Sovereign Investigations

Important - Asset Investigation Parameters

All investigation fees are non-contingent on positive results.  Normal turnaround is now 9 to 12 business days due to the Pandemic.

We provide a flat-rate fee schedule to maintain a low-cost structure for clients.  To comply with these fees, we limit most database search categories to 10 to 15 years of data.  We try to obtain initial research results from county and state agencies and supplement the information with commercial database sources. These searches allow us to access numerous categories of information in a cost-effective way.  In addition, the database companies have compiled the information to aid in locating relevant results.  One example is how the California Secretary of State can provide excellent details on corporate filings online but you must provide the name of the business entity.  There is no capability to request all corporations in California under the name of "John Doe" via the Secretary of State office. However, commercial database aggregators have downloaded the files and created name fields to search by president or registered agent name.  This gives us the ability to mine relevant filings for each case.  The downside is that glitches in software or mistakes in data management can create some inaccurate results. We cannot guarantee that our efforts will develop positive results in your matter.  However, we work very hard to try and identify relevant information and cases with negative results always require more effort on our part to make sure we are not missing significant data.

We reserve the right to limit research results when a very common name is the target.  Some of our databases will not provide hundreds and hundreds of results in one state.  Searches sometimes have to be limited by county or even city.  We strive to provide all known business affiliations and real property holdings within a targeted state.  But if we are retrieving a voluminous amount of  public records under the subject's name then we will not have the budgetary resources to supplement those results with additional database and Internet research to identify those filings that actually involve the target. These fees are fixed to provide clients with a limit on costs.  If too many records are found then a report with as much relevant data will be supplied within the budgetary limits of the assignment.  It will include an estimate of fees to continue retrieving all the relevant research.

Our definition of "primary bank affiliation" is the first banking organization where we develop deposit accounts. Our definition of "secondary bank affiliation" is the second financial organization where we develop deposit accounts. There is no way to predict where a target will maintain the most valuable deposit accounts and we do not guarantee our search will identify that relationship. However, in the vast majority of cases deposit accounts found at two different financial organizations usually include the most valuable deposit accounts. Most targets do not maintain deposit accounts with three or more banking organizations. If one is interested in searching and obtaining details on deposits at more than two banking organizations we can price the investigation for that purpose.

Standard Financial Searches are structured to identify up to two active banking affiliations.  It costs much less to probe an institution and find negative results than to develop active bank deposit accounts.  The cost in developing the account title, approximate balance, and branch address to effect a levy consumes much of the budget.  As bank deposit accounts are found fewer institutions are searched.  If the client is already aware of two banking affiliations and they are still active, then probing those two banks will consume the bulk of the budget.  One can either increase the budget so additional banks can be searched or bypass the two known banks so the original budget can focus on new banking affiliations.

Trusts require a separate budget.  If we are already searching under the individual's SSN and the trust uses the same SSN as the primary tax identifier, we can add the trust for an additional 50% fee.  One can try searching both under the individual's name and the trust name for one fee when they are using the same SSN as a tax identifier.  But we do not guarantee the results will be as comprehensive as when a separate budget is provided. If the trust is using a FEIN than a separate budget is required to search that entity.

When the husband and wife are ordered simultaneously you will receive a 10% discount on each fee and the results will be provided in one report.  Spouses have to be using the same surname and primary residence address to qualify.  Our asset investigations do not include skiptracing. Choose a state to focus the investigation. If you need a confirmed address then add the appropriate Locate Investigation. It will be discounted 20% when combined with a Banking/Employment/Asset Investigation.  The discounted locate fee cannot receive an additional 10% spousal discount.

All financial searches require a full legal name and social security number (SSN) or federal employment identification number (FEIN).  If you do not have the SSN the fee is $50 if you can provide the current or previous residence address and full name, otherwise, the fee is higher depending on the information you can provide this office.  If you do not have the FEIN the fee is $300 to $600 depending on the type of legal entity and the original domicile state of registration.