I received a call today from a firm that tracks down mising heirs. A half-brother to my father left an estate to a what... half-cousin who died intestate in Florida. My siblings and I will receive a bit of money from the unclaimed property section. They seem to have correctly identified my siblings, including my late brother. I have heard of such firms before so I do not find it implausible. They get some of it for doing the paperwork verifying family relationships.
So I checked the Florida unclaimed property website which in spite of the name seems to be a Florida government agency. Anyone had this experience?
It appears they charge an incredible premium for this.
I spoke with an attorney in Florida who immediately knew who I was ("I'm a fan") and walked me through the not terribly hard process of establishing a claim on the estate, death certificate of the late Cramer gives birth county which gives birth certificate to show ancestry.