Tag: tracing

A Guide to How Tech Is Reshaping the Probate Process in 2025

The process of handling someone’s estate after they pass away has traditionally been paper-heavy, time-consuming, and emotionally draining. 

However, that landscape is changing rapidly. New digital tools and online systems are streamlining probate, helping executors and families settle estates with greater efficiency and less stress. Consider seeking support from probate solicitors, who can help you understand how technology is transforming probate in 2025 and can help you plan ahead with confidence.

What Is Probate – and Why It’s Changing

Probate is the legal process of proving a will, settling debts, and distributing assets according to the deceased’s wishes. Historically, it has required multiple physical documents, court visits, and extensive communication between solicitors, executors, and financial institutions.

But as more public services and private platforms move online, the probate system is evolving too. The UK Government’s Digital Probate Service now allows executors to apply for probate online, upload necessary documentation, and track the progress of applications in real time.

These changes save time, reduce administrative errors, and make the process less intimidating for families managing grief.

For a step-by-step guide on applying for probate, visit this resource. 

How Technology Simplifies Estate Administration

Technology is reducing some of the most stressful and time-consuming aspects of probate. Here’s how:

  1. Digital Will Storage and Access

Many people now choose to store their wills digitally with secure providers or law firms. This ensures documents can be accessed quickly, reducing delays and the risk of losing vital paperwork. Some services even notify executors automatically when a death is registered.

  1. Online Asset Tracing

Executors used to spend weeks tracking down bank accounts, insurance policies, and investments. Now, AI-powered asset tracing tools can search financial institutions and flag accounts linked to the deceased within hours. This ensures estates are valued accurately and nothing is overlooked.

  1. Automated Estate Valuation

Specialist software can now estimate the value of certain assets — including property, shares, and pensions — with greater speed and accuracy. This helps solicitors prepare inheritance tax submissions more efficiently.

Cloud-Based Collaboration Between Solicitors and Executors

In the past, managing probate required endless paper trails and phone calls. Today, solicitors and executors can work together on secure cloud-based platforms. Documents can be shared, signed, and updated in real time, ensuring everyone stays informed.

This transparency not only saves time but also helps families understand what stage their case is at — reducing anxiety during what is already an emotionally difficult time.

For many law firms, embracing cloud systems has also strengthened data security and compliance with the UK GDPR.

AI and Predictive Case Management

Artificial intelligence is beginning to play a greater role in probate administration. Machine learning algorithms can predict potential delays, flag missing documents, and even generate reminders for key deadlines.

Some firms are also using AI to review historic case data and identify patterns that could help speed up future applications. This ensures executors receive faster, more consistent support from their solicitors.

While AI won’t replace the compassion and judgement of experienced legal professionals, it does make their work more efficient and accessible.

The Rise of Digital Inheritance

As people increasingly own digital assets — from cryptocurrency to online accounts — probate law is evolving to accommodate them. Executors must now consider how to recover and manage these digital legacies.

Solicitors are advising clients to include instructions for accessing digital assets in their wills, ensuring families can recover sentimental or financial value that might otherwise be lost.

The Law Society provides further information on making a will.

Challenges of a Digital Probate System

While the shift to technology offers many benefits, it isn’t without challenges. Some families still struggle with digital literacy or lack reliable internet access. Additionally, cybersecurity risks mean firms must ensure that sensitive information is handled with care.

Solicitors play an essential role in bridging this gap — combining digital tools with personal support, ensuring accuracy, and protecting clients from fraud or misinformation.

What the Future Holds

Looking ahead, the next wave of innovation may include blockchain technology for secure record-keeping, digital ID verification to prevent fraud, and even virtual assistants to guide executors through applications step by step.

These advancements will continue to make probate faster, fairer, and more transparent. But one thing won’t change: the need for empathy and expert guidance during a time of loss.

Legal Disclaimer

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate and estate administration can vary depending on personal circumstances. For advice tailored to your situation, consult a qualified solicitor experienced in wills, probate, and estate planning.

How to Find Anyone Online with Just a Name

Have been looking for your long lost high school pal? It can be difficult to find people if you have limited information about their identity. Fortunately, there are many online resources that can guide you to the person even if all you’ve got is a name. 

The beauty of all search engines is that they will provide information from all sorts of websites. For instance, the results will show you the profile of your subject if he has registered in the best casinos in Ireland. Below we will discuss the social networking portals and search engine tricks you can use.

Find Someone without the Last Name

The probability of finding someone is higher if you know their city, last name and first name. However, online searches can still produce results if you know their city and first name.

Search engines are recommended for searches that are limited to the first name. Below we’ll discuss how to find someone with just a first name.

The first name might be enough when finding a popular or famous individual like Tupac or Neymar. However, it won’t be enough if the name is common. It’s therefore advisable to also include other details like their profession, their hometown or where they study. Type these details into Yahoo, Bing or Google and go through the search results.

Alternatively, you can click on the Images tab if you know how the individual looks like. This method is quite effective when normal searches fail. Other effective search engines include DuckDuckGo, Monster Crawler, DogPile, WebCrawler and WayBack Machine.

Facebook Search by Name

It’s advisable to use websites that carry personal information when seeking for someone. Some of these popular sites include LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Facebook is the oldest of these sites and it contains the most subscribers.

It is smarter to start with a Google/Facebook combined search before going for the Facebook internal search. For instance, you can type in “Christian Maguire site:facebook.com” and go through the search results. You can also click on the images tab if you want a thorough search. This trick works even better when your search string also includes location.

The second method is to enter Facebook and type the individual’s name into the search box. You can improve the quality of the search results by making a few tweaks. It’s possible to narrow down results by manipulating the filters to match specific times and places.  These filters will expose older posts even if the person hasn’t posted in a long time.

Other Apps, Sites, and Online Records

Use ZabaSearch to Search for Addresses and Phone Numbers

You can look for your old friend by tying in his/her address or phone number using this unique search engine. It comes with an index that has information about unlisted and listed addresses and numbers. You can start by typing in your own name to see the results. You’ll be creepily-impressed by its accuracy.

Use Pipl to Explore the “Deep Web”

Pipl will help you dig deeper than Google. Pipl’s search results are impressive because they contain information from the “invisible web.” The information includes Amazon wishlists, MySpace pages, press mentions and personal web pages. It’s a search engine that provides accurate information about people with “real” online names. You can use country, state, and city information to filter results for common names.

Wink Helps you to Search Numerous Social Websites

It’s easy to get results from many social sites using Wink. It’s easier than looking through each site on an individual basis. Wink will give you comprehensive search results for sites like Xanga, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn and Friendster. The results will be provided in one search.

ZoomInfo Will Help you Get Employment Results

This search engine is normally used to provide information about individuals and companies. The information is normally useful in matching people with the best possible jobs. ZoomInfo will provide you with a person’s current job title and employment history. Type in the individual’s full name and search. It’s advisable to use geographical filters to reduce unnecessary results.

Search for the Phone Number

Search engines can be helpful when finding information attached to a certain phone number. This is usually a straight-forward method if an individual’s phone number is advertised or listed online. It works best if you separate the numbers by experimenting with parentheses, periods and hyphens. You can also place the number in quotes. You can pay a fee to find cell phone information through reverse-tracking.

How to Find Someone by Username?

This is how to find someone if you don’t know their last name. The best way to unearth someone’s identity is to start with Google. It’s as simple as looking for the individual’s username to reveal their social media profile.

The username can be complemented with quotation marks to decrease unnecessary search results. This means you should type in “username” into the search bar. The results will be specific to what you’re looking for.

People search engines are also effective if social networks and Google don’t give you the desired results. Sites like Spokeo and BeenVerified have a reputation of providing verified and updated information.

There are other alternatives such as Facebook, Reddit, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, etc.

Finding Friends of a Friend

You can use recommendations from various social networks to track down the individuals. These recommendations are usually profiles of people who are connected to the main subject. You can gather clues from the person’s inner circle. It’s therefore possible to find someone without a last name.

This method works very well in Facebook because the site exposes you to mutual friends and it allows you to send a friend request. You can also speak to a person using direct messages.

Conclusion

Search engines and social media platforms have made it easy to find long lost friends even if we don’t have sufficient information. In fact, search engines like WayBack Machine are so powerful that they can recover information that has already been deleted on the internet. You might need some luck and perseverance but you will find your subject if you use the above methods. You can even use professionals to help you locate the person you want.