Um, help with research?

[mentalguru]

I feel kind of cheap but I'm kind of wondering if you guys could help me.

While I'm not working solidly and seriously at it just yet, I do have several ideas for original fiction. One of which IS set in our world. However it does contain some instances of the supernatural even if the set up is rather cliche in horror movies. (It's not exactly horror, but I do want it to be scary though.)

It involved three people mainly though. One American and two English kids which are cousins.

Anyway said cousins don't have a lot of experience with their cousin(s) on the other side of the pond because their sisters (by whom they are related) hate each others guts. In the end technically both the mothers were born in America but the younger sister scarpered off to London and left her sister to look after her ailing father. Upon father's death there are some issues with inheritance of an old house that their father was fixing up before his health declined and which belonged to his Uncle and he inherited and that's the reason said sister comes back is because of it. In the end they both get the house, and while one wants to sell, the other doesn't AT ALL.

Cue drama. (Though one sister might seem like a jerk too, she has her reasons for not sticking around and wanting the property sold).


But anyway, there will be all these (hopefully) interesting things happening in the spooky sense... but I'm wondering about the set up.

I mean I'm guessing it depends on what state you're in (I'm thinking the south though for sure, heck maybe even Lousiana? I don't know, still have to think about that sort of thing, it is in very early stages) but how do I find about inheritance battles which cross national boundaries? I mean would someone say having a dual nationality count against them at all even if the will said otherwise? What about taxes? Would the grnadfather of the cousins have run into issues and other things if he was fixing something up which is almost historical even if it is privately owned? (I. Assume. Nothing.)

Is there anywhere on the net in particular which be good and reliable to find out stuff like this anyway?

Heh, sorry if this bugs you guys, just curious if you had any ideas on sources of information.

[pitbulllady]

It is illegal in the US to have citizenship in both this country and another, so you can't really be a dual citizen, technically. Probate of any sort can be very complicated, and each state in the US has its own laws regarding wills and inheritance, so you'd first have to decide which state that your story would be in. I've got the most experience, naturally, with South Carolina, and we DEFINITELY have our share of ghostly legends, especially around the "Low Country", the coastal area from Georgetown down to Savannah, Georgia. Charleston, the oldest city in our state, is chock full of ghosts. In the old "upper crust" neighborhoods, there is still a very British ambience and even the accents still have a faint hint of old England there, while the outlying neighborhoods, which are mostly Black or Creole, have their own unique dialects called "Gullah"(mostly on the sea islands surrounding the coast)and "Geechee"(listen to Wilt on "Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends"; he's got a pretty noticeable Geechee accent.)
I don't know anything about wills that cross international boundries when it's not specified who gets what, though, or how the legal differences between England and whatever US state would be worked out.

pitbulllady

[mentalguru]

Thanks PBL! Especially for the headsup on the citizenship thing. Yeah, it's basically in it's foetal stages this thing. The odd thing written down and I know the three main characters (the cousins) and more of less what they'll be like. Plus there will be the odd bit of humour here and there.

I kind of do hope to include ghosts, though it's sort of inspired by a ghost story I heard in my area. About a ghost which will scare people who are holding grudges against one another so maybe they'll be too scared to argue and team up against the 'threat' or solace.

Which is pretty amusing to me because I'm weird like that.

Granted, THIS ghost just decides they can't stick those women harping on and on at each other so decides he wants to shut them up for good. He just wants to be left alone and to rest in peace and the atmosphere they bring is just horrible and affects everyone living and dead. But since I make it in the story that the dead can't kill the dead directly (plus if they came back as ghosts that would be bad for him too) so he resorts to other methods.

Thanks for the rest of the information too!