 Reclaiming
unclaimed funds no cakewalk
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 Dear
Dr. Don,
Regarding your recent article about finding lost bank accounts:
Recently, I contacted the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania regarding
over $4,000 I found held in my grandmother's name (she's been dead
25 years). Beware, I had to jump through hoops to get it (I still
don't have it). I had to petition the Orphans' Court and open an
estate. So far it has taken about a year! So it's not that easy.
-- Dale Discover
 Dear
Dale,
In a recent column on finding
a childhood bank account I said, "The states, for the most part, have
done a great job of making this as consumer friendly as possible." I've been
taken to task by a couple of readers about this statement. What I meant by my
comment was that it's easy to search for accounts on the various state unclaimed
property Web sites, not that the steps you'll have to take to get the money released
by the state will be a piece of cake.
Establishing your rights to your deceased grandmother's
unclaimed property is quite a different matter from Linda Lost trying
to locate her old passbook savings account. Your grandmother's estate
passed to her heirs either by will, or under her state's intestate
laws if she didn't have a will. Documenting your claim to her estate
was bound to take some effort.
Readers should take Dale's story as a reminder
to write down a listing of bank and brokerage accounts, life insurance
policies and where a copy of the will is kept so your loved ones
don't have to try to reconstruct your finances once you're gone.
My 2005
top 10 list advised you to keep a little green book. Did you
do it?
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