What is Probate Genealogy?

Probate Genealogy is a crucial part of the legal world, helping probate professionals with their workload on a daily basis. Also known as probate research, or even heir hunting, the core service offering is locating difficult to find beneficiaries named in wills, or establishing and finding the relevant next of kin in cases where there is no valid will, known in the legal world as dying intestate.

In its simplest form, probate genealogy is the work of reuniting beneficiaries with what is rightfully theirs and this specialist work not only saves lawyers and probate professionals time, but also ensures that the estate is distributed accurately too.

Probate genealogy should not though be confused with family historians. Probate genealogists do not, as a rule, offer family research services, though this can be a byproduct of the main research undertaken.

Researching in this sector can be complex, detailed and often international, as cases can involve crossing national and even continental borders. Case managers simply follow the research, wherever in the world it takes then.

You might think that in this ever-connected world that we live in, finding beneficiaries would be relatively straight forward, yet this is not often the case. People forget to update their contact details when they move residence, drop off electoral rolls and other government databases, or in some cases simply don’t want to be found. 

This is a fact of life in a world which deals with death. In fact, investigations by Anglia Research indicates that probate genealogists are more in demand than ever.

In cases of intestacy, probate genealogy becomes particularly important as it can often be unclear as to whom is entitled to inherit assets where no valid will is in place to follow. In fact, according to recent analysis, this is a particularly prevalent issue, as it shows that almost two in three deaths in the UK last year was intestate. 

The research work carried out checking family trees and verifying entitled beneficiaries can save lawyers and probate professionals a huge amount of time and effort. Probate research really dovetails with the work being undertaken by those in probate and estate administration teams up and down the land; in fact, all over the world.

How is the research undertaken?

Some would say that there is no particular wizardry to what probate genealogists do, but there is without doubt a special knack to it. In one short sentence, it is best described as this: Knowing where to look. Probate genealogy is a knowledge industry.

To become proficient in probate research takes years of application, building up knowledge and learning best practice methods from more experienced colleagues. The expertise lies in locating and correctly applying historical records to identify individuals, assets and estates. Over time, a ‘gut feel’ for things develops as knowledge is acquired.

It’s all about experience, experience, experience. There is certainly an element of knowledge being passed down and passed on, reflected in the fact that many probate research firms are family-owned and run businesses.

Unregulated Industry

The importance and relevance of probate genealogy firms is ever increasing, but it surprises many to learn that it is an unregulated industry, with no particular entry requirements. Therefore, reputation and professionalism are key, and many firms (though not all) have suitably qualified staff undertaking the research work. In fact, Anglia Research employ more accredited genealogists, legally qualified and independently regulated staff than any other UK probate research company.

Look for firms with professional body membership of Association of Probate Researchers or those with employees who are accredited members of the Association of Genealogists & Researchers in Archives, or have gained qualifications via CILEx. And whilst Professional Indemnity insurance isn’t a legal requirement, a firm that doesn’t have this cover should be disregarded.

And it’s not just people tracing where probate genealogists can help; they can also assist with asset reunification, global bankruptcy searches (also applicable to international property transactions), statutory will research, and establishing property ownership.

So next time you are faced with a not-so-straight forward probate case, don’t be afraid to instruct a reputable probate genealogy firm to carry out the heavy lifting for you.