We acquire land and properties that other buyers pass over: parcels with delinquent taxes, clouded or broken chains of title, deceased owners of record, unprobated estates, and missing or unknown heirs. Our stated goal is to provide practical, honest solutions for owners facing title issues, unpaid taxes, inherited property, and legal complexity — working alongside experienced attorneys and title professionals to resolve those problems with integrity.
Before we can make an offer, we need to know who actually owns a property today, as opposed to who the county tax roll says owns it. Very often the owner of record died years ago and nothing was ever probated or recorded. That is where you come in. We hand you a parcel: the tax record, the last recorded deed(s), and what we already know. You reconstruct the family forward from the owner of record to the living heirs, document how each person connects, and find current contact information for them. Your work product goes directly to us and to our title and legal partners, who rely on it to decide how to cure title.
What you will do
- Start from the owner of record named on a county tax record or deed and establish whether that person is alive, and if not, when and where they died (SSDI, death indexes, obituaries, cemetery records, newspaper archives).
- Build a descendancy chart forward from the deceased owner: spouse(s), children, grandchildren, and where needed siblings and their lines, using Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, census records, vital records, newspapers, probate indexes, and public records.
- Apply basic U.S. intestate-succession logic (we will give you state rules) to identify who the heirs at law are and what fractional share each holds. Flag the cases where the answer depends on a legal question rather than a genealogical one.
- Locate living heirs: current address, phone, email, and social media, using people-search tools, voter rolls, property records, and obituaries.
- Pull supporting documents from county online records: the deed(s) that got the owner of record into title, any recorded probate, affidavit, or death certificate, and anything that shows a later transfer. You do not need to run a full chain of title; our title partners do that. You need to be able to read a deed, a grantor/grantee index, and a probate index well enough to find what matters to the heirship question.
- Assemble each file into a clear, consistent written report (our template): parcel facts, owner-of-record summary, descendancy chart, heir table with shares and contact info, a source list with citations and copies of key documents, and a one-line recommended next step (e.g., "single heir, affidavit route likely," "nine heirs across three generations, probate or quiet title").
- Keep organized digital files per parcel and track status in our shared tracker.
Who we are looking for
Required
- Demonstrated experience doing U.S. genealogical research with Ancestry.com and FamilySearch, including 20th-century records (census through 1950, SSDI, obituaries, vital record indexes, city directories, newspapers).
- Experience with forward-looking (descendancy) research and locating living people, not just building ancestral trees. Forensic genealogy, heir search, probate research, mineral-rights heirship, or skip-tracing backgrounds all fit.
- Ability to read a U.S. deed, death certificate, and probate index and understand what they tell you about ownership.
- Strong written English and the ability to write a tight, factual, source-cited report that a lawyer can act on without re-doing your work.
- Attention to detail and a healthy suspicion of names that almost match. Disciplined about distinguishing proven relationships from likely ones.
- Reliable internet and availability for a weekly check-in that overlaps U.S. Pacific business hours.
- Discretion. You will be handling information about real families, often in difficult circumstances, and must treat it with care and confidentiality.
Strongly preferred
- Prior heir-search work for U.S. probate attorneys, title companies, oil and gas landmen, or real estate investors who buy heir or tax-delinquent property.
- Familiarity with U.S. intestate-succession concepts (per stirpes, surviving-spouse shares, half-blood relatives).
- Experience with county online recording portals.
Not required
- U.S. residency, a real estate license, or a law degree. You will not give legal advice, sign affidavits, or contact heirs on our behalf.
- Full title-abstracting experience. If you have it, great, but this role is first and foremost a genealogist.
How we will evaluate candidates
Shortlisted candidates will be given one real (anonymized) parcel from our list and asked to produce a draft ownership fact pattern within a set time. We pay for this test file. We are looking at how you reason through a gap in title, how you document sources, and how clearly you write, more than whether you reach the "right" answer.
Compensation and terms
- Independent contractor, remote, flexible hours.
- Hourly, set by experience and market: tell us your rate.
- Or a flat per-file rate negotiated after the paid test file (typical files run 3–8 hours).
- Research subscriptions (Ancestry.com, FamilySearch is free, newspaper archives, people-search tools) are provided if you don't have them.
- Start part-time with room to grow into a steady, ongoing role as our deal flow increases.
How to apply
Send a short note (no formal cover letter needed) covering:
- Your experience with U.S. genealogical research, especially descendancy work and locating living people.
- Which tools and record sets you use most (Ancestry, FamilySearch, newspapers, people-search, county portals).
- One example, briefly described, of a hard heir or kinship puzzle you solved and how.
- Your hourly or per-file rate, your time zone, and weekly availability.
A writing sample (redacted abstract, heir report, or research memo) is very welcome.