What rights do I have as next of kin?
Full Question:
Answer:
Next of kin is the term used to describe a person's closest living blood relative or relatives.
In many legal systems, rights regarding inheritance and substitute decision making capacity (for example, in a medical emergency) where no clear will or instructions have been given, and the person has no spouse, flow to their closest relative of the age of majority, usually a parent or a sibling, but occasionally an adult child. However, there are people without any close adult relatives and, in such a case, decision making power often flows to a first cousin, aunt, uncle, or grandparent.
For example, if a person dies intestate, the laws of most jurisdictions require the estate to be distributed to the person's spouse and/or children. However, if there are none of these, the estate can often be distributed to the next closest group of living relatives, whether they be parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts & uncles, or even second cousins in extreme cases. If a person dies intestate with no identifiable next of kin, the person's estate generally escheats (i.e., legally reverts) to the government. Similarly, the decisions about funeral arrangements for an unmarried person without children are also made by the next closest relative.
In cases of medical emergency, where a person is incapable (either legally because of age or mental infirmity, or because they are unconscious) of making decisions for themselves and they have no spouse or children, medical decisions can be made by the next of kin in preference to the wishes of medical personnel.
