Specialised in HEIR RESEARCH, our office for international inheritance matters and genealogical research focuses on the relationship Europe – South America. However, our field of investigation also stretches outside Europe and the Latin-American countries. Our main office is located in Santiago, Chile, with branch offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay. In Europe we are represented in The Netherlands. For addresses and telephone numbers, see our contact page.
For our search assignments in many South American countries, we have access to archives and registers of personal data. This enables us to verify or establish a correct genealogy, retrieve a will or documents of ownership or shareholding, in the case of real estate or other material matters for instance.
In many European countries, we cooperate with agencies similar to ours, to track down heirs or people whose whereabouts are unknown, in South America as well as anywhere else in the world.
Furthermore, we take on search assignments for banks and public bodies like judicial authorities and municipalities, in order to track down heirs – if necessary in collaboration with civil law notaries or notaries public -, thus allowing matters of succession to be settled. Our dedication, expertise, and experience are the best starting points to ensure successful completion of the search.
After intensive research, we managed to trace the heirs of an inheritance in the UK. When we contacted them, the family initially was very suspicious and mistrustful.
No wonder if someone tells you out of the blue that you can claim the estate of a distant relative! Thanks to our professional research we were able to convince the family of the seriousness of the case. Thus all our efforts had not been in vain, and we were just in time to claim the estate for the heirs. Otherwise, it would have fallen to the Crown of England.
SMEETS | Heir research
is an initiative of Babette M.E. Smeets. She studied Law at Leiden University, in the Netherlands, and is specialised in Private Law, Family Law, and Inheritance Law. Besides Law, Babette studied Philosophy. She obtained a masters degree in International Law with the title LL.M at the University of Chile and the Ruprecht Karls-Universität in Heidelberg, Germany. Babette is also a qualified real estate appraiser. She obtained this title at the Universidad Católica de Chile. Mrs. Smeets is worldwide acknowledged as professional genealogist.
After her study, Babette worked for three years at the Chilean Ministry of Finance. After that, she started in Santiago de Chile an office for international legal advice, specialised in family matters and genealogical services. For the convenience of her clients in Argentina Babette also set up a branch office in Buenos Aires.
Babette Smeets is a member of The International Bar Association (IBA), the world’s leading organisation of international practitioners of legal professions, bars, and lawyer’s associations. It was founded in 1947.