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Frequently Asked Questions

Interested in learning more about HeirSearch? Here are a few frequently asked questions that you may find helpful.

Who We Serve Understanding Search Types

SUPPORTING A SEARCH

Have You Been Contacted?

Has an HeirSearch researcher contacted you?

If so, you might be a potential beneficiary of a trust or estate, or you might be able to help us find an heir or beneficiary. These inquiries can come as a surprise, and you might have questions about our process or your role in it.

We promise to treat all inquiries with sensitivity. We guarantee we’ll never use our information as leverage to increase fees, unlike our competitors, who may reach out to heirs and require them to sign a contract to give away up to 50% of their estate before disclosing any details.

Yes. HeirSearch has specialized in providing forensic genealogical services to the legal and trust professions since 1967.

All HeirSearch research is conducted with client authorization. We’re hired by executors, administrators, trustees, fiduciaries, bank and trust officers, and their counsel to locate potential heirs. We will never contact you in search of a finder’s fee.

We’ve likely contacted you for one of two reasons:

We believe you may be entitled to money or assets in a trust, or an estate with or without a will, or
We believe you may have information that can help us in our search.

We only collect enough information to help us conduct a thorough search. We do our best to respect personal information and family matters.

We supply our clients with copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates to legally prove their relationship to the deceased.

Wait times depend on the size and complexity of the search required. Court proceedings and administrative processes can take months, and it may take our client time to contact you.

Our forensic genealogists find missing beneficiaries, but we do not handle asset distribution. The executors, administrators, trustees, fiduciaries, bank and trust officers, and/or counsel in charge of the case will contact you with details.

No. Our fees are paid by our clients and are never a percentage of your inheritance. Our dedication to finding heirs A Better Way means that we never charge percentage-based fees, unlike most of our competitors.

Feel free to get in touch with us for further information. However, our research and data are the property of our client. Please direct all requests for specific information to our client managing the file.

REQUESTING A SEARCH

Do You Need to Locate an Heir for Probate?

HeirSearch is a leading heir-finding firm. We solve probate cases of any complexity, even when they span multiple genealogical connections and geographies. Let us find the heir you’re looking for.

Understanding Search Types

We welcome the opportunity to work with executors, administrators, trustees, fiduciaries, bank and trust officers, and their counsel. As a general rule, we do not offer our services directly to the public. However, if you are a private individual seeking missing heirs in your capacity as an executor or trustee of a trust or estate, we invite you to have your attorney contact us.

Our professional search services are provided exclusively to the business community, law firms, and trust institutions. We do not provide services to private individuals searching for life insurance policies, unclaimed money, estranged family members or other personal search endeavors.

In legal matters, HeirSearch searches for specific individuals, classes of individuals, or groups of people (related or unrelated), and provides any required legal documentation and supplementary information to prove and establish the identities of these individuals or related family members, alive or deceased.

Most heir hunter services charge a percentage (33% on average) based on the value of the estate. As a non-percentage-based fee firm—and to minimize your fiduciary risk—HeirSearch always provides a set fee upfront based on the type of search and your requirements, never on the size of the estate.

We offer hourly and flat-fee rates, quoted on a case-by-case basis.

Yes. Since 1967, we’ve conducted searches throughout North America and in more than 65 countries worldwide. See what our clients are saying about us.

Our clients are often surprised at how little information may be required for us to begin their search. Our Account Manager will review your case with you to determine the type of research needed to solve your case.

We have provided professional heir search services for more than 58 years and have successfully resolved almost every type of search imaginable.

Thanks to a combination of specialized education, training and experience, our research experts are highly qualified to find missing heirs and beneficiaries. Since 1967, this knowledge and expertise have resulted in an average success rate of 97%.

Depending on the scope of the search, it can take weeks or a few months to complete the search and secure relevant documentation. We keep you advised of our progress and next steps with regular updates and research summaries, including the identified heirs. We will update you immediately if significant discoveries occur.

We guarantee that our findings are accurate and provide evidence to support our research.

Yes. We provide monthly summary updates on search progress. If there are major breakthroughs, we contact you immediately.

All reports can be created in affidavit format, ready for court presentation.

Yes, in the amounts of $2,000,000 and $5,000,000, respectively. We are proud to be claim-free.

Yes we do, on searches we work. Contact an HeirSearch Account Manager for more details.

If you are a media professional with a question about HeirSearch, please submit your inquiry using the Contact Us form.

Over the years, many of our services have been developed in response to our clients’ needs and suggestions. If you would like to suggest how any of our services could be improved or new services to consider adding, send us your requests using the Contact Us form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have You Been Contacted?

Do You Need to Locate an Heir for Probate?

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