Genealogist by profession: who are the heir hunters?

If they were to ring at your door you can rest assured that there is something for you. The entity is not known in advance, but a legacy is certain if a genealogist looks for it. Three stories of heir hunters are told in the podcast Branches Of Chora. These are three emblematic cases faced by Coutot-Roehrig, a French company that has been involved in reconstructing family trees for over a century. They are finds of inheritance, but also family and human stories that are discovered in the story of Frances Berardi together with Nadia Spataforawho manages the Italian branch of Coutot-Roehrig and has been involved for over twenty years in reconstructing genealogical trees and hidden inheritances.

The beginning is always the same: the death of a person who leaves a legacy, but apparently has no heirs. From here begins the work of the probate genealogist. «They are lonely people, who die alone, with no known family», explains Nadia Spatafora, «and my profession is to look for the heirs of these people to give them an inheritance which can be a house, bank accounts, jewels, cars, but also everything that can have value, from books, to coins, to stamps».

Do these legacies come totally unexpected?
«Yes, it’s always a surprise and it’s the beauty of our job because they are only positive legacies, not debts that remain, which is why someone calls us the Santa Claus of the four seasons. When we go looking for a person, advancing the expenses ourselves, there is always a patrimony to distribute, even if modest and in any case we liquidate the inheritance in its entirety, including objects that could have less value».

And if an heir is not found?
“If an heir is not found or a will appears, we pay the costs upfront. I happened to not find the heirs of a legacy in Venice. I’ve sent teams of genealogists to Croatia and we haven’t found anyone. When no one is found, the inheritance goes to the state. The belated discovery of the existence of a will is the black beast for us: the inheritance goes to whoever is indicated here».

Who addresses you?
«It can be anyone: notary, lawyer or all the people who find themselves managing unclaimed inheritances. They are usually professionals. It may also be that we hear the news and take action. It may also be that the dead person leaves an apartment and that the administrator finds himself without a person to pay the expenses; in cases like this, the condominium lawyer contacts us».

What kind of legacy do you find?
“All kinds. Bank accounts with limited amounts, but also millionaire cases such as one of those told in the podcast which was of a homeless person who was actually a man who had billions in his accounts”.

A unique case?
“No, it happens, every year we have a couple of important inheritances, but a case like that of the homeless has only happened to me once.”

How does it work?
“It starts with the death certificate. From this we understand where the person was born, therefore who the parents, paternal and maternal grandparents are, up to the sixth degree of kinship which is the limit indicated by law. We go step by step in search of children, grandchildren, cousins ​​right up to the sixth grade. The main sources are civil status registers: birth, marriage and death. It is done like a police investigation in the logic of connecting people. Then there are the archives of the cemeteries, the military registers, of those killed in war, of ships in particular for Italians who have emigrated. This is how the family tree is reconstructed».

What do you need to study to do this job?
«The genealogist is formed by working with other genealogists. He must have a historical and legal basis, therefore history and law as a university course. He must be predisposed to curiosity, research and travel ».

How many are you?
«17 in Italy, 300 in the world, with a concentration in Europe. The international department is in Paris.’

Are there different laws for inheritances in the world?
«Yes, fortunately Italy and France are similar because they have codes that derive from the Napoleonic one».

Where does your income come from?
“It comes from the disclosure contract we offer to the heir when we find him. We agree with him on the fee which is a percentage of the inheritance and depends on the degree of kinship of the heir found. The farther it is, the higher the percentage because there has been a lot of work. If we know that the legacy is consistent we can decrease the percentages. In any case, for us the work is always the same whether the inheritance is one apartment or ten».

Do more women or more men do this job?
«More men because it’s a job where you travel a lot. I am one of the first women to have chosen this profession».

How did you choose it?
«I chose it starting from the family history that came from different parts of Europe starting from France and Italy. Being a genealogist represents the expression of my family branches. At the time I was living in Marseilles and I enthusiastically decided to develop this new job that didn’t exist in Italy».

How many cases do you follow a year?
“About 150 a year in Italy, around 5,000 in total”.

Are there cases where the heirs are not sought?
«Yes, because it’s a young profession and not everyone comes to us. There are cases that remain unsolved.

What is the reaction of those who receive the inheritance?
«At first they don’t believe it, there is distrust. Often they are elderly people, cousins ​​of the deceased, and they fear that it is a scam by trashing the letter we send. We always ask if we can talk to our children or trusted professionals».

The strangest case that has happened to you?
«In addition to that of the millionaire clochard, that of a daughter who was terrible. She cried saying that she had waited her whole life for her mother to pick her up and find her after leaving her when she was 8 years old. She had her inheritance of hers, but she said she would rather have a mother.’

Is DNA also used?
«We have never needed it, even in the case of natural children if recognized by the mother. The problem arises when there is anonymity at birth. The search stops immediately. We can read the complete birth certificate, but completely confidential information remains.

Do you rebuild families with your work?
«Yes, in this sense it is a very rich work. Not only do we pass on an inheritance to the rightful owners, but we also reveal a family history they did not know about. With the increase in separations and the internationalization of practices we find cases much closer to us, with second and third degree relatives, while once it was easier to reach the fifth or sixth degree. These are revelations that often change people’s daily lives».

Who would you recommend to do your job?
«To those with curiosity and patience and to those with a passion for research: it’s an exciting and difficult job. Logs are complicated. We must be precise and stubborn: we often arrive at a person whose birth we know and nothing else. You need a clue to find a person and you need to know the history of the period in which they lived: family history enters the big story. Until we ascertain his death we have to look into why he might have had children, be alive, have a family. We need certainty to identify the heirs, our work is certified ».

Captain disputes?
«It happened once, when the 2016 law on natural filiation was changed and the law was made retroactive. However, the judge agreed with us because we had followed the procedure according to the laws in force at the time».

Rami, the new Chora Media podcast series promoted by Coutot-Roehrig, is available on free audio platforms (Spotify, Apple Podcast, Spreaker, Google Podcasts).

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