The Importance of Family Tree Verification: Safeguarding distribution of estates

The Importance of Family Tree Verification: Safeguarding distribution of estates

In France and Germany, probate research and the verification of intestate estates using professional firms is considered vital, on a par with the legal profession. Yet in the UK, we struggle to place probate genealogy firms fairly and squarely within the estate administration process.

The industry is unregulated, which is not necessarily a problem and should not deter solicitors. My firm adheres to voluntary codes and regulatory regimes that can provide reassurance. The public must feel confident that the probate research firm is not operating a scam. Think of those bogus emails where the sender asks for bank account details in return for millions of pounds for instance.

Over-reliance on family testimony

Another issue I see in the UK probate research industry is the reliance by the solicitor, administrator or executor on family testimony, without independent verification. Some solicitors accept the word of family members on who is or isn’t related to the deceased and by what degree of kinship. This can lead to incorrect estate distribution.

I once worked on an intestate estate of around £400k, where the solicitor wanted verification that their client was the sole heir to the estate. The client was an elderly lady who claimed to be her late brother’s sole surviving next of kin.

However, we discovered she’d disowned her nephew many years earlier and didn’t recognise him as part of her family. His ‘crime’ was to grow a beard to his waist and wander around his housing estate shouting and swearing. Once we had identified and located him, we established he had suffered from a mental illness for many years. In this case, half the estate rightly passed to him.

Children Forgotten

I have lost count of the children, siblings and half-siblings who have been overlooked or forgotten by solicitor clients referring cases to us. It’s not deliberate. Families lose touch, large families forget how many relatives they have, children are born out of wedlock and to single parents and, since 1927, adoptive families can legally inherit.

It is an excellent idea for the solicitor to interview their client before engaging a probate research firm, to make sure all relatives are accounted for.

There are four basic fee models available from most professional probate research firms. Freedom of choice is imperative to cover a variety of situations.

The four main options are:

1. contingency fees, where a beneficiary signs a percentagebased agreement with the probate research firm

2. an estate / trust contingency fee, where the executor agrees on a percentage-based fee from a named beneficiary’s entitlement

3. a budget fee paid by the estate

4. a fixed fee paid by the estate.

The basic model

Firms may name these fees differently, but most firms offer this basic model. Contingency fees are the most popular option.

They are seen as fairer in many circumstances--payable only on a successful distribution of an estate. An agreed budget or a fixed fee at the expense of the estate may be more appropriate, depending on the circumstances.

Probate research firms can usually offer budget fees payable by the general estate or contingency fees where the fee is agreed directly with a beneficiary or the executor and expressed as a percentage of the sum they receive.

There are different situations where one fee option may be more appropriate. For example, if there is no grant or no known next of kin to extract a grant, a fee payable by the general estate cannot be used, as there is nobody with legal authority to agree to such a fee.

Fixed fees ‘unfair’

Budget or fixed fees paid by the general estate diminish the whole estate value, which any next of kin who knew the deceased often sees as unfair.

If the probate research firm works to a contingency fee and fails to find any further entitled heirs, it usually receives nothing for its work. Still, the report can secure the vital indemnity insurance policy needed to safeguard the administrator.

There are dangers of being ‘hooked’ into using a firm based on a very low initial quote. Cheap does not necessarily mean better. It is often true that you get what you pay for, and this is not an area where it pays to cut corners.

Importance of insurance

An insurance policy against missing or unknown beneficiary claims is crucial. Sometimes, administrators seem confident they have identified all next of kin and consider taking out insurance cover against any further claims a waste of money. However, there are an increasing number of claims where no traditional documentation, such as birth certificates exists, and DNA evidence is also being used more than ever before.

If there is no formal birth or adoption certificate, a research firm will likely be unable to find ‘undocumented’ claimants. Insurers are unlikely to accept a genealogist’s report as evidence unless you use a recognised firm of probate researchers.

Using a recognised firm will often mean an insurance policy is instantly approved, saving you many hours of time. My preference would be to make insurance a statutory requirement on all £15k-plus estates or where a small estate indemnity is not being used. Things may go wrong, and the important thing is to be covered. 

By Danny Curran

MD of Finders International