Litigation counsel
Find the fact witness who moved, changed names, or went quiet — and confirm current whereabouts in support of service of process or subpoena.
Backgrounds— Skip Tracing & Locates
Skip tracing and locates for attorneys.
Skip tracing is the investigative work of locating a person whose whereabouts are unknown — a witness, heir, debtor, or missing party. OnTrial develops address history and cross-references records, digital signals, and device location intelligence to confirm where they are now. Analyst-verified.
For counsel, judgment creditors, trustees, fiduciaries, and insurers. Fixed cost per engagement. Flash-tier results in 1–2 business days.
What it is
Find the person the case depends on.
A subpoena is only as good as the address on it. A judgment is only as good as the debtor you can find.
A skip trace starts with who the subject really is — true identity, aliases, and address history — and works forward through liens, judgments, licenses, and voter and vital records. When the paper trail goes stale, digital signals and device location intelligence show where the person lives, works, and spends time today.
OnTrial runs locates alongside backgrounds, geolocation, asset searches, and cryptocurrency tracing, so a found debtor or witness arrives with context. See the glossary for the terms of art.
Who this is for
Built for the people who need someone found.
Judgment creditors & collections counsel
Locate the debtor who left the last known address, then tie the locate to the assets and accounts that make a judgment collectible.
Trustees, estates & fiduciaries
Find heirs, beneficiaries, and debtors for bankruptcy trustees, estate administrators, and fiduciaries who need every interested party accounted for.
Insurers & corporate counsel
Locate claimants, witnesses, and former employees in claims, disputes, and investigations — with each locate documented and analyst-verified.
What it includes
The components of a locate.
Identity & address history
True identity and aliases, address history, and associated people developed from premium investigative databases, nationwide records, and county-level court research.
Public & vital records
Liens, judgments, bankruptcies, UCC filings, licenses, and voter and vital records — the paper trail that confirms who a subject is and where they went.
Device location intelligence
Pattern-of-life analysis that shows where a subject lives, works, and spends time when records alone go stale — mapped and time-lined.
Debtor locates & asset leads
Locate the debtor, then map the real property, business interests, and accounts tied to them for judgment enforcement and recovery.
Typical engagements
What clients order.
- Locating hard-to-find fact witnesses before deposition
- Locates that support service of process
- Finding heirs and beneficiaries for estate administration
- Debtor locates for judgment enforcement and recovery
- Locating debtors and insiders for bankruptcy trustees
- Missing-person locates handled for counsel or fiduciaries
Why the work holds up
Locates you can act on.
Every locate is sourced. Every locate is analyst-verified. Permissible purpose is confirmed up front.
Every internal role at OnTrial is held by a veteran of the U.S. military, federal law enforcement, or state / municipal law enforcement — by mandate.
SOC 2 aligned; FCRA, GLBA, and CCPA compliant. AI-governance posture is documented — see AI Governance and Data Security.
OnTrial, LLC is licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety as a Private Investigations Company (#C31261501). Field operators are licensed to the standards of each jurisdiction where they operate.
FAQ
Skip tracing, explained.
- What is skip tracing?
- Skip tracing is the investigative work of locating a person whose whereabouts are unknown — a witness, heir, debtor, or missing party. It develops identity, aliases, and address history, then cross-references public records, digital signals, and device location intelligence to confirm where the person is now. OnTrial delivers each locate analyst-verified and documented.
- What does a skip trace include?
- A skip trace typically covers true identity and aliases, address history, and associated people from a background investigation; liens, judgments, bankruptcies, licenses, and voter and vital records; device location intelligence when records go stale; and, for debtors, the asset searches that make a judgment collectible.
- Who uses skip tracing and locate services?
- Counsel locating witnesses and parties, judgment creditors and collections counsel, bankruptcy trustees, estate administrators and fiduciaries searching for heirs, and insurers locating claimants. OnTrial works for counsel, companies, and fiduciaries, with permissible-purpose controls on every engagement.
- Can OnTrial find a witness or debtor who has moved?
- Yes. OnTrial locates hard-to-find witnesses, heirs, debtors, and missing persons through records, digital signals, and device location intelligence, and confirms current whereabouts in support of service of process or subpoena. Locates are often paired with civil litigation investigations or asset work.
- How does ordering a skip trace work?
- Order through the secure client portal, scope the subject and purpose with a case manager, and receive an analyst-verified report with the current location, address history, and supporting sources. Flash-tier results return in 1–2 business days. Every engagement is a fixed cost — no subscription or monthly fees.
Start working with OnTrial.
Become an OnTrial client and order skip traces and locates directly through the secure client portal. No subscription, no monthly fees.