"Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer?"

—James Thurber

Mistakes can be made. Few sensations are as anguishing as the sudden realization that A Mistake Was Made. And in assembling a complex family genealogy (we have had as many as seventy heirs to one estate), there is a lot of room for error.

Measure twice, cut once. So says the careful carpenter. We check, double check, and check again. Then we ask a fellow staff researcher to vet the case once again. The result of this finicky attention to detail is this:

• We have never had our work challenged or corrected by any court or any fiduciary. We have been asked many questions (How did you learn this? Where did you get that document?) but we have always satisfied our clients and the courts.
• We have never omitted an heir....which is to say, We have never had an heir whom we have failed to identify come forward after the closing of the estate. Or before the closing, for that matter.

In short, we have not been wrong yet. That's not to say it can't or won't happen. But like the careful carpenter, we only get better at our work. Our researchers take great pride in what they do, they're non-commissioned (q.v.) and they have the time they need to do the job right.

We are frequently asked to vet the work of other companies....and we have found errors, some serious. Mistakes do happen.

We would be glad to double-check the work of another firm, just as we would be glad to have them double-check us.

What's the smallest clue with which we ever started and were able to complete the case? "Bob". Bob was the decedent's roommate, no last name, and the only possible link to the decedent's family. We found Bob, who was by then the "Late" Bob, having died some several years earlier. But his new roommate (who had moved several times) kept a shoebox with Bob's important papers...including our original decedent's address book. Thank you, Bob.

Often the tiniest clue can take us through a maze of information and ultimately to locating all heirs. The opposite can happen....Lots of information at the outset, but most of it inaccurate. It's up to us to look at all information provided us and make the most of what we have. But we do take a special pride in taking as little as a Bob and turning it into a complete genealogy.