Few of them appear in any register that is online. I read the books they are actually in — parish registers, church books, civil and residence registers, probate files — and document every step with the source it came from.
Each generation doubles the number. The work doubles with it.
The sources are often the same. What differs is the question you open them with — and what has to stand up legally in the end.
I follow your lines back as far as the surviving records allow, reading what few people can read today: Kurrent, Sütterlin, chancery Latin.
You receive not a list of names but a verifiable chain of entries.
For private clients, family chronicles, anniversariesSeparated siblings, unknown birth parents, emigrated branches, relatives lost from view through war, displacement or adoption.
The research is one part. The other is the first approach — discreet, open-ended and always arranged so that both sides remain free to decide.
For private clients and relativesI determine the legal heirs of an estate, assign them to the statutory orders of succession and obtain the documents the court or notary requires.
Even when only a name and a date of death are known.
For probate courts, notaries, lawyers, estate administrators and private clientsBefore any costs arise, you know what can realistically be expected.
You describe what you know and what you are looking for. I tell you whether and how far the surviving sources allow it to be answered. Free and without obligation.
I check which holdings survive and are accessible, and estimate the effort. You receive a written quotation with a clear upper limit.
Archive visits on site, enquiries to parish, registry and municipal archives, analysis of digitised holdings. You receive interim reports throughout.
Every finding is verified against the original source. Where it matters legally, I obtain certified documents rather than mere transcripts.
Research report, family tree, source index and document copies — bound as a folder on request. Open questions are named explicitly as such.
I have worked as an heir researcher and genealogist for over two decades. In that time I have learned that the decisive line is rarely where you look for it: in a marginal note, a second marriage, an emigration list.
Many lines do not respect today's borders. I research in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland and Czechia and read the records where they are held — including those in Polish. Where holdings were relocated after 1945, I generally know where to.
I present my results so that someone else can verify them. In a family chronicle that is a matter of honesty — in probate and estate proceedings it is a matter of admissibility.
I am happy to send you both articles as PDFs on request.
Genealogy and tracing work are billed by effort, with an upper limit agreed in advance — so you decide how far the research goes. For heir research on behalf of heirs, a fee agreement based on the share of the estate is customary; it applies only if the research succeeds. I set out the exact terms with you in writing before any assignment begins. As a small business under § 19 of the German VAT Act, I invoice without VAT.
A manageable heir search is often settled within a few weeks. Once foreign archives, wartime losses or emigration come into play, it can take months — I do not control how quickly archives respond. You will hear from me regularly, including when nothing is moving.
It happens: books burned, registers were never kept, trails end at a border. In that case you receive an honest record of which holdings were checked and why the line breaks off there. In estate proceedings such a negative finding is often precisely the result required.
Everything you entrust to me and everything I find is treated confidentially and passed on solely to you or to the body you name. For family reunification there is a further rule: I pass on your contact details only once the person sought has agreed — and vice versa.
Very much so. Preliminary work saves time and therefore cost. Send me whatever you have, even if it is unsorted or you are unsure of it. Contradictions in family lore are normal — resolving them is part of the job.
A name, a place, an approximate year — that is all it takes to begin. The first conversation is free, and I will tell you frankly if I do not think your question can be answered.
Mówię po polsku — zapraszam do kontaktu w sprawie poszukiwań genealogicznych i ustalania spadkobierców.
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