A Family Tree With Over 140 Descendants.

 A bank leverages HeirSearch’s investigative expertise to identify the rightful beneficiaries in a complex family trust.

The clock was ticking for a bank to identify and locate the descendants of a family trust. Husband and wife Andrew and Isabel Smyth, who had passed away three years earlier, had established The Smyth Family Trust. The trust had two purposes:

1)To pay for the education of Ryan Smyth (the settlor’s grand nephew) at a specific private school in Boston.

2)To assist certain individuals with college tuition.

There was, however, a twist. The trust needed to be paid out to the descendants of Andrew’s parents, Joseph and Anna Smyth, and could not be paid out to individuals who were adopted. Additionally, funds were to be paid out to all eligible descendants who were alive at the time of Andrew’s death.

Thus, HeirSearch had to meet the following objectives to satisfy the terms of the trust:

• Locate and identify all the descendants of Joseph Smyth and Anna Smyth;
• Determine if any of the descendants were adopted;
• Determine which descendants were living at the time of Andrew Smyth’s death.

As our investigation unfolded, we learned that Ryan’s placement in the Smyth Family Tree was not exactly clear. There was no public record of a “Ryan Smyth” consistent with the Smyth Family Trust. Furthermore, Andrew, Ryan’s parents, and his five siblings were all deceased, taking with them valuable knowledge of their family’s history.

Our investigation with the trustee led us to an individual named Donald Rian Smyth, who was born in 1998, the same year Ryan was believed to have been born. This discovery allowed us to narrow our search, getting us closer to discovering the unknown details about the Smyth Family lineage.

Ultimately, our researchers were able to verify that Donald Rian Smyth was indeed the “Ryan” we were looking for, and we provided his contact information to our client.

Additionally, our researchers established that the trustor had the following Level 1 heirs:

• 5 siblings, all of whom are deceased.
• 14 nieces and nephews, 5 of whom are deceased and 9 of whom are known to be living.
• 44 grand nieces and grand nephews, 2 of whom are deceased, 40 of whom are known to be living.
• 74 great grand nieces and great grand nephews, 2 of whom are deceased, 64 of whom are known to be living.
• 7 great great grand nieces or great great grand nephews, all of whom are living.

With the Smyth family lineage established and verified, the trustee could continue their work towards settling the Smyth Family Trust, concluding HeirSearch’s work on the case.

If you are a trust officer or trustee and need to establish heirship to satisfy the terms of a trust, HeirSearch can help. We offer no-cost, no-obligation consultations, even if you are not planning to start a search right away. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have — we look forward to connecting!

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Disclaimer: Although accurate in scope, all identifying information such as names, dates and locations have been changed in order to protect the privacy of individuals.
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