SINCE 1995: TPR has had the exciting task of identifying items of property which have been forgotten, unclaimed or abandoned; then restoring them to their rightful owners. The ball gets rolling by document researchers who identify forgotten assets and entitlements via analysis of a variety of public record registers. The assets can be just about anything: from inheritances to securities, dormant bank accounts or royalty payments, amongst others.

The case file is then passed to a genealogist, or specialist probate researcher. His task is to ascertain whether the original owner is still living. If the first owner is deceased, the researcher will seek out the relevant heirs or beneficiaries. Once the beneficial owner(s) is/(are) traced, he is/(they are) invited to sign a fee agreement, through which the various TPR researchers involved will share in the successful outcome of the case.

Once the fee agreement has been signed, there is still much work to be done before a client's claim can be presented to the custodian (or in some cases, to the appropriate Court). When all supporting evidence has been compiled, the claim can then be lodged by the client personally, or by a suitably authorised TPR Claims Manager or Attorney, depending on the nature of the claim.

Until now, TPR has been operating on two levels: personal property and corporate assets. However, an exciting new area has emerged in this field – real property. To cater to the industry's needs, TPR Land was established to identify land, buildings and property rights which have been forgotten or abandoned.

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After ten years in the business, Trust Property Researches (TPR) has launched an exclusive e-newsletter to keep clients, researchers and associates updated on the latest developments in lost and uncla...