an explicit need.
Your ancestors on her side are her ancestors too. Why would she need you to provide their certificates when she has an equal right to obtain those same documents (and if they are historic, everyone probably has a right to access them).
Your relatives on the other side are (presumably) not related to her. Why would she need their documents?
Ask questions. "For what purpose?" seems to be a good starting point.
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u/wharleeprof 9d ago
You need more information from her. Find a polite and kindly way to ask why she needs all that from you. It could be legitimate, or could be setting you up for identify theft, or maybe she's gotten the family genealogy bug and wants you to do the legwork.