In one response to this thread someone mentioned or asked how the list of hers came about. First the family members tell the administrator of the estate who the heirs are. However if there are no immediate heirs known to the court and the value of the estate is fairly large, a person, such as a lawyer, familiar with the probate courts may have a researcher find heirs to the estate. If the search is successful, the lawyer and the researcher receives a percentage of the estate. In NYC there are a number of people who do this research on a full time basis and make a good living at it. bob gillis bob gillis <rpgillis@bellatlantic.net>