legal next of kin - can it be more than one person

virgin_moneysaver

my M_I_L is divorced and not well & we're trying to sort things out - are her three children equally classed as her next of kin or for legal & hospital matters is it her eldest child only?

floss2

We had similar problems when our mum was ill - with 4 of us. Elder bro was legal next of kin, but because he lives 300miles away I was the emergency contact on her hospital / hospice / GP records because I lived 5 minutes away from her home.
Also, me & little bro had Power of Attorney (under old system).

Maybe some arrangement like that would suit?

Savvy_Sue

Next of kin is whoever your MIL says it is, AFAIK.

When my dad was in hospital I checked on a visit whose contact details they had. They were more than happy to add mine when I explained that mum was very deaf and if she heard the phone ring she probably wouldn't be able to hear what they were saying, but I would be able to a) email her if not urgent and b) phone her and make myself understood if she heard the phone ring!

Alfie_E

Savvy Sue’s right. There’s no such thing as a legal next of kin. The law doesn’t say who that person should be, and there are no legal rights or responsibilities that go with it. This Next of Kin leaflet is one that’s commonly cited.

To have any recognition in law, a person would have to have power of attorney. If someone dies intestate, that is, without a will, there are rules that give a hierarchy of who stands to inherit. It considers marriage (and civil partnership) and bloodlines, and is similar to what people often think of as next of kin. But, that’s just for intestacy distribution. When a hospital asks for next of kin, all they want to know is who they should call in the case of an emergency and who to give the dirty laundry to.

Savvy_Sue

Going back to the OP, for hospital matters I'd say it was worth giving all the relevant contact numbers but agree an order of priority your MIL is happy with. So, with my Dad, it made sense to give my number although two of my siblings live a bit nearer, but neither of them are very easy to get in touch with. I would almost always able to answer my mobile or return a call within 10 minutes.

So, if there's a crisis, hospital can ring Contact 1. If unavailable, Contact 2. and so on. But if MIL prefers, Contact 1 could be her neighbour or even her ToyBoy (sorry if I'm being flippant) - it doesn't HAVE to be a relation. But you can't IMO expect the hospital to ring ALL the named contacts in a crisis. So making sure lines of communication are clear is worthwhile, and if MIL does have a ToyBoy, now's the time to make sure he has all your phone numbers.