I am no longer in private practice, but I represented a number of estates a number of years ago. First of all, probate and intestacy laws are generally governed by the State in which the deceased was domiciled at the time of his (or her) death. As a consequence, the "next of kin" in one State could be different from the "next of kin" in another. Assuming an intestacy, the administrator of the estate would be the person responsible for providing the Estate Court with a listing of those entitled to share in the estate of the intestate deceased. More than likely, there would be an affidavit filed by the administrator that would indicate who, to the best of his or her knowledge, were those heirs entitled to share in the estate. It is certainly possible that the listing could fail to name a rightful heir if that person was simply outside the knowledge of the administrator. Most States have some type of legal publication that is required to be "advertised" in a newspaper within the confines of the deceased's home. This publication would state that creditors and possible heirs of the deceased would have a prescribed amount of time to declare their connection to the estate. In summary, a lost heir tends to remain a lost heir because of the lack of contact to the decease. However, the estate papers could be very valuable. For example, there may be real estate deeds that flow from the administration of the estate so that legal title to the real estate can be conveyed by the estate. These papers are particularly invaluable. Good luck! TRobin9682@aol.com