The paradigm that all knowledge is available via the internet is a fallacy that is often repeated, usually by the same people who mocked Donald Rumsfeld’s statement that there are known unknowns and unknown unknowns.

If it were true that you could find out anything from the internet then there would be no need for journalists, the police or even heir hunters, however Donald Rumsfeld was right and when it comes to heir hunting, as he said, it’s the unknown unknown’s that are the difficult ones.

Probate genealogists use a variety of techniques when tracing beneficiaries, and it is often the personal touch that leads to the discovery of the potential beneficiary who could not be traced or the entitled heir who no one knew existed.

Talking to relatives of the deceased can reveal more information than the heir hunter would be able to find from other sources, especially when the deceased was elderly and the line of inheritance extensive and remote but there can be pitfalls. False memory, family secrets, forgetfulness or just incomplete knowledge. So although the evidence of a potential beneficiary can lead to new lines of investigation leading to that missing heir, they can also create a false trail.

Finders International have a network of over forty representatives across the UK who visit potential beneficiaries. Their investigative work can often produce new leads helping the office based probate genealogists trace new lines of inheritance.

An International dimension
The levels of migration to and from the UK over the years has been extensive, be it migration to Australia or Canada or from India or Europe, millions of people have changed their country of residence complicating heir hunters investigations.

In a recent case, one of Finders International’s representatives discovered that although the deceased’s family were from Derbyshire, potential beneficiaries had emigrated to Australia in the 1950’s. He then discovered that another line had emigrated to Canada at the same time.

This was not a problem for Finders International as apart from having offices in London, Dublin and Edinburgh Finders International have a worldwide network of probate genealogists who can trace potential beneficiaries wherever they may be.

Finders International heir hunters have been awarded Total Quality Management certification and are the first probate genealogy firm to achieve the international version of this ISO 9001:2008Standard as devised by the IAB (International Accreditation Board). Finders International have also been awarded ISO/IEC 27001:2005 Data & Information Security Certification.

Finders International heir hunters also provide Aviva missing beneficiary insurance, which protects Trustees and Administrators against the unlikely but possible event of an unknown beneficiary emerging after an Estate has been distributed. As agents for AVIVA, Finders International probate genealogists and researchers are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Finders International can also obtain Aviva insurance against a will being found which disinherits heirs who have already been paid, thus safeguarding heir from ever having to repay their inheritance once received.