Lost CD's

Certificates of Deposits-Lost!!!1

Hello,

My father passed away 4 years ago, and my mother just recently passed away. During my mothers funeral one of our brothers informed us that our father had 3 CD's worth 20,000 each. We have not been able to locate the documents. One of our other siblings was over my fathers estate. Is there anyway we can recover this money, get copies of the documents, find out if the money exist, or see if they have been cashed in and by who.

PLEASE HELP!!!!

SEPT. 24, 2001

DEAR TARABOO:

Which sibling was "over your father's estate"? Was this person ever named in court papers as the official executor? It is the executor who is responsible for claiming the CD's and cashing them in on the maturity date to distribute according to the terms of the will.

Go to the county courthouse to look at your father's probate file--the financial information about how the estate was handled should be in there (the bank where the CD's were held and how much they were worth and when they are due). If that information is not in there, then you all should be asking that sibling for more information about this. Is it possible that he might not have reported these CD's to the estate so that he could keep them for himself?

SINCERELY,

[email protected]

SEPT. 25, 2001 (Tuesday)

DEAR TARABOO:

I just wanted to mention some follow-up advice that might help.

How reliable was that information that your brother provided (who told him that your father had 3 CD's worth $20,000)? Seems like whoever told him that should have been able to provide harder evidence if it was more than just a rumor.

(1) Banks are supposed to contact the CD owner when the maturity date has been reached so the owner can decide whether he wants to cash the CDs in or reinvest for another few years, but sometimes the banks (which is somewhat dishonest) intentionally don't notify owners so the bank can automatically reinvest the CD's to continue to collect interest. Usually, the bank sends a letter to the CD owner at his/her last known address. If they can't reach the owner, after about 2-3 years, the CD account is supposed to be reported as unclaimed property and turned over the state unclaimed property department.

You should check the website www.naupa.org (unclaimed property) and click on the OWNERS link, then FINDERS PROPERTY to find your state's website (you forgot to mention what state you are in), and then check to see if your father's name and mother's name is listed on the site as having unclaimed property.

(2) Doesn't anyone in your family remember what bank your father did his banking at and had his checking or savings account at? Usually, the person will also buy his CD's at the same bank. If you don't know the name of his bank, consider hiring a private investigator to do an asset check (fee is about $100-$500) that would also possibly be able to pull your father's credit report which would show what bank he did business at.

If that doesn't work, then you should call or write to each bank in the city where your father lived to ask the banks to check their records in the CD department to see if your father's name or mother's name ever had accounts there (provide them with an approximate guide of what years to search, and also furnish their dates of birth and dates of death and SSN's to make the search easier).

(3) You may also want to consider requesting a copy of your father's state income tax return and/or federal income tax return for the year prior to his death (you want to get a return that either he or his accountant prepared). There may be clues on the attachments (FORM 1099's Statement of Interest/Dividends) that may give clues as to where the CD's are if he was receiving interest on them annually. But this may be somewhat of a longshot but it's worth trying anyhow.

I get the feeling you are going to get lucky in your search. Let us know how things are going and if you do eventually find them.

SINCERELY,

[email protected]