My Dad died 3 years ago my Mom, 6 months ago and Dad had stocks/bonds how do I find them.?

Question

My Mom, passed away and my dad died unexpectily and did not tell her where all his investments where we are finding small accouts all over the place.

Answer 1

This may be a very difficult job, but the good news is that it's tax season and that means every stock, bond, mutual fund, money market, bank account - anything that paid a dividend, capital gain or interest will be sending out a 1099 Form. You can use those tax forms to see where the asset is actually held. By law, all 1099 forms have to go out by the end of January, so if you haven't received any yet, be patient, you should in the next several weeks. You may also be receiving year end statements, which will also tell you where those assets are at.

If you've moved to a different state since your dad passed away, try searching for the division of lost property of that state. By law, all unclaimed funds and property get escheated to the state, there they remain until someone can prove they have a right to them. There is usually no cost associated with claiming this property and it may be a great way to find a lost bank or investment account.

You also may want to look at previous tax returns, they may have information on dividends, interest and capital gains. Look at any old 1040 Schedule B or D, that might give you a clue as well.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Sorry to hear about your loss.
If as you say you are finding leads to various investments, you can follow them up. Just ask a stock broker if he can sell them for you. Any other shares etc. sooner or later you will surely receive some communications from the companies, eg general meetings, dividend vouchers, voting etc.

Answer 3

There are no good answers.

Go through your dad's correspondence and try to find receipts or summaries. You can request copies of your father's tax returns as the heir and this should help identify what they are if any. Go through bank statements or credit card receipts to find other transactions.

This all presumes that your Dad faithfully reported such things to the IRS. Not everyone does.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Finding which broker he went through should get you started... got any statements that mention a return address? a phone number? Hopefully even though the stock is in different companies, he went through one broker...with proper ID and paperwork ( death certificates, birth certificates, sorry) they can tell you about ALL his accounts or holdings. Prove you're the heirs...and the money is yours.

Answer 5

well the ones you do find mail copies of the bonds to the company ask them to help you on that situation. you might need to make copies of the death certificates