Practicalities of going NC

[Arpafeelie]

I went NC with my sister last year after years of snark and unpleasantness. I assumed that if anything major happened in her life I would hear through a cousin. Now I've heard that the cousin is also NC with her.

I am my sister's next in kin. She has health issues and lives alone. She has a boyfriend, but has a history of failed relationships. She works full time but has had issues at work. So long as she is working and seeing her boyfriend, I am not worried about her. But I would like know if she ended up out of work or single because at that point she would be very vulnerable and I would feel obliged to keep in touch.

What are the practicalities of going NC when you are that person's next of kin?

If something happened now, would the police contact me? I assume her work have my contact details as next of kin. I also assume her boyfriend knows enough about me to track me down. I don't know who her friends are.

Health-wise, her GP/hospital/police can contact you if they have NOK details but only if she was in a position where she couldn't give her permission (unconscious/lacked capacity/death).

If she told doctors/police, she didn't want NOK contacted and she had mental capacity, this would be respected.
HTH.

I'm mostly worried that if I stay NC now that our cousin has also gone NC, if her life takes a downward turn we could end up with one of those stories of someone found dead who has been lying dead for weeks. One of those "where were the family?" stories.