They also employ specialized genealogical and investigative techniques to search public records and databases to identify the extended family of the deceased, often starting with no more than a name and date of death and in some cases looking for relatives as distant as second cousins.
It is also common for them to independently source estates classed as bona vacantia whereby research is undertaken at their own risk and expense with fees recovered via a commission-based agreement.
Key To A Fortune featured UK probate researchers, Blanchards Inheritance, who traced the heirs and handled the property.
As the population lives longer due to improved health, and is more mobile the problem of tracing missing heirs potentially becomes more difficult despite the growth of more web based research tools.
As a consequence, millions pass to the state, after a qualify period in trust waiting for claims from entitled beneficiaries, or being found by probate researchers or Heir Hunters.