I know someone who died who had friends who cared about him deeply, but no family. He had a sister who wouldn’t talk to him and no one knew how to contact her, or even if she would care to know her brother had died.
He never made a will even though he knew he was dying.
I don’t know how much money he had when he died, probably not much, but he was never poor. He had some pieces of jewelry and some other nice things.
From what I understand the government (I don’t know if it was county, state, or what) cremated him and the remains on a shelf somewhere. I was very upset his closest friends did not have an opportunity to have something from his belongings. Not for the money, I just mean a piece of jewelry or nicknack to have as a memory. His dearest friends either were appalled by the mere idea of implying they would try to take anything from his estate or others just didn’t know how to go about it. There really was only 3–4 people who were so close to him that I felt they should have gotten something, plus they all wanted a burial for him, which didn’t happen.
They briefly tried to locate the sister. They wanted her to have the opportunity to do something if she wanted to, but their efforts failed. I assume the government either sells or auctions his items off eventually. I don’t know if he owned a home at the time of his death. At times in his life he owned a home, but he had broken off a relationship a couple years before he became I’ll and might have been renting, I don’t know.
He was an incredible guy. Years ago I worked with him and he caused me a lot of fun and joy at work. He also helped me when I needed help.