An asset search is a useful and often crucial tool that investigates and confirms personal property or real estate held by a person or corporate entity through the location of public records. Personal injury attorneys often conduct asset searches to determine the nature of a defendant’s (or potential defendant’s) assets and liabilities. This is most often the case when the attorney knows that the defendant’s insurance may not be sufficient to cover the damages that their client has sustained.
In the case of insufficient coverage, both the attorney and the client have to decide whether it would be prudent to go after the defendant’s personal assets to cover the cost of the damages. These assets could include real estate, boats, cars, planes and more. An asset search is how the attorney and client reveal the scope and nature of these assets.
Asset searches are also used by prudent divorce attorneys to verify financial statements submitted in a divorce proceeding. Reluctant spouses tend to be more responsive in revealing their assets when confronted with interrogatories or deposition questions gleaned from the specific and detailed information revealed in an asset search. Conducting an asset search before and after a divorce is filed is also a useful way to ensure a spouse is not hiding or concealing assets. So attorneys will often conduct them twice to protect both their client’s and their client’s children best interest.
Timing is an important aspect to an asset search. Litigating a case and hiring a knowledgeable, competent attorney can be an expensive venture. Many clients want to ensure they have something to gain through a lawsuit. An asset search can be a good way to get an idea of the property that a defendant holds and whether it would be worth it to go after it in a lawsuit. For much less than the cost of an entire lawsuit, a client can get an idea of a person’s assets at the outset of a case, as well as learn the person’s liabilities—for example, existing state and federal tax liens, uniform commercial code liens, bankruptcies and other pending lawsuits. This can help a client and attorney determine whether to move forward with a lawsuit.
Finding a competent, experienced private investigator is the best way to conduct an asset search that will give you the information you are seeking at a reasonable price. A private investigator will have the contacts, network and know-how to legally find all the information you need about a person’s assets and liabilities.