Asset Tracing
Uncover hidden assets with precision
Asset tracing is a specialist investigative process used to locate, track, and recover assets that have been hidden, transferred or deliberately concealed, often as part of legal disputes, fraud investigations, judgment enforcement, debt recovery, insolvency and restructuring, or financial misconduct cases.
It plays a key role in uncovering the true extent of an individual or entity's wealth, particularly in complex scenarios involving commercial disputes, corporate fraud, family law proceedings, or will and probate investigations, where financial activity is intentionally obscured. Assets may include tangible property such as property holdings, vehicles and equipment, or intangible assets like intellectual property, cryptocurrency and other digital or offshore holdings.
Our asset tracing services range from preliminary desktop-based searches providing a clear overview of a person or company’s asset position to comprehensive multi-jurisdictional investigations supported by discreet and lawful human-source intelligence gathering. We deliver a specialist investigative service tailored to your budget, case complexity and legal objectives, whether you're a solicitor specialising in litigation or insolvency, a local authority, a commercial organisation, or a private client pursuing asset recovery in the UK or internationally.
As trusted asset tracing partners to solicitors and insolvency practitioners and more, we support legal and insolvency professionals across the UK, with no case too complex and no jurisdiction out of reach.
Navigate complex asset concealment with our expertise
Asset tracing can be an extraordinarily complex process, particularly when individuals or companies employ various methods to dissipate, conceal, or shield assets from creditors, legal authorities, or interested parties. The fundamental goal of asset tracing remains to identify and recover hidden or misappropriated assets. Individuals or entities often conceal their assets by using the following methods:
Dissipation to family members or associates
Offshore transfers and international concealment
Complex corporate structures and the use of shell companies
To overcome these challenges, asset tracing requires a meticulous and multi-pronged approach, including the use of in-country agents, discreet human-source intelligence enquiries and the use of sophisticated software.
How we support asset tracing instructions across various sectors
The purpose and stage of an asset tracing instruction varies considerably according to the sector in which it arises, and our approach is adapted accordingly. Across every sector, the underlying objective remains constant, to establish the true extent of a subject's assets, their location, and the structures through which they are held or controlled, at whatever stage of the matter that intelligence is required.
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Instructions typically arise both prior to and following an insolvency appointment. In advance of an appointment, we are frequently engaged to establish a subject's asset position, corporate connections, and financial standing, providing office holders with the intelligence required to assess viability before formal proceedings commence. Once an appointment has been taken, our work extends to identifying transfers at undervalue, connected party transactions, and asset stripping, together with lifestyle and income assessments where a subject's expenditure appears inconsistent with their declared financial position. Where recovery action becomes necessary, we support charging order and freezing order applications by tracing assets and evidencing the risk of dissipation.
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We are instructed to conduct pre-litigation asset assessments, enabling creditors and their legal representatives to determine whether pursuing a debtor is commercially justified before proceedings are issued. Following judgment, our work shifts to locating assets, including property, business interests, vehicles, and financial holdings, capable of satisfying the debt, and to identifying transfers or dissipation intended to place assets beyond a creditor's reach. Where enforcement spans multiple jurisdictions, we can conduct cross-border asset tracing to support recovery.
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Prior to the commencement of proceedings, we assist solicitors in identifying recoverable assets to inform claim strategy and pre-action decision-making. As proceedings progress, our instructions frequently extend to tracing assets in support of freezing order applications and evidencing patterns of dissipation relevant to enforcement.
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Instructions in this sector arise both prior to and during commercial relationships. We are engaged to trace company or director assets in order to assess financial exposure or creditworthiness ahead of entering into an agreement, to identify assets held by a counterparty relevant to a contractual dispute or debt recovery matter, and to trace assets connected to a company undergoing restructuring or acquisition where insolvency risk is a material consideration.
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Our involvement typically spans the full course of divorce and financial remedy proceedings, from the identification of hidden, dissipated, or undisclosed assets, including property, business interests, offshore structures, and lifestyle indicators, at the outset, through to verification of financial claims as disclosure develops and, where necessary, tracing in support of freezing order applications.
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We assist executors and their legal representatives in identifying undisclosed or unadministered assets within an estate, and in tracing assets removed or dissipated either prior to or following death, including overseas assets in cross-border estates.
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Instructions in this sector are generally ongoing rather than confined to a single event, encompassing the tracing of personal and business assets, property holdings, and financial interests, both at the point of onboarding a new relationship and as part of continuing risk management.
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We support local authorities in tracing individuals or businesses with outstanding council tax or business rates arrears, and in identifying assets to inform recovery action once liability has been established.