locating assets of father who passed away.

[tdspeers]

i am in south carolina. my father recently passed away very unexpectedly. several of his friends have told me he played the stock market online.and was going to retire in two years. we have found some stock statements at the house but nothing large enough where he would be able to retire. is there anyway a search can be done to locate any unfound assets or stocks investments that might be out there.i have checked his computer for paper trails and found nothing.any help would greatly be appreciated

 

[ALawyer]

A huge list of places to look and things to do is on FreeAdvice.com under Wills and Probate. But check the mail for monthly and quarterly brokerage statements and any 1099s sent to him at year end by brokerage houses. And ask the guys if he ever mentioned the name of the brokerage firm.

 

[advisor10]

10-22-2001

DEAR TDSPEERS:

(1) If he was employed, contact his place of employment to find out about any pension or insurance benefits that might be available there.

(2) Send me an e-mail message (to the e-mail address shown below) that mentions his name, age, and month/year that he died and city/state where he lived, so I can check some asset locator databases to see if any monies or property is being held for him.

(3) Call up local stock brokerage houses (or examine the stock statements you have to contact those companies) to see if he had an account with them.

(4) You fail to mention whether or not he had a will.

(5) There is a website called www.missingassets.com that can do asset searches for $8.00. I haven't used them before but they might be able to assist you.

(6) Who is going to be the official executor of his estate? That person can order a copy of whatever the latest year Federal tax return and/or State tax return that will have valuable income/stock ownership information on it.


SINCERELY,

[email protected]

 

[Teliza]

I stumbled across this post, but I am in the same situation,, my father passed away suddenly three days ago,, and having read the papers he did leave,, the will has my mother as the executrix, with me as the second if she is unable to perform as such,, the situation is that she is severely mentally and physically disabled due to a neurological condition which has left her unable to even fed herself. She has been cared for at home by my father and a housekeeper til now. I know i take over as the executrix, and have found out that i also have Durable Power of Attorney for my mother in case of something like this. The house is totallly paid for, no lein on it.

The problem is there is a sizable estate consisting of stocks and IRA's which i cannot find a record of,, yet last i spoke with my father he was still trading. I know he had an accountant, but have not yet found out who he is. Still going thru papers searching. My father filed taxes quarterly, so i know it is nearly that time again. He lived in Texas.

The questions i have are,,

1. How do i invoke the Power of Attorney to pay for my mother's care right now, I also have Medical Power of Attorney it turns out.

2. Is it possible to access the monetary assets while the Will is in Probate,, ?

3. Can the Will even go to probate while we are still searching for the assets?

4. My father created a checking account with me jointly in case of an emergency,, but I can't even find a bankbook showing what balance it has in it,, do i need to show the Power of Attorney to access it now?

5.Is the joint account with my father part of his estate?

I am meeting with the lawyer who drew up the Will, and other documents tomorrow, but am obviously worried about what is to happen with my mother if I can't access the money to pay for her caretaker and Doctors.


thanks in advance for your help.

TEliza