Recent reports from major
insurance companies indicate a rise in claims from heirs to estates who have
been overlooked or missed out in research.
Probate practitioners who have been unfortunate enough to
experience a claim on an estate from an entitled person will know how much of a
problem this can be, especially if the claim surfaces after distribution has
already taken place. If no indemnity insurance policy was put in place prior to
distribution the consequences could be calamitous.
At Finders we have found around 50% of cases referred to us
with partial or incomplete research having been compiled contain serious errors
or omissions and often it is more time-consuming and expensive to undo and
re-do what has already been done(incorrectly) than it would have been to start
from scratch!
What are the main
causes of errors and claims?
As time marches on we will no doubt see an increase of
births to unmarried couples or single parent families which, from a research
point of view, can be almost impossible to detect. The traditional methods of
researching a family tree rely on the neat assumptions of marriage followed by
children which simply don’t apply anymore.
The internet research resources commonly used in compiling family tree data are notoriously
inaccurate and, in virtually every case my company handles, we come across such
errors in transcription which if viewed at face value could easily lead to
beneficiaries not being identified or located.
Family mobility is also increasing with time and if your
researcher does not have a strong international network further errors or
oversights can also easily be made. We have also been told by a major insurer that they have
simply had to stop issuing policies to some research companies due to the
number of claims their work has generated. Another less frequent problem is the sudden appearance of a
Will where the case had hitherto been assumed to be intestacy. Otherwise the
practitioner may be working to a Will and a more recent one surfaces. These can be major headaches, however, there
is such a thing as Missing Will Insurance too.
Minimising the risk
of claims
Proactive research is very important and by this I mean
talking to the families concerned, in order to uncover all the information known
to them about their family, but which may not be recorded properly or
accurately on internet databases. As this is usually time-consuming it is
perhaps not surprising how often such a relatively simple thing is overlooked,
especially where a smaller research company or a ‘one-man band’ is concerned.
Credentials and accreditations and the additional services
offered by a probate research company are often designed to minimise any risk
of claims and to assist you with compliance issues. Below I have listed some
simple things to look for when choosing a probate genealogist:
- Approved
agency status for a major insurer
(Finders for example are tied to Aviva for our insurance work)
- Financial
Services Authority registration for all insurance business.
- Professional
Indemnity Insurance cover up to £1.5 million is required by the FSA and should be
held by the probate genealogy firm.
- Data
Protection Registration – security of data is guaranteed by registration.
- A
Professional Conduct Code - probate genealogy is an unregulated industry and it
is good to see self-imposed standards in
the absence of formal regulation.
- Membership
of Association of Professional Genealogists or a similar body such as
AGRA, where membership means that the
heir tracing company abide by their Code of Ethics.
- ISO
9001:2008 Total Quality Management is a useful indicator of a company that is
concerned about its professional status.
- When intestacy
is assumed, have you checked for a will? Finders, for example, offer to search for
a Will, or for a more recent Will than the one in use (referred to as our
Missing Will Service). This service is often free of charge and once completed
may enable Missing Will Insurance to be taken out to cover against the risk of
a Will being found at a later date.
- UK research - ensure that research is conducted in-house
by fully trained staff in the UK.
- Overseas
agent network – if research is outside the UK check that your researcher has a
network of trusted agents worldwide. Remember that a case thought not to require
international searches may unexpectedly need this if a family or individual is
found to have emigrated and ‘disappeared’.
- Research
resources – do not rely solely on internet based sources! Finders have a vast
array of research resources in-house and we often have to refer to original
records to check for errors or omissions where we suspect something is wrongly
recorded. Being in London is also important
as many major research institutions are
only in the capital.
Daniel Curran has over 20 years’ experience as a
professional probate genealogist and is founder and MD of Finders (
www.findersUK.com)
