Access to information
Much of the information necessary for the research can be found in administrative documents and other public archives.
Certain documents can only be accessed with special authorisations, in order to protect privacy.
In particular, the researchers of Westrich Gen SA work with authorisations from the State Prosecutor to consult the civil register.
The origin of files
Inheritances which require searches for heirs may, for example, be entrusted to Westrich Gen SA by:
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- Luxembourg notaries dealing with estates in which all or part of the heirs are unknown
- Luxembourg lawyers appointed as curators or administrators of unclaimed estates, in which no heir is known
- the Luxembourg Caisse de Consignation (public trust office)
- the Luxembourg Administration de l’Enregistrement et des Domaines (land registration and estates department)
- persons who are heirs of a deceased person, some of whose heirs have to be searched for bankers or insurers, who wish to find the heirs of a deceased client
- developers, subdividers, architects or individuals searching for owners of all or part of a plot of land
- property management agencies, when a co-owner has died and there are outstanding charges to be recovered
- the creditors, neighbours, relatives of a deceased person who have an interest in ensuring that the estate is settled
- other probate genealogists who specialise in inheritance matters