Fraser and Fraser have been working with the Public Sector for more than 40 years. We support Local Government department who need to identify and locate people, often next-of-kin of a deceased person and the reason for this can be vast and varied.
Such departments would include:
- Bereavement and Funeral Services
- Cemeteries and Crematoria Offices
- Coroner’s Offices
- Environmental Health
- Empty Homes
- Social & Adult Care
- Client Relations
- Client Finance
- Appointee & Deputyship
Our approach is to use specialist research skills to locate the deceased’s next-of-kin.
There are many different ways our research services support Local Authority clients.
They include:
- Local Authorities need to contact a known person who had gone missing.
- To identify and locate unknown beneficiaries, usually the next-of-kin of the deceased.
- The family of someone under the Council’s care via the Court of Protection.
Public Health Funerals
Some of our clients spend much of their time and the Councils money arranging funerals under 5.46 Public Health Act 1984 (Control of Disease). Our role is simply to support our client by identifying and locating the family of the deceased, so that they can arrange the funeral, saving the cost to the Council. In cases whereby the family are unable to take on the funeral costs themselves, they have the option to attend the funeral arranged by our Local Authority client and pay their respects.
Empty Homes
Empty homes can result in quite a challenge for Local Authorities. Left unoccupied for more than a few months, they can become dilapidated, attract vermin, vandalism and possibly even squatters.
Sometimes, correspondence to the owners does not get answered, which may be due to the simple fact that they have moved out. ‘Gone-a-ways’ like these are easy to deal with where we can simply provide you with the new address.
Our involvement leads to fewer homes being empty, more families being housed and improved Council Tax cash flow to the Local Authority.
Appointee and Deputyships
Where our Local Authority client is appointed as a Deputy by the Court of Protection, our client will sometimes need to apply to the Court for a Statutory Will. Our role is to support the application by identifying and locating the next-of-kin who are to be joined to the application. We may also recommend that our Local Authority client asks us to carry out a Will search in order to ensure there is no valid Will that need not be superseded, already in place.
