Missing beneficiaries and next of kin, found and documented.
A current registered address in a dated, rated report with the estate reference, or a dated note of what was checked when there is no result. Either way the file shows reasonable efforts. Nothing invoiced unless the person is found.
Where the address matters
An estate cannot be distributed until the people entitled to it are found, and a personal representative who distributes without reasonable efforts to find a known beneficiary carries the risk personally. Whether the route is a missing beneficiary indemnity policy, an application to the court to distribute on an assumption, or simply a letter that reaches the right person, the file needs to show what was done and when.
A dated trace report shows it: the current registered address with a confidence rating, or a written note of what was checked when there is no result. Under an intestacy the same trace finds next of kin who have moved or never been in contact.
How probate practices use it
Missing beneficiaries
Named in the will, moved without a forwarding address. The report gives the current registered address and the date, ready for the estate file and for an insurer if one is needed.
Next of kin on an intestacy
Relatives in the statutory order who have lost touch with the family. Each person is a separate instruction with the estate reference on every one.
First approach
Where you prefer, we deliver your letter and confirm it reached them, so the first contact comes from the firm rather than from a stranger.
Prices for firms
Every tier is charged only when a current registered address is delivered. Single instructions on the professional list, or a firm account from ten a month.
| Standard | £150 | Within 3 to 5 working days. £125 on a firm account. |
|---|---|---|
| Express | £225 | Within 48 hours. Worked the day it is accepted. |
| Priority | £295 | Within 24 hours. Same working day when instructed before noon. |
| No find | £0 | Nothing invoiced. You receive a short note of what was checked. |
Run by a professional investigator, built for the file.
Trace Bureau was founded and is run by a working UK investigator who has spent years locating people for solicitors, creditors, landlords and executors. Every instruction is read, worked and signed off by a person who knows what a real trail looks like, and the report is written for the person who has to rely on it: dated, rated, referenced to your matter, and priced for the work rather than the letterhead. About Trace Bureau.
Related reading
Other work firms bring us
Service of proceedings
An address for service.
Read moreEnforcement and insolvency
Judgment debtors and insolvency work.
Read moreFamily
Respondents and absent parents.
Read moreThe report
What arrives on the file.
Read moreHow to instruct
Single traces and firm accounts.
Read moreCompliance
Lawful basis, data and records.
Read moreQuestions firms ask
Anything else, email [email protected] and a person replies within one working day.
Does a section 27 notice cover a beneficiary we know about but cannot find?
A Trustee Act 1925 section 27 notice protects personal representatives against claims from people they did not know about. A beneficiary who is known but missing is a different problem, and what insurers and the court look for is evidence of reasonable efforts to find them. A dated trace report, or a dated note of a no-find, is that evidence.
Can you make the first approach?
Yes. Where you would rather the beneficiary hears from the firm first, we pass on your letter and report that it was delivered, and share the address only where you have instructed us to.
What if the beneficiary has died?
We tell you what we establish and there is no charge for a UK trace that ends that way.
We need several people from one estate traced. Is there a quicker way?
A firm account with bulk upload: one spreadsheet, one report per person, one invoice with the estate reference on every line, and only those found are charged.
Do you trace people overseas?
Our service covers the United Kingdom. If the evidence points abroad we tell you, there is no charge, and we can quote separately.
Open a firm account
Reply within one working day. Accounts open after a short identity and purpose check.