STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In Staten Island's first recorded will in 1781, the handwritten document specifically expressed the wishes of Thomas Doctey, a slave owner.
Doctey left almost his entire estate to his wife, Elizabeth, and put aside money for his funeral expenses. He also instructed that his slave, ''Jack,'' be forever free and given the sum of 20 pounds.
In the will, which was written on wax paper in old English, he said Jack is "freed from being a slave to any persons ever."
Hundreds of years later, many people aren't writing wills and are leaving fortunes behind.
In the case of Roman Blum, a wealthy real estate developer from Annadale, he left behind a $40 million fortune when he died in 2012.
"Blum is extreme," said Anthony Catalano, the Richmond County public administrator. "It's (death) not something they like to discuss. We can do a better job of getting the word out."
Blum is not alone.
Just on Staten Island, one resident died with a $2 million estate while a few others left hundreds of thousands of dollars for families to sort through, according to court records.
"For the most part, people die without wills," said Ronald M. Cerrachio, chief clerk of Surrogate's Court.
According to a 2015 Rocket Lawyer estate-planning survey by Harris Poll, 64 percent of Americans don't have a will. Of those without a plan, about 27 percent said there isn't an urgent need for them to make one -- and 15 percent said they don't need one at all.
NO ASSETS, WHY HAVE A WILL?
According to US Legal Wills, most Americans don't understand why they need a will and have varying excuses for not getting one.
Here are the four most common ones:
- "I don't have any assets, so I don't need a will?" There is no way to predict what your assets will be when you die, so even if you don't have a penny, you should have a will.
- "I'm not even old yet." It's a bad idea to write your will just before your die because, obviously, you won't know when that is, the site warns. Also, wills should be written when individuals are of full capacity and updated throughout the course of your life.
- "It's obvious who will be receiving my (stuff) anyway?" Actually, it's not that simple because every state has its own laws for distributing estates with no will, the site says. It's a misconception to assume everything will be given to your spouse.
- "I'm going to wait until (this event happens) before preparing my will."Some Americans feel they should wait until they get married or have a child, but the problem with that strategy is that life constantly changes, the site said.
DYING WITHOUT A WILL
Every state has its own laws on how to handle estates without wills.
When a person dies without a will, it's said they died intestate, according to nycourts.gov. When a person dies intestate, that person's property is distributed according to the law in New York.
Who gets what depends on who the living relatives are and their relationship to the decedent, the person who died, the site said. The family members who are entitled to a share of the decedent's estate when there is no will are called "distributees."
Basically, the distribution follows a family hierarchy, that goes spouse, children, parents, grandparents, etc., until all options are exhausted.
If no distributees can be found or if they are found and refuse to assume the responsibility of the estate, the public administrator's office steps in, said Kevin Elford, the court attorney for the Surrogate's Court Help Center.
Like in the Blum case, his wife died before him and they had no children. Blum appeared to have no written will and several petitioners have come forward claiming the estate. His case is currently pending in Surrogate's Court.
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR'S ROLE
Catalano's office handles about 110-120 such cases, he said.
In those cases when there is no will and no distributees can be found, the office liquidates the assets and puts the cash in interest-bearing accounts.
The staff then settles outstanding expenses, like bills, taxes, foreclosures, loans, etc., he said.
The office also takes care of the remains, and doesn't use the city system that ships unclaimed bodies to Hart Island. There, Rikers inmates dig the plots and place bodies in cardboard caskets, according to a recent New York Times article.
Often, poor records are maintained, making it hard for families to find their loved ones, the Times reported.
The other four boroughs use the land for burials.
Staten Island's program for giving everyone dignified funerals began four years ago. It started in the event family members, some from other countries, come back to claim their loved ones. Recently, Catalano said, a family from Italy came to Staten Island looking for a family member who had died.
"We're under strict rules not to cremate," he said. "In death, everyone deserves a dignified burial."
The funeral directors, cemeteries and casket companies have gotten together to provide these low or no cost services, Catalano said.
"It speaks to who we are as Staten Islanders," he said. "It's something this community values."
STATEN ISLAND STATS ON WILLS
There are three different kinds of state proceedings in Surrogate's Court -- probate, administration and small estates.
When the person who died did not have a will, then the proceeding is called an administration. If the decedent died with a will, then a probate proceeding should be filed, according to nycourts.gov.
If the decedent had less than $30,000 of personal property with a will or without a will, then a small estate, also called a voluntary administration proceeding, is filed, the site said.
About 4,000 cases are filed in Surrogate's Court annually, Cerrachio said.
In 2016, he said, about 40 percent were probate, 25 percent were administration and 35 percent were small estates. Those figures have remained steady for about a decade, he added.
"A small percentage of deaths result in necessary court proceedings," Elford said. "Truth of the matter is you can arrange assets, like beneficiaries and joint accounts, in a way you don't need a will, skipping the process altogether.
"The problem is you can forget something."
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