Deceased Cousin

[DelphineInTopsham]

I was notified of the death of a relative in January this year (her great grandmother and my grandmother were sisters). I know that she is a member of Lost Cousins, though I do not know under what email address: we had been corresponding about our shared ancestors for over 20 years, so I did not respond to the Lost Cousins contact when it popped up on my joining last year - partly because I already knew that she was ill. I don't know whether her immediate family has made any contact with Lost Cousins, and I'm not going to contact them about it. They have other issues to deal with. Should I be doing something?

 

[peter]

I was notified of the death of a relative in January this year (her great grandmother and my grandmother were sisters). I know that she is a member of Lost Cousins, though I do not know under what email address: we had been corresponding about our shared ancestors for over 20 years, so I did not respond to the Lost Cousins contact when it popped up on my joining last year - partly because I already knew that she was ill. I don't know whether her immediate family has made any contact with Lost Cousins, and I'm not going to contact them about it. They have other issues to deal with. Should I be doing something?

Please let me know when someone on your My Cousins page passes away.

There are several reasons for doing this: the first is that (as in this case) you're unlikely to be the only person they've been matched with; the second is that if I don't know that someone has passed away I'll continue sending newsletters to their email address; the third is that I won't know to contact the beneficiary they've nominated (if any).

Sadly in this case your 2nd cousin once removed didn't nominate a beneficiary - I hope this doesn't mean that there isn't anyone who will be continuing her research on the 7/8ths of her tree that you don't share with her. I'm sure her family would appreciate it if you were to put them in touch with me so that they can decide what should happen to her account and all the data she entered.