Finding Missing Beneficiaries of an Estate: How a Professional Tracing Service Can Help
When someone dies, administering their estate is not always straightforward. One problem executors, administrators and lawyers can encounter is locating a beneficiary who has moved, lost contact with family, changed their name or even moved overseas.
At Auckland Investigations & Document Servers, we provide professional beneficiary tracing and people-finding services and have a proven track record of successfully locating beneficiaries for estates.
Why can beneficiaries be difficult to find?
Years may have passed since a will was written. A beneficiary may have moved several times, married and changed their surname, relocated overseas or simply lost contact with other members of the family.
In other cases, an executor may have only limited information to work with — perhaps an old address, previous employer, approximate age or the name of another family member.
This is where professional tracing can help.
How do we trace beneficiaries?
There is rarely one database that provides all the answers. Successful tracing usually involves combining information from a number of different sources.
We have access to a range of professional tracing tools and information sources and, depending on the circumstances, may use company and property records, electoral information, historical addresses, online and social-media research, business records and other lawful sources of information.
Often, one piece of information leads to another. An old address may identify a relative; a company record may reveal a more recent location; or information from several sources may allow us to confirm that we have located the correct person rather than simply someone with the same name.
Experience in beneficiary tracing
Auckland Investigations has successfully undertaken beneficiary and estate tracing assignments, including cases where the information initially available was limited or significantly out of date.
Our approach is not simply to search a name and provide a possible address. Where possible, we work to corroborate information from multiple sources so there is a reasonable basis for concluding that the person located is the beneficiary being sought.
We can assist solicitors, executors, administrators, trustees and families with tracing beneficiaries throughout New Zealand and, where appropriate, overseas.
Need help locating a beneficiary?
If you are administering an estate and cannot locate a beneficiary, send us the information you currently have. Even apparently minor details — an old address, middle name, approximate age, former occupation or relative's name — can provide a useful starting point.
Contact Auckland Investigations & Document Servers to discuss a beneficiary trace.
Comments