Whether you practice Family law, Personal Injury Law, Estate Planning, Corporate Law or Business Litigation, when your client is faced with the question of an individual’s or business’ assets or liabilities, it is your responsibility on behalf of your client to conduct an asset search to satisfy your “due diligence.” There are numerous ways that an asset search can be useful to different attorneys or their clients. If a Family law attorney is representing a client in a divorce proceeding, it would be important to conduct both an individual and business asset search for your client. This can help uncover some inconsistencies in the spouse’s assets and will be useful when preparing your discovery. Your client might try to hold you responsible if it turns out you missed any assets or holdings of the other party. An asset search for assets and liabilities and any entities associated with a subject that may be holding or concealing assets (to avoid having to list them on a probate and family court financial statement) such as with trusts, partnerships or limited liability companies (LLCs) will be uncovered in an asset search report. There also may be boats, planes, motor vehicles and the like that you and your client might not be aware of especially if their spouse owns a business. When a Personal Injury Attorney has a case with significant injuries and limited insurance coverage, conducting an asset search is critical. An asset search assists attorneys and injured parties in locating assets and liabilities, both pre and post litigation. Oftentimes a client with severe injuries has an insurance policy with inadequate coverage. A Personal Injury Attorney then needs to decide on whether to settle a case for the policy limits or seek additional assets to attach to satisfy a judgment. What happens to the attorney who fails to inform the client that they could have conducted an asset search to uncover additional assets to make them whole? By providing the client with the choice and expenses associated with conducting a nationwide asset search, the attorney can satisfy their due diligence and important obligations to their client. In addition, where the subject may be concealing assets, such as through family trusts, partnerships, or the like, a properly conducted asset search will provide a strategic road map for the attorney. A business asset search identifies real estate and deed transfers, mortgage information, federal and state tax liens, uniform commercial code liens, motor vehicle and registration information, watercraft, aircraft, bankruptcies, judgments, businesses associated with the subject, criminal records, relatives, and professional licenses. A Personal Injury Attorney will receive a detailed and easy to read asset search report to share with their clients so that they can decide how to proceed with their case. If an individual or personal representative of an estate or their Estate Planning attorney are probating an estate, it is their responsibility to satisfy their “due diligence” to gather and identify all of the assets and the liabilities of the decedent. Having an asset search done on behalf of your client is an important part of the process. A personal representative or an attorney has a fiduciary duty to locate all the assets and liabilities of the deceased person. By conducting a comprehensive asset search, you satisfy your “due diligence” about what is required of you. It is also important to uncover the assets and liabilities of the deceased party. An Individual Asset Search will identify the assets of your subject, nationally, including, but not limited to, real estate, deed transfers, trusts, limited partnerships, and other businesses associated with your subject. In addition, an asset search will locate any motor vehicles, watercraft, aircraft, patents or trademarks, professional licenses and more. An asset search will also identify the liabilities of your subject such as with mortgage information (when available), Federal and State tax liens, Uniform Commercial Code liens, judgments, and bankruptcies and more. You will receive a detailed and easy to read report that is emailed to you to share with your client or your attorney so that they can decide how to proceed with the probating of the estate. As a Corporate Attorney you are informed that management is about to hire a key employee or merge with another company, and they do not know much about the subject’s background. To do your due diligence, a first step should be to order an individual or business asset search. The report will identify assets and liabilities of your subject (Nationwide), such as with judgments, liens, bankruptcies, corporate filings, uniform commercial code filings, motor vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, internet domain names, Dunn and Bradstreet records, IRS 5500 employee benefit information and criminal records. This report will give both you and management the means to make an informed decision on this individual. For more information on conducting an asset search, please call us at 1(800)290-1012 or visit our site at www.assetsearchesplus.com. You can also download our free eBook on conducting an asset search by clicking https://www.assetsearchesplus.com/download-our-free-ebook/