Heir Research/Asset Recovery Research
Heir Research also known as Asset Recovery Research Purpose
Heir Research is research that is done to determine living descendants or heirs of a particular individual.
Last Will and Testament
Heir Research is also referred to as Asset Recovery Research by companies who deal with mineral rights issues. A mineral rights issue is when a gas, oil or other mineral company what to survey or drill on a site they must have the mineral rights owners of that properties permission.
Selling property does not necessarily mean you sold mineral rights and can be seperated. The company wishing to mine those mineral rights must then negotiate a lease to do a survey of the property for minerals they are seeking. Generally this is a five year lease. Surveys are done by the company and if they choose to drill or mine the minerals they generally have negotiated to pay Royalties.
On Asset Recovery research, ForGenerations charges research and/or a part of the lease fee as well as a smaller portion of the royalties which is lower and more economical for our clients than other research companies. Contact ForGenerations at 801-947-1897 for details on Asset Recovery agreements.
It should be noted that laws very by state as to who is entitled to mineral rights benefits. Divorces and remarries can affect benefits and in many cases remove them from legitimate heirs. Ex. Some states state that if a man remarries the descendants of his last wife are the only ones entitled to benefits or rights. Consult your states laws for details. Also the state where the mineral rights exist is the one with jurisdiction, not the state you may be residing in.
Heir research can be more difficult due to the number of possible descendants of a specific ancestor. Also the living heirs generally have less published records that are not private for researchers to find them. Privacy laws vary by state but restrict access to birth records in many states.
A variety of records, databases and services are utilized to locate living individuals. Public records to include land records, city directories, school directories, military records, social networks and media are all used. Published family histories, church records, and vital records are also used where available. Newspapers and Cemetery records can also be researched.
Genealogy and Research Forums, Location forums, Historical Societies, and published genealogy databases are other resources that may be used in this research.
The scope of the research must also be determined. Generally heavy biographical research is seperate from standard genealogy or family history research.
The main focus is finding linking documents that prove connections to existing heirs. Locating addresses and phone numbers for contacts may also be included depending on the scope of the research. Generally parents of minors are the only ones listed with contact information.
Heir research can involve multiple sessions depending on the number of heirs and generations to be researched. In most cases only one surname per session and geographic county location can be researched at a time.
Budgets are normally set based on some preliminary research. ForGenerations works up to that budget but cannot guarantee all work can be done as the number and locations of all the heirs are not known at the time research is started.
ForGenerations has experience working on such projects that help you determine the best approach to take. Call us at 801-947-1897 to get started today.
