As a leading legal technology provider, we develop innovative solutions which help private client professionals improve efficiency and reduce risk – particularly when it comes to identifying assets within an estate.
Our Financial Profile Service is a comprehensive asset and liability search ordered through a free, secure online portal. We contact more than 150 organisations, searching over 450 companies and brands including banks, building societies, investment managers, share registrars, pension providers and insurers to help identify accounts or policies held by the deceased. This enables private client solicitors to make further, more targeted follow-up enquiries where an institution confirms a profile match.
Emma Spicer, Assistant Estate Administration Team Manager at Irwin Mitchell explains:
“Where we are appointed as executors we use Estatesearch to assist with asset discovery to establish the full extent of the estate, and if we are assisting executors we will offer the service to them. Estatesearch’s Financial Profile Search helps us speed up the asset discovery side of the process.”
“We recently worked on a case where a lady had passed away where the local council had deputyship. This meant they had power of attorney over the monies held and so should have had full knowledge of all assets. However, because the lady had lived in a nursing home and deputyship had been awarded to the council due to incapacity it would have been particularly challenging to establish the full nature of the estate during life let alone death. When we completed a financial asset search with Estatesearch they discovered an unknown bank account. Further enquiries revealed an account containing £6,000 which we would have been unlikely to locate without this search.”
John Fowlers is another legal firm that also uses our Financial Profile Search. James O’Toole, Solicitor, John Fowlers Solicitors confirms:
“Estatesearch’s Financial Profile search includes AML and Identity Trace, Liability Search and Financial Asset Search. In the Financial Profile Premium, it also includes Company Directorships and an Unclaimed Asset Search that includes up to 40 additional pension and insurance providers to help locate forgotten accounts, policies, and shareholdings within 30 days.
“Several clients have been surprised and pleased when the search has discovered unknown accounts. These have all contained relatively small amounts of money which have not impacted the IHT position. However, the searches demonstrate the importance of due diligence for us as a firm, as unravelling the situation in relation to IHT if a substantial asset was discovered at a later date, would be highly complex.”
For many cases, the Financial Profile search confirms and provides evidence of what private client solicitors already know. However, there are numerous instances where assets have been discovered, some which are of significant value. In December 2023, we estimated that we had uncovered well over £1.5 million of unknown assets on behalf of private client practitioners working on probate cases. This represents <1% of the total volume of orders that Estatesearch had processed in the previous 12 months. Since 2023 we have increased our client base by 30%, so that figure is likely to be far higher. We have been made aware of some examples of assets being uncovered worth thousands of pounds.
Cinzia Duncan, Senior Associate, Harper Macleod one of Scotland’s leading full-service law firms explains:
“Estatesearch’s Financial Profile search proved invaluable [in one case], quickly identifying six bank accounts containing hundreds of thousands of pounds plus an annuity. Uncovering these unknown assets has enabled us to move forwards with the Executry process and will ensure the beneficiaries will now receive what is rightfully theirs.”
Tom Bottomley, Solicitor at Ewart Price an expert legal team based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire confirms:
“To our client’s surprise, a significant investment was uncovered by the search of around £38K, which had ramifications for the inheritance tax position. Our client is now reassured that no other assets will come out of the woodwork and no stone has been left unturned.”
As a result of our Financial Profile Search WSP Solicitors was able to identify an unknown £265k life insurance policy which paid out to the estate.
On behalf of Archer Rusby, Estatesearch’s Financial Profile Search helped confirm an unexpected discovery of investments worth around £190,000 for the estate which had originally only been believed to be worth around £20,000.
Correct identification of assets and liabilities is essential to ensuring proper distribution of an estate and fulfilling the legal obligations of Executors. Failure to identify an asset at the appropriate time can lead to contention and negligence claims between Executors and Beneficiaries, HMRC fines for understated IHT and additional fees charged for re-administering the Estate, costs which must be borne by the Estate. However, with accounts increasingly being managed online, families and their executors face real challenges when it comes to identifying and locating the assets of the deceased. Over time, it’s easy for individuals or families to lose track of pension pots, premium bonds or life insurance policies. In our own research survey of 2,000 UK residents, we found that 38% of people don’t know the whereabouts of all their loved ones’ accounts.
As a result, it has been estimated that there is now over £200 Billion in unclaimed assets in the UK. Our Financial Profile Service offers a practical solution to this growing issue. With reports being returned within 30 working days, the search can provide peace of mind for beneficiaries and ensure legal firms have completed due diligence on behalf of clients. It also provides a clear audit trail to demonstrate the steps undertaken to identify all assets and liabilities in an estate.
As well as the Financial Profile Search, Estatesearch also offers a range of additional services including, Trustee Notices, Overseas & UK Bankruptcy Searches, Unoccupied Property Insurance, Early Distribution Insurance and Share Valuations. With no registration or subscription fees, our customers simply pay for the disbursements they need, when they need them.
For more information about Estatesearch please see: https://www.estatesearch.co.uk/
This article was submitted to be published by Estatesearch as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.
