Combining tradition and technology in asset investigations and heir location

To be successful today in asset investigations we need to keep our feet on the ground with traditional, old-fashioned legwork and research, yet embrace new and cutting-edge technology. Digital age technologies enhance our ability to find hidden assets and track down elusive heirs.

So successful investigations now demand a blend of tools and techniques that we know, and what we need to learn.

The cornerstones of investigation

Public records should always be the first stop in your investigation, which can reveal asset ownership, potential heirs and give insight into someone's financial responsibilities.

Poring through county and state records should produce a treasure trove of information. Tax assessor records show ownership, property transfers, tax obligations and liens. Probate court documents are always worth a look, because they will list the deceased's known assets, beneficiaries and heirs. UCC filings will show what assets were put up as collateral as a business loan.

Courthouse archives always produce a wealth of information. Civil suits, divorces, bankruptcies, and criminal cases all provide insight into an individual's financial situation and potential asset holdings. This is where having good relationships with court clerks helps. Because, even if all of a county's court records are online, many digital record-keeping systems are hard to navigate or are incomplete, and of course some county courts are still operating in the dinosaur age.

Despite the steady extinction of local newspapers, their archives - frequently available at your public library - can be particularly valuable. Obituary notices often list survivors, marriage notices or birth announcements. Keep in mind these faded out as newspaper staffs were gutted, but you would still find them in the mid-2000s. Paid obituary notices - and legal ads for businesses - remain a steady stream of revenue even in today's devastated newspaper landscape.

And sometimes there's no substitute for old-fashioned boots-on-the-ground field investigation. As you start to pull loose strings, put your people skills to work in conversations with neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances from their church or Rotary club. People are often more forthcoming when you're speaking face-to-face.

Try to build relationships with financial institutions, property managers, and probate attorneys, who have access to private databases that go beyond what's available through public records. And of course if you are a licensed investigator, you probably have more resources than property managers and probate attorneys.

Online databases and tools

Several government databases serve as indispensable tools for verifying heirs and tracking assets. These include the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) which verifies the death of individual Americans. States and counties all record vital information such as births, marriages and deaths. These can be crucial in confirming familial connections. And while some states, such as California, do not make Department of Motor Vehicle records available to the public, DMV records can help in asset locations by confirming addresses and ownership of vehicles - and not just cars. Smaller boats, RVs, and commercial vehicle information can also be found there. For larger vessels, check the U.S. Coast Guard Vessel Documentation Database.

Commercial databases are essential for asset investigations. Tools like LexisNexis, TLOxp, Clear, IRB, Equifax Employment Verification, Accurint, and Westlaw aggregate a wide range of information, including property ownership, financial assets, and known associates. These databases are particularly useful for tracing complex asset trails, such as identifying undisclosed properties or hidden financial accounts.

Services like FINRA's BrokerCheck allow you to look into investment accounts, which can include stock portfolios, retirement accounts, and other investment vehicles that might not be readily disclosed.

Social media platforms can be especially useful in tracing hidden assets or finding unknown heirs. For instance, a LinkedIn profile showing employment history might list a company that offered stock options. Someone's Facebook "Friends" list can uncover relationships that otherwise would be unknown to an executor. And Instagram's penchant for users' sharing glitz, luxury and travel could turn up a few gems, such as undisclosed property.

Another resource to tap is your favorite reverse image search. Say you find an image of someone on an individual's Facebook or Instagram. Plugging that image into a reverse image search could turn up a name, workplace, or other information that brings you some additional leads.

Similarly, genealogy websites draw from obituaries, census data and users' family trees which could help you fill in blanks, track potential heirs, and verify relationships through historical records.

Skip tracing software should also be in your toolbox. These programs integrate and organize vast amounts of disparate data points, making them invaluable identity verification, debt recovery and providing detailed views of someone's identities and assets. And the tools are relatively cheap: Skip Genie lets you do100 searches per month for about $60, with a modest per search fee for another over that. Other providers, IDI Core and Skip Smasher, cost about 50 cents per search.

The new frontier

While skip tracing software is best suited for finding people, assets, and physical-world information, emerging artificial intelligence tools focus on digital identity and online behavior, making them desirable for identity verification.

AI programs can dig deeper into someone's background by cross-referencing multiple data types, including some dark web sources, through their online activity and help identify connections, relationships or asset trails.

Although crypto assets are difficult to dig up through traditional means, there are tools called blockchain trackers that can help trace transactions by uncovering a digital trail.

Here's how that works: Software analyzes and traces transactions on blockchain networks. It maps the flow of digital assets through the publicly-stored decentralized transaction ledger. This shows transfers between digital wallets, helps identify patterns, clusters and transaction histories. They can also cross-analyze multiple blockchains to trace assets that have moved across different networks.

To be successful in asset and heir location cases, investigators today must combine the tried-and- true of traditional fact-finding with emerging technology tools. Technology enhances the reach of our investigations, but only so far as we're able to do the work necessary to interpret and verify the data we uncover, connect the dots between digital and real-world information, and apply our investigative instincts to uncover hidden leads and relationships that technology alone might miss. And remember, the old, traditional way, boots on the ground, is a must in some cases.

Harry H. Kazakian has excelled as the founder, chief executive officer, private investigator, and claims adjuster at USA Express Legal & Investigative Services Inc. Through expertise in insurance claims and criminal and civil matters investigations--from bad faith
consulting to wrongful death--he and his team at the Los Angeles-based firm have successfully defended various clients across several types of cases. He can be reached at: www.usaexpressinc.com (866) 528-7036.