I met someone with no relatives today

[nickyboy]

I believe the policy has been quietly dropped.

According to a documentary I saw, some villages and small towns have been left with a population skewed towards the elderly.

As you might imagine, that's caused some problems with lack of economic activity and the provision of services.

Nope, that was caused by the young people leaving the villages and relocating to the cities. Exactly the same happened in UK in the Industrial Revolution. The CCP almost never had a policy of one child in rural locations as they knew that it was important to counterbalance the drift to cities and because farmers relied upon children to take on the farming as the parents got too old

 

[Kingfisher101]

Well I was out today and I met a bald man!.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Well I was out today and I met a bald man!.

Sorry, I never noticed you. Where were you?

 

[Drago]

Well I was out today and I met a bald man!.

Oh, that was you! You should have said hello.

 

[Mr Celine]

Some 20 years ago a mate of mine received a solicitor's letter. An uncle he had never heard of had died and mate was his only living relative. No idea how they traced him, uncle was in Kent and mate was in Lancashire.
He inherited £500,000 which was enormous back then (and still is).
Mate's wife got grandiose ideas and we've now lost touch.

Something similar just happened to me!
It turns out my late father had a half sister who married a Nigerian prince! They're now dead and I'm the only beneficiary in the will.
I've just off to arrange a money transfer which they need to release the funds.

 

[Beebo]

Some 20 years ago a mate of mine received a solicitor's letter. An uncle he had never heard of had died and mate was his only living relative. No idea how they traced him

There are companies that do this. There was even a series on TV called Heir Hunters.
They track down any cases where people die without wills and locate relatives.
They take a percentage of the estate as a finders fee. It must be nice to get a windfall from long lost uncles they have never met.

 

[Tripster]

My son is an only child. My wife was an only child. At 46 this year and wife 41 it’s unlikely we will have another at our ages. It use to bother me and actually upset me that my 10 year old has no siblings.
My brother I spoke of on another thread has nothing to do with anyone and his kids are in mid twenties. My wife has cousins in Canada and other cousins she never sees so my son has no kids in the family at all. Then I think of how my brother has turned out and think even if my son had a sibling it doesn’t mean he would end up close to him with a big extended family.
Still worries me he has no siblings and is he missing out

 

[Bazzer]

I wonder how many have family they know nothing about. I'm not talking about your misspent youth but family that you've never met.
My father was an orphan and had no relatives. Mum had 12 brothers and sisters but was estranged from them.
My mum at the end of her life told me Dad, who had been dead for years, was married before. She also said that he'd had a daughter from this first marriage.
I always thought I was an only child but I may have a half sister out there.
I must also have many cousins from Mum's side but don't know one of them.
Truth is I'm not that bothered, they'd just be strangers if I met them.

My Mum and her two brothers were brought up in a childrens home. Her brothers went to different families and Mum stayed in the home until it was time to leave. Contact was lost and when I was researching her family history and she didn't want me to try to trace her brothers. A couple of years elapsed and after much persuasion she finally agreed I could try to trace them. One I couldn't as he had been adopted, but the other was traced; just after he died. For 16 years they lived 5 miles from one another. Much regret from my Mum, particularly when my new found cousin said her Dad had been unable to trace my Mum before he died.

 

[oldwheels]

I believe so, but anyone that does not leave a will is leaving a load of grief for your nearest and dearest, even if you have nothing to leave.

That is very true as my oldest son died with no will. The paperwork was extensive but I got a lawyer to handle everything which cost about £2500. Still worth the expense tho'.

 

[oldwheels]

I have two male grandchildren. Apart from them there are no males of that generation in my extended family. If they do not produce male offspring then the family name of probably 100 at least other people will vanish. The name of other branches of the family will probably continue but with no recent connection to my own branch which goes back to my grandfather and then has been traced to 1312 or thereabouts.

 

[MontyVeda]

... anyone that does not leave a will is leaving a load of grief for your nearest and dearest, even if you have nothing to leave.

Leaving a Will can lead to a load of grief too if someone contests it. Intestate Law is pretty straight forward and relatively fair, and as i understand it, cannot be contested.

My dad died without a Will. Mum got everything... it really is that simple.

 

[Brains]

Leaving a Will can lead to a load of grief too if someone contests it. Intestate Law is pretty straight forward and relatively fair, and as i understand it, cannot be contested.

My dad died without a Will. Mum got everything... it really is that simple.

My Sister died in 2017 with massive debts and no assets, no Will, no dependents.
It's now 2021 and we have yet to sort out the estate .......

My Brother-in-law died last month, with some debts, no assets, no Will, no dependents.
I expect this one to be resolved by 2027.

A written Will in both cases would have made life so much easier for all concerned.

 

[keithmac]

Me and my wife did our Wills a while back, the main thing was what would happen to our children if we both died (pretty miserable thought!).

 

[Andy in Germany]

I imagine that never knowing any relatives because you were abandoned at an early age might be worse than having lost them later.

Yes. It's caused serious psychological damage in my clients which in turn gave rise to addiction issues and other problems. In most cases they are intelligent people and would otherwise be capable of a normal life.