Ten Cousins Claim Vivian Maier's Multi-Million Dollar Estate

Ten presumed cousins from France, Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary are claiming inheritance rights to the estate of Vivian Maier (1926–2009), the reclusive nanny-photographer whose work gained posthumous fame. After three years of genealogical research in local and parish archives, the group has petitioned the Cook County Probate Court in Illinois. A hearing is scheduled for July 17, 2018, to determine the validity of their claims. Maier, born in New York to an Austrian father and French mother, had a brother Charles who died childless in a New Jersey mental hospital, but it remains unclear if he had offspring—a factor that could upend the case. Maier's vast archive of 150,000 negatives and 3,000 prints was discovered by real estate agent John Maloof at a Chicago auction for $380 around 2007. Maloof later established The Maloof Collection, and in May 2016, an agreement was reached with The Estate of Vivian Maier. The court's decision could reshape both the legal and biographical narrative of the mysterious photographer.