It's an old saying, but no less true for its age: There is no substitute for experience. There are very few firms that can say they have been in the genealogical business for generations. Morse Genealogical Services has been a family-run business since 1939. For four generations they have been locating heirs across the globe. Their work over these many years has not only resulted in countless successful searches, but also allowed them to build up an international network of contacts which they can call upon to locate even the most hard to find individuals.
Even in cases where paper trails seem to lead nowhere and electronic leads fizzle out, it will often take just a few phone calls from the veteran researches at Morse to identify and locate relatives whose existence was not even known. In an industry that is growing along with technological advances and gaining more attention through news coverage and even television shows, many firms tend to make impressive sounding claims. But when it comes down to the actual search, what really matters is whether that firm has the real world understanding of what to look for and how, when to dragnet databases, apply their expertise in the latest technological advances, or when a some old-fashioned footwork is needed.
And the benefits of experience do not end with the search itself. Once persons are located, it is necessary to be able to document the relation. And in the legal mishmash of varying requirements according to states and nations, this is far easier said than done. A vast pool of knowledge – that is knowledge court systems, clerks' offices, record archives, the law and much more – is required to be sure of what documents are needed and how to retrieve them. Here too, Morse Genealogical Services sets itself apart from competitors, as they have genealogists who can and have been called to give expert testimony in court. In some cases documents can come into question, and only the weight and credibility of real experience can lay those questions to rest.
Genealogists deal with the unknown as part of their job. But there should be nothing unknown about a genealogical firm being considered to deal with your search. Before placing trust in people to carry out a task of yet unknown complexity, make very sure that you know both what they have done and how long they've been doing it. This is the only way to be absolutely sure that fast, accurate and reliable research will be done on your behalf.