20+ years of experience in
Forensic Genealogy.
For the past two decades, our team has been helping customers with a variety of complex genealogical research projects. We've spent thousands of hours combing through records in the archives of central Europe. In addition to typical family history research, we're often hired by law firms to conduct forensic genealogy in order to identify living heirs.
More recently, we've begun searching for abandoned properties ourselves and tracking down the rightful heirs. Often there's a race to solve the cases before the government seizes the estates through the escheatment process. Our small team is able to quickly and efficiently take an estate through probate. As such, we're able to work on estates that are too small for the larger firms.
Our Probate Process
Long before we contact an heir with an offer, we've already spent dozens of hours searching through land ownership records, tracking down living heirs, and carefully documenting the chain of heirship. We base our offers on the size of the estate, the number of living heirs, and any complications in the ownership.
Document Collection and Preparation
The heirs are responsible for collecting certified copies of documents proving that they are the rightful heirs. This is usually the most time-consuming part of the probate process. Once all of the documents are collected, we prepare them for use in court.
The Costs
European Claimant Services pays all the costs of taking the claim through the probate court. The costs can be significant and include: document preparation, back taxes, court fees, official appraisal, and contract preparation. We also pay the real estate commission and sales & capital gains taxes when the property is sold. We take all the financial risk.
Final Settlement
Once the estate is successfully taken through probate, we promptly pay the heirs as per the contract.