Trust Search Services
Distribute trust assets correctly and in accordance with the settlor’s instructions with proper identification and location of beneficiaries from HeirSearch.
SEARCH SERVICES
What are Trust Searches?
We assist trustees, trust administrators, and their legal counsel in identifying and locating trust beneficiaries.
Some of the most common situations requiring trust searches include:
- Revocable and irrevocable trusts when beneficiaries are unknown, missing, or hard to locate.
- Generation-skipping trusts where beneficiaries may be several generations removed.
- Charitable or contingent trusts with complex beneficiary structures.
- Trusts with international beneficiaries where locating individuals requires cross-border research.
OUR PROCESS
How The Trust Search Process Works
Since 1967, our Trust Search process has helped us locate tens of thousands of lawful heirs for legal, trust, and financial professionals at a 97% success rate.
Step 1
An Account Manager profiles your trust search requirements and provides you with a no-cost, no-obligation written fee quotation. Our search starts upon your execution of our Fee Quote.
Step 2
Your file is assigned to one of our professional forensic genealogical researchers. Our researchers collaborate on complex forensic genealogical issues to find solutions that are unique to each file.
Step 3
Your researcher contacts you to verify the service details, including information provided, reporting needs and deadlines. We clarify your research goals and timelines, and request copies of all relevant information, like birth and death records, wills or obituaries, and last known contact information.
Step 4
You receive a timely research summary (usually on a monthly basis), outlining the current status and we update you immediately if significant discoveries occur.
Step 5
When the search is complete, we contact you immediately. You receive a written report, suitable for court, that includes all supporting documentation required to establish the identities of the parties referred to in the report.
OUR TEAM
The Search Team You’ll Be Working With
After accepting your quote, you will continue to work with your dedicated Account Manager, who will remain your main point of contact. You will also have access to your dedicated Forensic Genealogical Researcher.
SUCCESS STORIES
Trust Search Success Stories
Explore our collection of client success stories and see how HeirSearch can help you. Note: We change all names, dates, and locations for client privacy.
An Heir Search Spanning the Globe
HeirSearch located and verified a decedent’s Level II heirs across multiple countries, enabling a California fiduciary trustee to fulfill the trust’s requirements and satisfy the court.
Locating Nearly Two Dozen Living Beneficiaries
HeirSearch identified and verified surviving issue of the Bonetti Family Trust, enabling the trustee to provide notice to heirs and properly terminate the trust.
Unveiling the Genetic Tapestry: DNA’s Crucial Role in Trust Termination
HeirSearch used forensic genealogy and DNA testing to confirm the biological descendants of Thomas North, enabling the trustee to accurately terminate the trust and conclude the estate.
Solving the Mystery of Missing Beneficiaries
HeirSearch successfully located missing trust beneficiaries through genealogical and public records research, enabling an executor and law firm to fulfill their fiduciary obligations and administer the trust.
From Egypt to Closure: Solving an “Impossible” Beneficiary Search
When a trustee faced the near-impossible task of locating a remainder beneficiary in Egypt, HeirSearch successfully uncovered critical civil records and verified the beneficiary’s family, enabling the trust proceedings to move forward.
Long Lost Grandson
HeirSearch located a long-lost heir to a trust, enabling the court to award the inheritance and reunite the family.
Cold Case Solved
HeirSearch located the rightful heirs of a woman under a bank’s guardianship after a decade-long search, allowing the bank to close the case and distribute her inheritance.
Gone Without a Trace
HeirSearch located a long-lost heir to a family trust, enabling him to receive his inheritance and benefit from the funds.
A Family Tree With Over 140 Descendants
HeirSearch helped a bank resolve a complex family trust by identifying and verifying multiple generations of eligible descendants to ensure proper distribution of trust funds.
Overcoming Familial Estrangement Through Forensic Genealogy
HeirSearch enabled the successful termination of a Special Needs Trust by rebuilding an estranged family tree and identifying multiple generations of verified heirs.
Contact Us for a Quote
Looking for A Better Way to find missing heirs? Get in touch with us today and we will provide a free quote based on the scope of your search.
WHAT WE DO
Looking for More Search Services?
Learn more about all our available search services.
Estate
We use our professional expertise to identify, locate, prove, and report known and unknown heirs, both domestically and internationally.
Notice
We help clients fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities in providing notice to heirs by supplying current contact information (or the results of our due diligence search efforts) to provide notice of estate or trust matters.
Property
We identify, locate, prove and report heirs, successors and assigns, or beneficiaries on matters related to Clear and Quiet Title Actions and Property Ownership.
Other Search Services
We also provide search services for class action suits, pension plans, mass tort plaintiffs, and heirs of wrongful deaths.