Heir tracing for deceased estates in South Africa.
An estate cannot be finalised while an heir is missing, and R2.4 billion sits in unfinalised estates for that reason. xverified builds the family lineage from Home Affairs records, finds and verifies each heir, and gives the executor an audit trail the Master's Office and the other beneficiaries can rely on.
- Sector exposure
- R2.4bn in stalled estates
- Core sources
- DHA lineage · Master's Office
- Output
- Audit trail for heirs
- Pricing
- Success fee per verified heir
The executor knows there is an heir. Not where, or sometimes who.
Estates stall for predictable reasons: an intestate heir nobody in the family has spoken to for years, a child from an earlier relationship the family does not mention, a beneficiary who has moved provinces, or a named heir who has since died leaving heirs of their own. The executor’s account cannot be lodged until each of them is identified and reached, and the Master’s Office will ask what was done to find them.
Trust administrators face the same problem on distribution: a beneficiary class defined years ago, with members who have married, moved or died since.
Lineage first, then the person.
- 01
Anchor the deceased
Identity and date of death confirmed with Home Affairs; the estate located at the Master's Office where it was reported. - 02
Build the family lineage
Home Affairs birth, marriage and death records expanded from the deceased: spouses (civil and customary), children, and where an heir has died, the next generation. Drawn as a family map in the case. - 03
Reconcile with the will and the family's account
Named heirs are matched to the lineage; people in the lineage who are not in the will or the family's list are flagged for the executor's attention under the intestate rules. - 04
Trace and verify each heir
Current contact details from digital sources, then field tracing where needed. Identity verified with Home Affairs, certified documents and signed consent collected, bank account confirmed in the heir's name. - 05
Deliver the audit trail
A pack per heir and a case summary of the family, the relationships, the records that prove them and the steps taken, dated, ready to attach to the liquidation and distribution account.
Enough to lodge the account.
- Family map
- Every heir and their relationship to the deceased, with the Home Affairs record behind each link.
- Verified heirs
- Home Affairs-verified identity, certified ID copy, current contact details and a confirmed bank account per heir.
- Unrecorded heirs
- People in the lineage who did not appear in the will or the family's account, flagged with the record that surfaced them.
- Untraceable heirs
- The steps taken and dated for any heir who could not be found, for the executor's application to the Master or payment into the Guardian's Fund.
- Audit trail
- The immutable journal of the case, exportable as a single document.
Single estates or a book of stalled matters.
Executors and fiduciary firms engage us per estate or across a book of stalled matters. Either way the engagement letter comes first, the fee is charged only per heir verified to the agreed standard, and the executor pays the heir on the estate’s own rails. See pricing.
Estate questions
How do I claim money from a deceased person's estate?
Claims are made to the executor appointed by the Master of the High Court, who is named in the letters of executorship. If no executor has been appointed, the estate is reported to the Master's Office in the district where the person lived. An heir who cannot be found holds up the whole distribution, which is where executors engage a tracing agent.
Can I check for an unclaimed inheritance online?
There is no single national register of unclaimed inheritances. Unclaimed estate money is paid into the Guardian's Fund, which the Master's Office administers and which can be queried through the Master's offices. Unclaimed retirement and insurance benefits of a deceased person are searched separately on the FSCA's Unclaimed Benefits Search. Our guide on checking for unclaimed benefits lists the public tools.
What is an audit trail for heirs?
A dated record showing how each heir was identified, which Home Affairs and Master's Office records prove the relationship, how the heir's identity was verified, and what was done to find heirs who could not be traced. The Master's Office and the beneficiaries can rely on it when the liquidation and distribution account is lodged.
What if the heir has also died?
The lineage is expanded a further generation from Home Affairs records so the heir's own heirs are identified, and the executor of the heir's estate is located through the Master's Office if one was reported. The claim pack shows both generations.
Do you trace heirs outside South Africa?
The lineage and identity verification are South African. Where an heir has emigrated, the digital trace points to the destination and we work with the executor on the appropriate route; field tracing is South Africa only.
Find your
unclaimed.
We start with a scoped sample sweep under a short engagement letter, typically 5 000 dormant records, so you see the recovery rate before you commit to a full programme. You pay only for beneficiaries we trace and verify. See how pricing works.