Finders International

Finders International works at the intersection of family history and estate administration: it researches who the potential heirs may be when someone dies and relatives have not been identified or located. Founded in 1997, the firm describes itself as a team of probate genealogists with an international reach. From London, it handles work for private clients and public agencies, including investigations that require locating people or assets in more than one country.

In private cases, the central task is to reconstruct family connections and document lines of descent to locate estate beneficiaries. The work can include heir searches, family-tree verification, and searches for administrators or executors when no appointed person is available. The research is intended to give professionals and families information that can help identify who may need to be involved in an estate.

The service list also covers documents and assets that may affect an estate: will searches, retrieval of legal documents, asset and liability searches, and tracing assets held overseas. For trusts and estates, the company offers trustee research and Section 27 Trustee Act notices, along with insurance connected to distribution risks. In Scotland, it lists specialized executry services, including research into legal-rights claimants.

Another line of work serves public agencies. Finders International works with councils, coroners, hospitals, housing associations, and care homes to trace relatives, heirs, or next of kin. These cases may involve empty properties, unclaimed funds, or funeral arrangements when family members have not been found. The firm also describes a free service to help local authorities bring empty homes back into use.

Locating relatives is not the only need the public-sector team handles: it also offers family-relationship verification for estate claims, research for Court of Protection matters, and training for teams working on these cases. For people who receive a message from the firm, its website explains that the contact may relate to a possible connection with an estate and provides a questionnaire for gathering family details.

The international side of the work includes tracing heirs, recovering assets, and conducting overseas bankruptcy searches. The company lists services for private and public clients in the UK and Ireland, as well as investigations that extend worldwide. It also identifies with the British television program Heir Hunters, which follows cases involving heirs to unclaimed estates.

Alongside its investigations, Finders International publishes guides, FAQs, glossaries, webinars, and training materials on probate genealogy and estate administration. These resources explain terminology and processes to beneficiaries, professionals, and agencies facing a case. Its work combines documentary and genealogical research with locating people, while the legal administration of each estate remains with the professionals responsible for that case.