Next in Line is a weekly newsletter for advisors, brought to you by Herbie, covering the practical yet consequential interaction between estate planning and family dynamics.
Susan Miller never knew her father Robert. Robert’s relationship with Susan’s mother ended shortly after she was born. Her mother moved with her from Ohio to Texas, and Robert instantly disappeared from their lives.
Susan grew up with almost no information about her father. Her mother rarely spoke of Robert, and the only concrete detail she had was his name on her birth certificate. Unfortunately, it was so common that it offered no real path forward—dozens of Robert Millers appeared in every search, none clearly connected to her life.
For decades, Susan lived with that uncertainty. She occasionally tried to piece together fragments of information, but nothing ever led to a definitive answer. Eventually, she stopped searching.
Decades later, commercial DNA testing arrived, and Susan’s life changed forever.