We usually receive assignments to locate missing and unknown heirs to estates from partner companies in the United States, Canada, Western Europe and Australia, who follow probate cases at the local level. If somebody dies without leaving a will, without a surviving spouse and without surviving children, more distant relatives may be entitled to inherit. These relatives are often not immediately known, and must be looked for, sometimes in more than one country. As a first step, the case-originating firm conducts research locally, and in the event their research leads them to Central or Eastern Europe, Family Tree is commissioned to locate the legal heirs.

In most cases, even with minimal information, we manage to identify a common forefather. Then, by researching the other branches of the family tree, we locate the legal heirs. This process can take quite some time and involves great expense.

Each country, as well as each state of Australia and of the USA, have their own inheritance laws that regulate which relatives are entitled to inherit, how shares are divided among the heirs, what documents are needed to support entitlement, etc.

The sources we usually use during research (registers, censuses, obituaries, directories, newspapers, etc.) are accessible at national, county and city archives, registry offices and libraries, as well as from organizations that have gathered specific information such as, for example, of Holocaust victims and survivors, war casualties, etc.

Searching for and finding you required substantial effort and expense. We are ready to continue taking all necessary further action on your behalf, covering also all further costs involved, including the attorney's fee. We offer our services to our clients entirely on a contingency basis. Subject to getting your claim recognized and your share of the estate paid to you, we ask that you convey to us a percentage share of the amounts we obtain for you -- completely at our risk and expense. Should we be unable to make a successful claim, we will not charge you for anything, and expect nothing in return.

All information found during this research is handled confidentially, is never made public and is made available only to the court or other jurisdiction disposing over the estate.

What are the steps of the probate process, and when should you expect distribution?

Having located you and obtained your authorization, our work is far from finished. We still have to gather the often complex set of documents the authority approving heirships will accept, that many times require certification at more than one level, translation, duplication and secure conveying to the decision-making authorities.

The lawyers specialized in estate matters - selected by our foreign partner companies, all members of the local Bar Association or Chamber of Advocates - are also at your disposal, their fees covered by us and by our foreign partners. When distribution of the estate is finally made to the legal heirs, the attorney handles this with guaranteed reliability and financial responsibility.

The whole process is time-consuming. The estate administrators and/or probate courts must complete substantial work before they authorize distribution. They settle debts, pay for funeral and probate expenses, liquidate real estate and other holdings, and examine the claimant heirs' right to inherit. Only after all these responsibilities are satisfied, do they release proceeds to the legal heirs. This may take months, sometimes even one or two years.

The fact that through the contingency agreement we are also financially interested in the process and that our compensation depends on the amount of the share you receive guarantees a speedy and trustworthy representation in obtaining the greatest share possible.