Heir Location Service Faces Charges from Justice Department

Location services help find heirs to an estate and help support their claims but one firm is now charged with violating antitrust laws.

An heir location service and owner have been charged with antitrust violations, according to the Courthouse News Service “Heir-Location Firm Charged in Antitrust Probe.”

When someone passes away without an estate plan or will an heir location service is often brought in to find the potential heirs and notify them. The heirs then have to prove they have the right to inherit the estate. When an heir location company is successful, it receives a lucrative fee from the heirs.

The Justice Department has charged heir location service Kemp & Associates and one of its co-owners with antitrust violations linked to conspiring with an unindicted competitor to allocate customers between themselves.

If the charges are accurate, it means the heir location service has been colluding to avoid competition, which would drive up the costs of the services for customers.

Reference: Courthouse News Service (Aug. 22, 2016) “Heir-Location Firm Charged in Antitrust Probe.”