Probate is the legal process whereby a will is “proved” in a court and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased.

Probate Research relates to the process of locating heirs and proving their right to an inheritance. In some estates there may be no known heirs, or there may be missing heirs whose names are known but their contact information is not. There may be also be known heirs from one part of the family, but another part of the family may be unknown. In all these instances, professional probate researchers work to trace the next-of-kin. Probate researchers are also called heir hunters, heir searchers, and forensic genealogists.

When somebody dies without leaving a will (intestate) and has no apparent beneficiaries, probate for their estate can be applied for and a grant made to the UK Treasury where it is held for a period of 30 years following the intestacy. If no entitled heirs come forward during that period, the estate passes to the Crown in perpetuity.

UK People Finder traces beneficiaries of those who have died intestate and whose estates have been passed to the UK Treasury. Through the Probate process UK People Finder helps entitled beneficiaries extract their entitlement to these estates from the UK Treasury.