Success Stories
See how we have helped others just like you!
Not having a will can make inheritance cases challenging
Even the most daunting tasks can be achieved with persistence and hard work
The Never-Ending Family Tree
How a Man With No Known Family Ended Up With Over 150 Heirs
A man died, leaving only cousins as his closest relatives. He left no will and upon his death, some of his cousins began the arduous process of determining who was entitled to inherit the man's estate.
His maternal side consisted of only 3 aunts/uncles and 5 first cousins. His paternal side, on the other hand, was extensive, consisting of 12 aunts/uncles and 50 first cousins.
Many of the man’s cousins had already passed away, so their children needed to be located as well. Each of the deceased paternal first cousins had 5 to 12 children of their own, some of whom had also passed away.
The attorneys had large stacks of family history documents provided to sort through and a lot of pieces to try to put together in order to make sense of this enormous family tree. This is why they turned to Discovering Connections LLC to help identify and locate all of the individuals entitled to inherit the estate.
We jumped right in and started working. We:
​
-
Reviewed all of the family history documents provided to our clients
-
Made a research plan to ensure a thorough and systematic approach was carried out to correctly identify and locate all living individuals from each branch of the tree
-
Located vital records, obituaries, census records, and other documents to confirm the relationship between the decedent and each individual
-
Cross-referenced public records and government databases to locate current contact information for all living next-of-kin
​
After exhaustive research, over 150 living heirs were identified. We were able to provide our client with a thorough report, family tree charts, current contact information, and supporting documentation to prove the relationships of all individuals involved.
Schedule a free consultation today to see how we can solve your missing and unknown heir search case.
Disclaimer: This is an accurate account of a real case, however, all identifying information such as names, dates, and locations have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
Copyright © 2024 Discovering Connections LLC. All rights reserved.
A Little Goes a Long Way
How a Woman Without Any Known Family Suddenly Had a Full Family Tree
A widowed, childless woman died without a will and all that was known about her was: (1) her married name, (2) her date of birth, (3) her date and place of death, (4) her social security number, and (5) some basic information about her deceased husband (birth, death, SSN, etc.).
The woman's death certificate listed no relatives or close family. The attorneys on the case turned to Discovering Connections LLC to locate her next-of-kin. We love a challenge and were happy to get to work on this case.
​
Upon our review of the limited information, we:
​
-
Discovered that the couples' social security numbers were both issued out of state
-
Were able to locate a marriage certificate for the couple in that same state – which provided us with the woman’s maiden name
-
Found out that the woman was raised by a maternal aunt and uncle
-
Located her parents through an exhaustive search of vital records and newspapers
-
Built out the family trees of her parents to determine living next-of-kin
This research allowed us to take our client from having no known family members for this woman, to having over 55 known relatives. We were able to then provide our client with the woman’s complete family tree, detailing the woman’s surviving maternal and paternal next-of-kin.
Schedule a free consultation today to see how we can solve your missing and unknown heir search case.
Sometimes the smallest details can lead to the biggest discoveries
Starting with limited information, does not necessarily mean limited results
Disclaimer: This is an accurate account of a real case, however, all identifying information such as names, dates, and locations have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
Copyright © 2024 Discovering Connections LLC. All rights reserved.
Adoptions can be difficult cases to solve, but nothing is impossible
The unknown can be made discoverable if you look in the right places
Discovering Unknown Adoptions
How Adopted Children Were Located With No Identifying Information
A woman named her only surviving brother as the sole heir in her will. However, according to her state's legal requirements, upon her death, the estate was required to notify all heirs-at-law who were not named in the will, which included her deceased siblings' children.
The woman had four deceased siblings, all of whom had children. The surviving brother knew the names and contact information for the children of three of his deceased siblings. However, he believed the fourth sibling had put a child up for adoption as an infant.
The court required that the estate attempt to locate the supposed adopted individual or prove that the child was legally adopted. This would, per the state's inheritance laws, make the child no longer an heir-at-law requiring notice.
The only problem was, the family had no idea what the name of the child was prior to the supposed adoption, who the father was, or exactly where or when the adoption occurred.
This is when our client, a probate attorney handling the estate, reached out to Discovering Connections LLC to help. Adoption cases can be extremely difficult, even when the name, dates, and location are known, because many adoption records are sealed. With so little information, this case would be even more challenging. Using our knowledge of genealogical resources, we:
​
-
Traced the movements of the fourth sibling through records to determine where and when the adoption may have occurred
-
Located an individual who appeared to have had a connection with the fourth sibling and made contact
-
Uncovered information from that individual that led us directly to an adopted child of the fourth sibling
​
This extensive research led to the discovery of not only the adopted child, but the discovery of two additional adopted children of the fourth sibling, who were previously unknown by the family. Our research allowed our client to provide the court with documentation showing that the children of the fourth sibling were in fact legally adopted and did not require notification by the estate.
Schedule a free consultation today to see how we can solve your missing and unknown heir search case.
Disclaimer: This is an accurate account of a real case, however, all identifying information such as names, dates, and locations have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
Copyright © 2024 Discovering Connections LLC. All rights reserved.
What Our Clients Say ...
"I was referred to Discovering Connections from a colleague when I had a difficult intestate succession case. Christine was able to quickly make sense of the large stack of family documents and ultimately identified the decedent's 47 first cousins and their issue. I was so grateful for her hard work on this challenging case!"
Samantha
Probate Attorney
Washington
"Christine was very professional, organized, and thorough. She listened to my particular needs and her report gave me everything I needed. I am glad I decided to bring my heir search project to Discovering Connections."
Timothy
Probate Attorney
Texas
"We were required by the court to determine all heirs for an individual who died intestate in our county. Christine was very helpful throughout the process and I have a high confidence level that we have explored all avenues to identify all of the legal heirs of the decedent under Florida law."
Chester
Probate Attorney
Florida