Missing Heir Research for
Texas Probate

We are a research firm. We provide probate and genealogy research from public records and professional research databases. We do not offer surveillance, background checks, skip tracing or other private-investigation services.

We are based in Texas and work on estates across all 50 states, including all 254 Texas counties.

Two hundred dollars for each person we locate and verify. Flat, published, and the same whatever the estate is worth — three heirs verified is $600.

Nothing is charged when you submit a matter. After verification you receive a payment link and the report is released once payment clears. Firms on a monthly account see completed matters on the next invoice.

Full rates are on the pricing page.

You are not charged for them.

The fee is based on the people verified and recorded when the report is approved, not on the people submitted. Anyone we could not verify is listed separately in the report rather than left out of it.

Because the cost of the research has nothing to do with the size of the estate. Locating and verifying three heirs is the same work whether the estate is worth $40,000 or $4 million.

Many heir-search firms charge a percentage of the heir’s share, so the same three heirs cost more simply because the estate is larger — and the fee comes out of what the heirs receive. Ours does not. It is $200 per person located and verified, and it is never taken from the inheritance.

We start from what is known about the estate and the family, then work through probate, public, historical and genealogical records to trace the line. Each potential heir is researched, then verified independently, before anything is reported.

Where a family line leaves the state, the research follows it.

A second researcher, who did not do the original work, verifies every name before the report is released.

This is the step that decides whether a report can be relied on. A name alone does not establish a family relationship.

A diligent search is a thorough effort to identify and locate potential heirs using the records and sources reasonably available. What satisfies it depends on the estate and on the court, and that determination is your counsel’s rather than ours.

What we provide toward it is the record of the work: each verified person with their relationship and how it was confirmed, and the people we could not verify listed separately. The report is written so that someone else can check it.

Every person we verified, their relationship to the decedent, current contact details, and notes on how each identity and relationship was confirmed. Additional heirs found during the research are marked as such. Anyone we could not verify is listed separately.

Yes. A redacted sample report is on the site as a free download. There is no form and no email address required, and asking for it does not trigger a sales call.

We would rather you judged the work than took our word for it.

It is worth asking. An earlier search may have stopped at the records it had, or found one heir where there were more. Searches can turn up heirs no one knew about.

Tell us who you are looking for and what has already been tried, and a member of our team will reply by email with how we would approach it. That review is free and carries no obligation.

It depends on which records exist and how far the family line reaches geographically. We give you an estimated timeline once we have reviewed your case.

We do not publish a turnaround figure. One that held for every matter would not be true of any of them.

That depends on the circumstances of the estate and the applicable probate requirements. PCA Investigators does not provide legal advice. Questions about the legal process belong with qualified probate counsel.