The Lonely Death of George Bell (2015)
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
I had a great aunt who died and left my siblings and I a small amount of money. Her death was my introduction to wills and estates. The people who followed through on her will did my family an incredible service.
I can't imagine how hard it is to do this work for people who haven't got any friends or relatives who are in touch with the deceased person.
I'm glad to hear that there is a process and that the city and state governments try to do the right thing and to minimize theft from the dead and their families.
It's just hard to incentivise. I wonder what would? Would being payed work?
To get more thin, artificial connections that never used to happen, we give up the real ones. Now friends don't have to met up to get the latest news. They know everything already, so no need to met up with a real live person.
My advice is if you have a great friend in real life, do NOT friend them on Facebook!
Of course, as long as we've been wealthy enough to afford separate shacks, we've had people die in isolation without anybody knowing. It's not a new problem. But I think it's going to become more common, not less, unfortunately.
Otherwise, I'd be sceptical.