International Probate Genealogists
Genealogical Research
The tracing of family relatives in unclaimed international deceased estates involves conducting detailed genealogical research in potentially a number of countries over a period of up to 150 years.
The process of establishing the relatives’ right to inherit a deceased estate varies significantly from country to country. Generally, it involves the following:
- Preparation of a detailed Family Tree of the deceased’s family.
- Determining who are the legal beneficiaries of the deceased estate in accordance with the laws of the country of domicile of the deceased. We have access to expert lawyers who advise on these potentially complex legal issues.
- Preparing a comprehensive List of Documents necessary to prove the relatives’ right to share in the inheritance.
- Arranging for the original or copies of documents to be certified by a notary with Apostille of the Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates to comply with international requirements.
- If necessary arranging for a relatives’ representative to fly to another country (typically the USA) to give evidence in Court regarding the family.
- Completing or obtaining other required documents and evidence for certain countries, such as Kinship Questionnaires, Declarations and even relatives’ letters for Australian and foreign authorities.
The process of proving relatives’ entitlements can take many months and even years to complete. We have the expertise, determination and patience to achieve the desired outcome.
Global Genealogy also engages expert lawyers in Australia and internationally to represent relatives’ interests to ensure that the administrator of the estate performs their duties properly, professionally and with full accountability.
During the course of our research we often find important personal documents which family members either did not know existed or did not know how to obtain. We provide copies of these important family records to family members as part of our service.