When you inherit money or even just a part of someone’s estate, it can be tempting to accept the windfall without questioning where it came from. But if you don’t know where your inheritance comes from and what it means for your future financial stability, then it could actually do more harm than good.
This information is remarkably accurate if there are any potential legal issues related to the person who passed away or their will. Private investigators can help make sure that your birthright is truly yours before signing any paperwork. This will protect you from unwanted legal confrontations due to other heirs, forged wills, and many more problems.
Location of Deceased Person
Locating the deceased person is crucial to carrying out successful probate. If you’re dealing with a will, you need to know where they lived at the time of their death in order to determine whether they left a valid will. If not, you can’t carry out their wishes. You also have no way of knowing who they are next of kin is or how best to contact them.
For example, if your father passed away in New York City but was living in Seattle when he died, that would be considered his home address. It doesn’t matter if he lived there for years or was just visiting NYC on business. It’s still where he considered his home to be at the time of his death and, therefore, where paperwork should be filed from when filing for an estate administration through probate court proceedings (even if there was no written will).
Hidden Assets
The sad reality is that when someone passes away, they may not leave all the details of accounts, personal items, and wishes. You could be in charge of your family member’s estate and have no idea what they wanted or even what assets they had to work with for distribution.
Hiring an experienced private investigation team will help to uncover these assets, so you have a better idea of what you are working with and how to best send information to the heirs involved. This includes finding those pieces that others may be trying to steal or hide from authorities.
Suspicious Behavior on the Part of Beneficiaries
If a beneficiary is not acting in the same manner as their other family members, you may have grounds for suspicion. You might notice that this person has purchased expensive items, put money into new bank accounts, and made large withdrawals from the account. This type of behavior could be indicative of an attempt to hide money from other parties involved in the inheritance case.
If you have suspicions about a beneficiary, it’s essential to act quickly and report your suspicions to your investigator as soon as possible so they can investigate further. You wouldn’t want a child of the deceased who had access to their accounts to empty everything and make a run to a non-extradition country.
Signs of Fraud in Wills and Contracts
It is common to suspect that someone has committed fraud when they attempt to take advantage of your good nature and generosity. That’s why it is essential that you know all the signs of fraud in wills, contracts, and other legal documents.
Forgery is common because there is money to be made. The incentive is clear. Someone wants the inheritance and is not willing to wait for probate or the wishes of the deceased and forges a new will that only benefits them. Our private investigators understand what key elements to look for in a will to ensure authenticity before proceeding.
Searching for Unknown Heirs
To determine how you can identify an unknown heir or how you can prove that a person is an heir, it’s important to know what inheritance means.
Inheritance refers to assets or property that must be divided among the people entitled to receive it. An heir is someone who inherits assets or property when their relative dies. In order for a person or entity (like a business) to be considered an heir, it must meet specific requirements under your state’s laws.
Private Network specializes in finding people that do not want to be found or are entirely unaware of a legal proceeding to which they may be a party. We have experts similar to skip tracing that can track down possible heirs to either validate their claims or disprove their heritage.
Check the Pros/Cons of Inheritance
If your family member was an organized person and kept good financial records, it should be relatively easy for you or your lawyer to check whether accepting an inheritance may be disadvantageous. But if they didn’t keep good financial records, then it will be more difficult.
If you are unsure how to go about this task yourself and don’t want to hire a lawyer just yet, then hiring a private investigator is still a viable option. A private investigator can help you find out if there are any hidden assets that could seriously affect the amount of inheritance money available for distribution.
In fact, some states require that the beneficiary must receive at least two opinions before they accept an inheritance to prevent fraud from happening. This concern is often enough that people start losing confidence in our legal system’s ability to protect them. You may think inheriting a house is fantastic until you realize it is a money trap that will take thousands of dollars and years to repair.
Potential Theft of Assets
Family makes business messy. Even someone that may have been your favorite cousin growing up can be easily tempted by a large lump of money or diamond jewelry that suddenly becomes available because of a death in the family.
Unfortunately, this means that some family members or interested parties will steal from the assets of the deceased. Our private investigators can work to uncover these thefts, help you build a case, and present this evidence to the proper legal authorities to ensure you receive what you are entitled to under the inheritance.
Hire Our Team Today!
If you have a family member who’s recently passed, it doesn’t hurt to make sure that everything is on the up and up. You want to know that your loved one’s final wishes were followed through with and there was no foul play involved. If a private investigator can help with these kinds of issues, then it’s certainly worth looking into hiring one.
When you hire an experienced private investigator, they’ll be able to find out whether there are any suspicious details surrounding your loved one’s death or if anything fishy has taken place since their passing. They’ll also be able to investigate whether someone had hidden assets from the will or estate for them to inherit what was supposed to go toward other people’s inheritance, as well as show whether someone was involved with fraudulence during contracts or wills before they were signed off by everyone involved (including yourself).
At Previn Network, we have years of experience working with probate courts, wills, trusts, and inheritance cases. Many of our PIs come from legal or law enforcement backgrounds with the insider knowledge to recognize fraud, forgeries, and appropriate steps for the dispensing of a will and inheritance. Give our team a call today, and let us offer you the peace of mind you need, especially when it relates to the death of a loved one.
