What would be the status of the share of a legatee or heir who cannot be found?

Full question:

My grandmother left equal shares in her property to me and two other cousins. One of them had gone to Russia 4 years back. Six months after he reached Russia, we stopped getting calls from him. Our family has been trying for the past three and half years to trace him with the help of police and private detectives, but did not get any information about his whereabouts. What will happen to his share now?

• Category: Wills and Estates
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: New York

Answer:

In New York, a person who has not been heard of for three years or more even after diligent efforts have been made to trace him shall be presumed to have died on the date on which such unexplained absence commenced. So, your cousin may be presumed to have predeceased your grandmother which means he may not get any share in the property. The law is stated in N.Y. Est. Powers & Trusts Law § 2-1.7 that reads:
 

“(a) A person who is absent for a continuous period of three years, during which, after diligent search, he or she has not been seen or heard of or from, and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained shall be presumed, in any action or proceeding involving any property of such person, contractual or property rights contingent upon his or her death or the administration of his or her estate, to have died three years after the date such unexplained absence commenced, or on such earlier date as clear and convincing evidence establishes is the most probable date of death.
(b) The fact that such person was exposed to a specific peril of death may be a sufficient basis for determining at any time after such exposure that he or she died less than three years after the date his or her absence commenced.
(c) The three-year period provided herein shall not apply in any case in which a different period has been prescribed by statute.”