January 2015 Presentation to the Estate Planning Council by TJ Patton of Focus Solutions Group

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MIKE LANTZ
General Manager & Senior Investigator

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Locating Estate Assets
 Not an easy task
 Takes a lot of legwork to find deceased assets and liabilities
 Traditional search of the deceased’s top drawer can go a
long way
 Great start to information gathering
 Interview advisors of the deceased – accountants, insurance
agents, medical caregivers, family members

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Social Insurance Numbers
 SIN cards are important and a priority to locate
 Many people have the same name but only one person will have a
particular SIN
 Banks and other asset holders can search their databases using SIN

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Banks, Brokers and Investment
Advisors
 The problem with banks and brokers is which ones to ask
 There is no one place you can enter a SIN and obtain a list of
everything a person owns
 Have to make inquiries one bank or advisor at a time
 One branch of a bank is able to search all branches
 Previously it was one branch at a time

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Information gathering Tips
 This is the day of paperless banking…check the deceased computer
 Credit cards…check the bank that issued the card. People
frequently get credit cards from the same place they bank
 Check to see which banks have branches close to the deceased’s
home and work. Seniors in particular
 Have the bank check their investment arm as well
 Don’t forget to ask about safe deposit boxes
 Check which banks issued T5 slips for investments
 Remember that many people have assets in more than one bank

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Locating Estate Beneficiaries
 Make contact with family and friends. Best source of information
 Best Search Engines for locating people…
• www.google.ca
• www.images.google.com
• www.facebook.com
• www.canada411.ca
• www.411.ca
• www.echosec.net
• www.ancestry.ca

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GOOGLE
 Biggest and fastest growing search engine in the world
 Google is listed as the most visited website in the world
 65% market share
 Google indexes billions of web pages

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Google Punctuation & Searches
 “ ” When you put a name in quotes, the results will only include
pages with the same words in the same order. (“mike lantz”)

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L
 Now utilize other target terms (“mike lantz” focus) to narrow your
search

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L
 (“mike lantz” focus investigator) continue to narrow your search

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Google
 Phone number search is very effective.
 Two different ways of searching a phone number:
• “604-284-5432”
• “604.284.5432”

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www.images.google.com
 Allows users to search the Web for image content
 Upload an image of a person or place you are looking for

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www.facebook.com
 Email search – enter the persons email address into the search bar
 Phone number search – 604-258-2585
 Enter a persons name and click the “people” tab. This will allow you
to filter by location, education or workplace
 To search facebook without an account go to Google and type:
Site:facebook.com “first last”

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www.411.ca
 Established in 1999
 More than 20 Million people use 411.ca every year
 Updated information

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www.echosec.net
 Location based searches gives ability to search addresses for
possible current and previous residents
 Locates all public posts made from that area

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www.echosec.net

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www.ancestry.ca
 Subscription service

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BC ONLINE
 BC ASSESMENT – Ownership information. Current and archived
 BC Registry Services – Company and Owner information. Search by
firm, individual, incorporation number. Results provide contact
information for individuals
 Court Services Online – Criminal and Civil proceedings
 Personal Property Registry – Provides addresses and DOB for
individuals. Along with status of liens
 Land Titles – Gives ability to search by individual. Provides
banking information

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Conclusion
 Most “cheap” and “instant” hidden asset searches do nothing but
look through outdated public database records.
 Hire a professional that has substantiated background in locating
people and assets.

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THANK YOU!

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