ASSET INVESTIGATION TO FIND HIDDEN ASSETS DURING PROBATE

ESTATE AND EXECUTOR ASSET SEARCH

Executors have a fiduciary duty to identify all estate assets during probate so that funds and property are distributed appropriately to beneficiaries and heirs. However, surviving family members and legal representatives can only sometimes complete this critical task independently. It is relatively common after death to discover that a decedent’s financial records are inaccessible or incomplete.

Fortunately, conducting due diligence for unidentified and undisclosed assets is never too late. Our investigators can help you locate financial accounts at banks and brokerage firms and information about life insurance policies. We discover real Estate and tangible assets such as cars, boats, and airplanes. A probate asset search can also reveal ownership interests in corporations, shell corporations, personal living trusts, and family trusts.

Our goal is to remove the uncertainty from estate administration. Our investigative reports are court-ready and accompanied by a slew of supporting documentation.

A SUMMARY OF PROBATE ASSET SEARCHES

We conduct asset searches for probate cases that cover a wide range of financial accounts and tangible assets. Our general research interests include the following:

• Financial accounts (banking, brokerage, mutual funds, and retirement accounts) 

• Life insurance policies and annuities

• Individual/Family Trusts

• Real Estate and tangible assets (cars, planes, and boats) 

• Business interests (Including Private Companies, Shell Corporations, and Special-Purpose LLCs)

All searches follow financial privacy laws such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA).

DISCOVERING FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS

We use dependable methods and efficient resources to locate active bank, investment, and brokerage accounts.

For recently deceased individuals, available information typically includes:

• The name and address of financial institutions.
• The approximate balance of bank accounts.
• The market value of investment portfolios.

After a person dies, the relative transparency of personal accounts begins to deteriorate, and specific information becomes increasingly difficult to obtain through investigative methods as time passes. In such cases, once we have successfully identified the banks and brokerage accounts, the estate executor or personal representative should be able to obtain additional information (e.g., account type, status, and current balance) by making direct inquiries with the financial institution (s).

FIND LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES

We can identify applications for individual life insurance issued by one of the 450 companies operating in the United States and Canada. Over 180 million records dating back to 1996 are available to our sources. If you applied for a life insurance policy within the last 20 years, we could provide information on where you used it. The available details typically do not include the amount of coverage or the current status of the policy; once identified, the executor or beneficiary would need to obtain that information directly from the insurer.

In collaboration with beneficiaries and representatives of the decedent’s Estate, we also facilitate additional searches for life insurance coverage and annuity contracts through insurance industry associations and clearinghouses.

PROBATE DISPUTE INVESTIGATION

In some cases, heirs may have reason to believe the executor has breached his fiduciary duty to the Estate by making decisions and distributing assets contrary to the deceased’s wishes. Executors or family members will be accused of concealing or hiding assets. These concerns exacerbate the anxiety, frustration, and vulnerability that accompany the loss of a loved one and can lead to bitter division and discord in bereaved families.

We conduct diligent fact-finding for heirs and beneficiaries to determine if suspicious transfers from an estate have occurred. We can also investigate executors and estate representatives to see if they benefited personally from accessing the decedent’s assets and accounts. Not all fraudulent transfers are made posthumously in probate and estate matters. They can also happen before death when a person is mentally or physically incapacitated. End-of-life dementia or Alzheimer’s disease patients are especially vulnerable to financial exploitation, elder abuse, and undue influence. Our comprehensive asset searches typically include information on all transfers of tangible assets, such as real Estate, that occurred within the previous five years. The scope and timeframe of a search for suspect transfers can be expanded on request.

CASE STUDY: ESTATE ASSET MISAPPROPRIATION

An older woman in Chicago told her children she had $10 million in investments, but when she died, her executor prepared an inventory that listed less than $1 million in total holdings. Her family asked for a thorough asset search to confirm, identify, and track the missing assets. Our investigators discovered that the executor had drained the Estate and used the funds to purchase multiple cash-purchased condominiums in various states.

SEARCHES FOR AN HEIR

During the probate of a decedent’s Estate, before asset distribution, diligent efforts must be made to locate every beneficiary and heir. We assist legal, private, and banking clients in locating heirs and fulfilling this duty. Many missing heirs are named in the will and will be found. Often, these are simple cases that can be solved in a few hours of research and investigation. We provide verified current addresses and contact information for missing heirs, based on multiple sources and methods, including direct interviews. We also get proof of their identity and relationship to the deceased. Our investigators have successfully located thousands of people in all 50 states worldwide.

In the absence of a will, executors and court-appointed administrators are bombarded with compiling a list of lineal descendants with little information on the decedent’s personal or family history. Intestate heir searches may necessitate extensive research of public records and genealogical sources, such as birth, death, marriage, adoption, and custody records. Competing and contradictory claims may complicate intestacy proceedings. In some cases, investigatory interviews and forensic DNA testing of potential family members may be required.

Beneficiaries are sometimes estranged family members who do not want to be reunited with the families they left behind. Long-standing conflicts and resentments can complicate estate financial resolution even after several decades of absence. Our investigators have extensive experience dealing with sensitive family matters and strive to help all parties reach an amicable, positive answer. Professional investigators at Hudson Intelligence conduct their searches unbiasedly, with no preconceived or preferential outcome other than a complete determination of relevant facts summarized in a clear and accurate report.

UNCLAIMED AND ABANDONED ACCOUNTS WILL BE LOCATED.

If the individual has been deceased for several years, we recommend conducting a nationwide search of unclaimed property programmers. Unclaimed property (also known as “abandoned” property) refers to accounts held by financial institutions, insurance companies, and other businesses that have had no activity or owner contact for at least a year. Savings and checking accounts, stocks and bonds, uncashed dividends, trust distributions, life insurance policies, annuities, pensions, certificates of deposit, and safe deposit boxes are all examples of unclaimed property.

The amount of time it takes for an account to be considered “abandoned” or “unclaimed” varies by state, but it is usually five years. Before a report can be considered abandoned, the financial institution must try to find the account owner. If the attempt fails, the state (as custodian for the original owner and their heirs) takes over ownership of the abandoned account through a process known as “escheatment.” After an unclaimed account has been identified, heirs, beneficiaries, and executors can file a claim with the state treasury or another appropriate agency to release the funds.

Final Thoughts

You are welcome to contact “Martin Investigation Services “anytime by dialing 1-800-577-1080.