My father passed away back in 2008 when I was still a minor, and my mother had a ton of other things she needed to do that prevented her from looking into what assets my father owned beyond what the probate ruled. Just last year I discovered some dividends for 2 different shares, along with 1 specific share on my state's unclaimed property program that belonged to my father. I'm currently going through the process of getting those claimed.
The thing is, we had no idea he owned any stock. He never did his taxes himself (my mother had to back file 18 years worth of taxes when they got married, and I doubt he did his taxes after they divorced), so we have no record of these stocks. And yet, clearly he owned some.
How on earth do I go about searching for assets he owned so long ago when he never did his own taxes and didn't write a will?
Father passed away nearly 20 years ago, attempting to locate assets that were not transferred through probate.
byu/LittleChibs inpersonalfinance
Posted by LittleChibs
2 Comments
There are sites that will help with this. I don’t want to post a specific URL, because I think that might be against the rules of this sub, but if you just google something like “locating unclaimed assets”, it should come up. Use a .gov or .org site, and never pay for any of this info.
After a certain period of time, inactive accounts are escheated by the state. They liquidate the account and keep the money in a risk free account like a savings account.
If you do a internet search for “Clark Howard unclaimed money” the first result should be an article from his website. He’s a personal finance and “deal finder” expert. Great podcast, too.