Probate research

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Probate research is the process of finding heirs and proving they have a right to an inheritance. Some estates have no known heirs, while others have missing heirs whose names are known but whose contact details are not. Succession law decides who the legal heirs are, whether they are relatives or someone named in a will. Heirs may be unknown, or they may have died before the person who left the will. In every case, probate researchers try to trace the next of kin or the named heirs.

People who do this work are called many things, including heir hunters, probate genealogists, and forensic genealogists. Laws about who inherits vary a lot between countries and, in the US, from state to state. So researchers must understand the law to know who is legally entitled. They are not necessarily lawyers, and their backgrounds can vary. They use specialized genealogical and investigative techniques to search public records and databases, often starting with just a name and date of death and sometimes finding relatives as distant as second cousins. The heirs they identify may know little about the deceased.

Probate researchers are hired by solicitors in the United Kingdom or by estate attorneys in the United States; in other countries they may be hired by notaries. They may also handle estates classified as bona vacantia at their own risk, with fees paid on a commission basis if they succeed.

There is public interest in probate research, with TV programs about it in several countries. As people live longer and move around more, tracing missing heirs becomes more difficult, even with online tools. Many people do not write a will, or make poor or invalid ones that can be challenged. When there is no valid claim, estates may pass to the state after a waiting period, or be found by probate researchers.