Genealogical Services
One of State Trustees' unique strengths in managing estates is our proven track record in locating beneficiaries. Unlike most executors, solicitors or trustee companies, State Trustees maintains a dedicated team of research professionals to help ensure that the right funds are paid to the right people.
Our Genealogical Services team is the largest group in Australia dedicated to probate genealogy, and has successfully located thousands of individuals across the world.
Despite the complexity of many cases State Trustees' researchers proudly achieve a 95% success rate. Many executors, whether in Australia or overseas, rely on State Trustees' proven genealogical expertise to locate missing or unknown beneficiaries. For further information, see 'Need Assistance?'
What is Probate Genealogy?
State Trustees' Genealogical Services team are experts in probate genealogy, a specialised discipline which incorporates historical genealogical research, private investigation and paralegal work. Our researchers identify and trace those people entitled to inherit from an estate – such as beneficiaries named in a Will, or next of kin who are identified as beneficiaries because no Will exists.
Whilst family historians use genealogical resources to trace a person's ancestry through as many lines as possible and as far back as one can, probate genealogists rarely need to go further back than two or three generations on a person's maternal and paternal sides before tracing all members of a generation and all their surviving descendants.
Family historians collect anecdotes about family members and may be interested in anyone who is a relative of the family they investigate. Probate genealogists are limited by the law in who they can seek information on, and must obtain complete legal proofs for all events and relationships in order to complete a 'proof of kinship'.
How do you determine who should be a beneficiary?
Where no valid Will exists for a deceased person, probate genealogists follow the legal formula set out by the Government of the state the person resided in, to establish who the next of kin are and what their share of the estate will be. In Victoria, this formula is found in the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (as amended). To identify and locate an heir, State Trustees' researchers utilise a vast array of tools when conducting searches, ranging from electronic and web-based databases, through to family photo albums, old letters, electoral rolls, censuses, microfiche records, birth, death and marriage certificates and more.
Need assistance?
If you are an executor of an estate and are seeking assistance locating beneficiaries, State Trustees' Genealogical Services can provide you with expert advice and assistance reconstructing the testator's family tree and locating their heirs.
The complexities of intestacy law (which varies significantly across Australia's states and territories) and the difficulties in locating missing heirs mean that many executors send an estate's funds to the Crown (State Government) or to Unclaimed Monies. State Trustees' Genealogical Services team of research professionals are able to assist in such cases to ensure that all beneficiaries are correctly identified and located so that funds may be paid.
Our team works on a fee-for-service basis (an hourly rate) rather than taking contingency costs from the estate or a beneficiary's share. This ensures a fair outcome for the legitimate heirs of an estate, whilst also minimising the burden on the executor. You control the costs, set the budget, and receive regular progress reports. Our Genealogical Services team also provide free no-obligation quotes for their services.
On occasion, State Trustees' Genealogical Services has also been called upon to locate other individuals, such as witnesses to a Will, a missing executor, or even the heirs to a long-forgotten plot of real estate. Our team of researchers is happy to assist in such cases, and has a very high success rate in resolving these complicated matters.
For more information or an obligation-free quote for State Trustees' Genealogical Services
