Relative is my uncle. He lives alone, not the easiest of people to get along with (just like my dad was), very independent and doesn't like many/any people, and estranged from his 2 ex-wives and his daughter. He's our only living relative on my deceased dad's side so my sister and I keep in touch with him by email - we are his next of kin.
I usually hear from him regularly, and if I email he emails back within a day or 2. Last email I had from him was a about 3 or 4 weeks after the last one I sent, which is unusual. All he said was he'd had a recurrence of previous health issues (didn't say what but he's had a stroke, problems with his vision, and a couple of other things). That was about 2 weeks ago. I phoned him at the weekend and there was no answer.
Both Dsis and I are sole beneficiaries which means his lawyer does have our names and addresses if he has passed away (I'm assuming we would be told?), but I'm not sure what on earth to do here - if he's in hospital then would we be informed? And by whom? Or should I be contacting someone in the US to say we're concerned? And if so, who?