23 and NOT Me
23andMe is a personal genomics and biotechnology company providing genetic testing using single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping. We better know 23andMe as the company to whom you send a sample of your spit and it responds with a report of all those to whom you are related, including being 78th in line for the deposed throne of some European country. Having declared Bankruptcy in March 2025, 23andMe appears to have more challenges with its own future than our pasts.
23andMe, and related relative-locating services, resulted in a cottage industry of sorts whereby long lost, or better, never known, “relatives” appear after someone dies, claims to be related to the deceased as proven by the 23andMe report, and then demands assets or payments as the long lost relative is certain the deceased would have provided for him or her if only the relationship were known. These never known “relatives” suggest, i.e., threaten, estate challenges if funds are not paid to them. Of course, they make these threats out of love and affection for the deceased.
Proper Estate Plans anticipate these circumstances. In our plans, we expressly disinherit anyone who crawls out of the shadows and asserts such 23andMe relationships. These provisions are in addition to our standard Contest Provisions directing that no recovery is possible by anyone challenging the estate.
Do not allow your estate to be highjacked by supposed long lost and never met relatives who show up with a piece of paper confirming a DNA match. These same people could not be bothered to attempt to locate you during your lifetime, but suddenly appear when they smell money. Include the 23andMe exclusion in your estate plan.
Estate Planning Attorney Michael Geiger plans for contingency, including the unknown supposed relatives. Reach out for Michael at (901) 219-5549 or at michael@geigerattorney.com.