How to Locate Relatives of Deceased Persons
When a person dies, a caretaker or roommate may find themselves in the position of trying to get the deceased's affairs in order. Along with any funeral arrangements that may have to be made, the deceased person's possessions must usually be divvied up, generally among relatives. Tracking these relatives down doesn't need to be a daunting task, thanks to basic interviewing and investigative techniques as well as Internet networking opportunities.
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Instructions
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Sort through paperwork and belongings left by the deceased. Look for the names of any relatives that might be mentioned in old letters or bills. Look specifically for addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers that might help you contact them by mail, email, telephone or even in person to notify them of the death. Remember that relatives of the deceased may have a different surname from the deceased.
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If the deceased had a lawyer, contact them. They may have information on existing relatives, and might assist you in locating a relative if that person's name is listed in a will left by the deceased. Keep in mind that the family might deny connections with the deceased. If this happens and they are named in the will, let the lawyer contact them directly.
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Ask friends of the deceased if they know about any relatives. Ask if they can remember names of cousins, aunts and uncles, or siblings that the deceased may have mentioned in conversation. Jot down any information they might offer you.
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Look in the telephone book to locate family members. This is a particularly useful technique if you know where the deceased was born and/or if they are from a small town. If you know which country or state the deceased was from, you could look for relatives in online telephone books, such as Switchboard.com.
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Use Internet resources, such as social networking sites, to search for people who share the same surname as the deceased. You could do this by hunting for the family name in a search. Contact them and ask if they have any connection to the deceased, or if they could give you information on someone else who might be related.
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Browse through online family trees to look for leads or to verify that any relatives you may have located are in fact related to the deceased. Use online forums on genealogy websites to inquire about relatives of the deceased. Sites such as Ancestry.com offer record searches and online forums.
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Research birth records of the deceased to find out their parents' names. Check for siblings and other relatives in the records, looking specifically for marriage and death records. A spouse of another deceased sibling might be able to connect you to surviving family members of the deceased.
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Hire a private investigator if you don't have the time to look for relatives yourself or feel as if you don't have the tools. Private investigators have special equipment and connections that help them locate people.
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