Locating heirs

Locating heirs involves tracing and actually finding persons who are already known to be heirs but who can no longer be reached or traced. In such cases, the focus is not on establishing inheritance rights, but on the practical and legal challenge of physically finding and contacting the heirs.

This occurs, among other situations, when heirs: a) have moved without leaving a forwarding address, b) have settled abroad, c) have had no contact with the family for years or even decades, d) live under a different name (for example after marriage or emigration); or e) have disappeared from official administrative registers. Without the heirs actually being located, an estate cannot be settled, even if it is clear who the heirs are.

In many cases, it turns out that heirs have left Belgium, sometimes several generations ago. Waves of migration, international employment and the dispersal of families mean that heirs may today be spread across the globe. Geritance has an extensive international network of specialised correspondents, enabling us to locate heirs almost anywhere in the world. This international cooperation is essential when Belgian sources run out and the research must be continued within other administrative and archival systems.

Locating heirs within Belgium can also be complex. Individuals may have moved several times; been removed from the population registers; become untraceable due to administrative gaps; or no longer appear in current databases. Geritance is therefore also regularly engaged by foreign genealogy firms and correspondents who need to locate and contact heirs in Belgium in the context of international estates.

Locating heirs is an indispensable step in the settlement of an estate. Until the heirs have been located and contacted, the liquidation and distribution cannot validly take place.

Depending on the case, we make use of historical and current population registers; migration and change-of-address records; local archival sources; indirect clues such as family context, addresses of relatives and former places of residence; and international cooperation with local correspondents. Every search is carried out with respect for privacy, legal limits and professional discretion.