Taking the strain in difficult executries

Solicitors dealing with complex estates require sensitivity and also large swathes of time to complete the work. Whereas they will possess ample amounts of the former, they may struggle to accommodate the latter, due to competing demands.

Alan Eadie, owner of Eadie Corporate Solutions Ltd, is a former senior police officer, turned genealogist. He knows that his firm have all the skillsets and experience to relieve such burdens from solicitors.

When Eadie retired as a senior police officer, he still wanted to use his police skills in his second career and realised that tracing beneficiaries, specifically for solicitors, was a perfect fit.

He explains: “I gained experience in many policing areas. I was fortunate to be provided with the very best training in detective work, which was utilised throughout my police career and beyond. I also worked in specialised areas such as crime analysis and fraud, which ensured that my present line of work was a comfortable transition. My colleagues have similar diverse policing skills.”

Interviewing: an invaluable skill

However, Eadie still finds that the best training of all was in interviewing. He maintains that thorough research is a prerequisite in solid genealogical casework, but also believes that information obtained from families can be investigative gold. He goes on: “In our executry investigations, we interview people on a daily basis. We were trained to the highest level in interviewing techniques at the Scottish Police College, in being able to draw the best from those we speak to, and driving investigations on from there. You need to understand the interviewee, build a rapport, ask the right questions and be able to respond to the answers.” Eadie is also well aware that his firm represents its solicitor clients in such exchanges, and does so in a professional and positive light.

Whereas complex executry cases may be daunting for some, Eadie maintains his firm can happily address any challenges, thriving on all the cases it encounters, including ones that may be perceived as really difficult. The principles for good investigations are always the same: based on policing experience, solid organisation, thorough research/investigation, and conclusive interviews with family members.

To help relieve the burden on solicitor clients further, his firm will also facilitate the collation of relevant identification documents pertinent to each traced beneficiary.

Moving seamlessly on

Eadie highlights one recent estate he dealt with, where living beneficiaries were traced throughout the UK and also in various other parts of the world, including Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. The completed case was 100% solved and had a total of 73 traced beneficiaries. The firm also collated relevant identification documents for each traced person. He states: “That was a particularly enjoyable case with another positive outcome. We submitted our report to our solicitor client, along with an easily understandable family tree chart and all of the relevant identification documents, properly indexed. This meant they were able to move the estate seamlessly to an efficient conclusion.”

Eadie concludes: “We appreciate that our solicitor clients have busy schedules. Based on our experience and skills, our function is to take executry cases to one side and resolve them with the minimum of fuss.”