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Probate held up by missing heir

ChiselphaneChiselphane Registered User regular
in Help / Advice Forum
I am a beneficiary of a will, a distant uncle from South Carolina I never even knew existed passed around this time last year and since my father has also passed, my sister and I were named beneficiaries. The probate process has gotten stuck though, there is one beneficiary that the bank handling the case has not been able to locate. I believe there is a set amount of time they are required to look for him, and I gather that if they can't find him they set his portion aside in its own trust or something along those lines, but I've had no luck finding out what that actual time frame for searching for him is for South Carolina. The person handling the case has been pretty communicative but on this one point she keeps dodging the question (which feels a bit worrisome to me but maybe there's a reason)

Any of you legal types have an idea? Thanks

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    EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    Are you sure the whole thing isn't an identity theft scam?

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    bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    The way you're describing it it seems like a modification of the Nigerian Prince scam.

    You haven't sent any money yet, correct?

    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
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    HefflingHeffling No Pic EverRegistered User regular
    The best legal advise is "Talk to a lawyer".

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    EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    bowen wrote: »
    The way you're describing it it seems like a modification of the Nigerian Prince scam.

    You haven't sent any money yet, correct?

    Or personal information. Get ye to a lawyer.

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    ChiselphaneChiselphane Registered User regular
    LOL I guess I did write it poorly! No it's a genuine case, some of my surviving uncles knew the guy, I am just mostly estranged from that side of the family hence not knowing who he was. I guess a better way to put it would be:

    Does anyone know how long an executor of a will in South Carolina (regulations seem to vary by state) is required to search for heirs before proceeding to distribution?

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    a5ehrena5ehren AtlantaRegistered User regular
    I hate to say it, but this might actually be a better question for r/LegalAdvice. I don't think we'll have anyone in H/A with expertise in this exact situation.

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    ChiselphaneChiselphane Registered User regular
    Oh I know, was just a long shot. Thanks all

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    BlarghyBlarghy Registered User regular
    For SC, as far as I know, you're looking a minimum 8 month wait time (this has nothing to do with missing heirs, its just the time creditors are allowed to come forward with claims on the estate). Otherwise, once that period has finished, you're correct that the missing heir's portion should be set aside in a trust. The complication to that may come with respect to real property divisions, where its not as simple as cash to set aside, or that the bank simply hasn't yet done any of the work to start that 8 month period ticking (taking out the necessary announcements and so forth).

    Its been my experience that if someone isn't telling you a timeline, its probably because they haven't actually started it yet.

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