It can become disheartening as a genealogist when letters are sent out to potential addresses for beneficiaries and negative responses are received.
Research can also bring you to dead ends leaving you confused and having to rethink your approach. In this situation deciding not to send out a follow up letter or reading through the many search results can be tempting. You’ve tried once so why bother trying again? However, I’ve found that for some cases the extra push can be a step away from solving the case.
A persistent approach to research and the process of sending out correspondence is advised for genealogy. There are sometimes people who are related to the missing individual who can help clarify your case. In a case I was working on recently, the individual was born overseas, and I therefore was unaware that he existed as his birth record was unavailable in the UK.
I wrote to his father’s address who was sadly no longer with us. However, the son happened to be at the address, and he was able to provide information about his family history and use our services. Previously, many letters had been sent out for this case, but no positive response had been received and as such it appeared that the case would remain unresolved.
The beneficiary’s response to my letter and follow up call helped to progress the case drastically. Further on in the process, I sent a final letter to another beneficiary who decided to sign up at the last opportunity to receive their inheritance. This method has been used on other cases where I have written to spouses and children of the person that I’m trying to locate. The reasons for a beneficiary not getting in touch vary, such as recently moving address or being too busy.
In the end, all beneficiaries to an Estate are pleased that the extra effort was made to contact them. Not giving up on research and applying a consistently logical approach can help ensure that an Estate is distributed to the entitled beneficiaries.
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