Asset Search
Asset Search: Know What Someone Really Owns Before You Act
Before you sue someone, lend them money, settle a divorce or go into business with them, there’s one question worth answering: what do they actually own? A professional asset search also known as an Asset Tracing Investigation gives you that answer, based on facts rather than what the other side chooses to tell you.
Royal Investigations carries out asset searches on individuals and companies across South Africa. As a PSIRA-registered agency whose work has been featured on Carte Blanche and Check Point, we help attorneys, businesses, lenders and private clients make decisions with their eyes open.
Royal Investigations is a leading private investigation firm providing professional surveillance services throughout Cape Town and the Western Cape. Our experienced surveillance investigators conduct discreet and lawful investigations designed to establish facts, document activities, and gather evidence suitable for legal proceedings, disciplinary hearings, insurance disputes, and family law matters.
What is an asset search?
An asset search is an investigation into the assets a person or entity owns or controls. At its simplest, it checks the official registers for property, companies and vehicles in the subject’s name. A thorough search goes further, looking at trusts, linked companies, family members and open-source intelligence to build a fuller picture.
Think of it as a financial X-ray. It won’t show you everything, since no lawful search can see inside someone’s bank account, but it shows you the bones: what’s registered, where, and to whom.
What is an asset search?
People often use the two terms interchangeably, but there’s a useful difference.
An asset search answers “what does this person or company have on record?” It’s ideal for due diligence, pre-litigation checks and first-stage divorce enquiries. It’s usually quicker and more affordable.
An asset trace answers “where did the assets go?” It follows transfers, nominees, trusts and money flows when someone has deliberately hidden or moved what they own. It takes longer and often involves field work.
We provide asset tracing services in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Gauteng, and the broader South Africa
What an asset search can cover
We tailor every search to your goal. Here’s what we typically look at:
Asset type | Where we look | What it tells you |
Immovable property | Deeds Office records nationwide | Properties owned, bonds registered, recent purchases and sales |
Companies and close corporations | CIPC records | Current and past directorships, members’ interests, new registrations |
Trusts | Master of the High Court records and linked documents | Trusts connected to the subject, trustees and trust-held property |
Vehicles, vessels and aircraft | Relevant registers and field verification | Cars, trucks, boats and aircraft linked to the subject |
Judgments and litigation | Court records and credit bureau data (where lawful) | Other creditors, defaults and legal disputes |
Business interests | Public filings, listings and open sources | Businesses run in the subject’s name or a relative’s |
Digital footprint | Social media and online sources | Lifestyle, travel, possessions and connections |
Financial leads | Lawful intelligence and records | Banks and platforms used, for your attorney to subpoena |
A simple example
Imagine a Durban-based supplier is about to sue a Cape Town customer for R400,000. Legal fees to judgment could easily run into six figures. Before spending that money, the supplier’s attorney asks us to check what the customer owns.
Within a few days, the picture is clear. The customer’s company owns no property, but its sole director owns a paid-off house in Durbanville, is a director of two other trading companies and has a boat registered in his name. He also signed a personal suretyship for the company’s debts. That changes everything. The attorney can now sue with confidence, and the director is far more likely to settle once he realises what’s at stake.
The opposite result is just as useful. If the search had shown a bonded house and a string of judgments from other creditors, the supplier could have saved its legal budget and looked at other options.
Who needs an asset search?
Attorneys and litigants. Before issuing summons, find out whether the defendant can pay. After judgment, find what the sheriff can attach.
Creditors and lenders. Check a borrower or surety before extending credit, or find assets when a debt goes bad.
Divorcing spouses. Test a spouse’s financial disclosure against the registers, especially in accrual marriages, where hidden assets reduce your claim.
Businesses. Vet a new partner, investor, supplier or senior hire before you commit.
Executors and heirs. Establish what a deceased estate actually includes.
Landlords. Check a commercial tenant before signing a long lease, or find assets when rent goes unpaid.
How our asset search process works
- Tell us about the subject. A full name and ID number or company registration number is ideal. Addresses, known businesses and vehicles help.
- Agree on the scope. We recommend the right level of search for your purpose and quote upfront.
- We search and verify. Our investigators run the records searches, analyse the results and, where needed, check the facts on the ground.
- You receive a clear report. Every asset found, how it’s held, supporting documents and our recommendations.
- Next steps. If the results suggest hidden assets, we can escalate to a full trace without starting over.
Why a professional asset search beats doing it yourself
Some registers, like the Deeds Office and CIPC, are open to the public for a fee. So why use an investigator? A few honest reasons.
You need the full picture, not fragments. A property search in someone’s own name will miss the house held by their trust, the farm in their company’s name and the flat bought by their brother. Joining those dots is what investigators do.
Records can mislead. Registers lag behind reality. A company can look dormant and still be trading. A car can be “sold” but still parked in the driveway. We verify.
Evidence has to hold up. Our reports are structured for court and for your attorney. A pile of printouts from different websites isn’t.
The law matters. POPIA restricts how personal information is collected and used. We know where the lines are, and we stay on the right side of them, which protects you.
The honest limits of an asset search
We would rather tell you now than disappoint you later. A lawful asset search can’t reveal bank balances, account statements. That information can only be obtained through a court process, such as a subpoena. Anyone offering to pull bank statements for you is offering to break the law, and evidence obtained that way can be excluded and could expose you to liability.
What we can do is identify the financial institutions your subject uses and hand your attorney solid grounds to apply for the records properly.
Asset searches across South Africa
We work nationwide, from Cape Town to Limpopo, and our international network allows lawful offshore enquiries too. For clients in Tshwane, our dedicated asset search in Pretoria page covers local matters such as estates, maintenance claims and lifestyle audits.
Why choose Royal Investigations for your asset search
- PSIRA-registered investigators working within POPIA and the law.
- Media-recognised expertise, featured on Carte Blanche and Check Point, and in publications such as IOL and Netwerk24.
- Search-to-trace capability, so you never have to switch providers mid-case.
- Clear, court-ready reports written for attorneys and business owners alike.
- Confidentiality. The subject is never alerted by us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Surveillance is the observation and documentation of a person's activities, behaviour, movements, or associations to gather evidence.
Yes. Professional surveillance is lawful when conducted in compliance with South African legislation and privacy laws.
Yes. Properly obtained surveillance evidence may be used in civil, criminal, labour, and family law matters.
Yes. Infidelity investigations are one of the most common surveillance services we provide.
Yes. We regularly assist parents and attorneys involved in custody disputes.
Yes. Surveillance often provides valuable evidence relating to sick leave abuse, moonlighting, theft, and workplace misconduct.
Yes. We frequently conduct surveillance investigations relating to restraint of trade and commercial disputes.
The duration depends on the objectives, circumstances, and complexity of the investigation.
Our investigators use professional surveillance techniques designed to minimise the risk of detection.
We provide surveillance services throughout Cape Town, Bellville, Durbanville, Parow, Goodwood, Brackenfell, Kraaifontein, Somerset West, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Claremont, Rondebosch, Constantia, Camps Bay, Sea Point, Milnerton, Bloubergstrand, and the broader Western Cape.