Private investigators, "dormant funds"--scam or no? Updates...

[texsuze]

Putting this out there for anyone familiar with such a situation, or maybe help in pointing the way.
Mom's brother (my uncle) passed away in 2013. Mom was the main beneficiary since my aunt had passed away the previous year. My aunt and uncle had no children together.
My brother was the executor of our uncle's will and carried out the responsibilities accordingly. Our aunt and uncle had kept excellent records of their activities and assets, which were ample.
Dad passed away in 2014 with mom the sole beneficiary. Again, no apparent issues with probate, except Dad had nearly everything in his name only (lesson learned, folks....). Mom sold her house and relocated to a city very close to where DH and I live, in 2019.
Fast forward to this month, when my brother received two different letters from two different PIs (private investigators) in a neighboring state, seeking mom's whereabouts. The reason given, that mom has money due to her which has not been collected (? dormant funds, ? insurance policy ? unclaimed mineral rights). As I understand it, the PIs will get a commission on that money if they locate mom and she takes possession of the monies.
According to my brother, one of the PIs sounds dicey and the other sounds legit. Brother is not taking chances at this point, and not divulging info about mom, treading carefully. Mom does not, under any circumstances "....even for a million dollars! " want to take this further. Neither of us can think where mom could possibly have any monies coming to her, unless from some financial infidelity on dad's part (he had Alzheimer's dz), or the remote possibility of my uncle being heir to some land or mineral rights he forgot about, although that is highly unlikely.
Anyone care to weigh in on this scenario? I'd like my brother to engage an attorney (probate?) to discuss whether or not to proceed at all, or, maybe make an investigation into the PI companies, since neither is based in our state. He believes that if the PIs were legit , they'd only be messing with this if there were reasonable-sized commissions to be made. Neither of us wants to compromise mom's identity or security. Opinions welcome.

[Sue B]

Simply check with whatever state they are calling from. Each state has an uncollected funds site. No PI required. Most likely a scam, but if she has unclaimed funds, then by all means claim them for her. Most of the time, the funds are under 50.00

[redsoxluvr]

Yes, check with the state's unclaimed property listings. That's where the "PIs" get the info.

[texsuze]

Thanks, all! Duh. Why didn't I think of that? I'm forwarding the state websites for claims in the "neighboring state", as well as our state, to my brother so he can take if from there. If mom is owed money I'm more curious as to the origin than to the amount. I'll report back if I hear more on this.....

[Tanga]

There are people who go through the unclaimed property sites and contact people and try to make money by selling that to people. It's not exactly a scam, but a way to make money from people who don't know how to do this.

[acheyarcher]

can be anything from overpaid taxes to forgotten insurance policies. Totally agree with checking not only these home states, but all states for your deceased relatives names. Insurance company in wisconsin might list your uncle who died in Texas, for instance. Easy enough to do over an hours time. My mothers family name is highly unique ( only two family lines in US) so searching was pretty fast when she passed.

unclaimed.org

[heddylamar]

Don't talk to these "PIs" — they're running a scam. If you think it could be legit, do your own research.

[texsuze]

Thanks all for your input, and keep it coming..!
I emailed the "unclaimed" websites to my brother yesterday after reading your posts, and told him blow off the PI companies. He called back last night (incredulously) "Where did you get this info from?"
Me: Why, the dressage bulletin board of course! Seekers of truth, masters of knowledge, lifetimes of experience in the equine and human realms

Brother had plugged in my dad and one uncle's name (both deceased) into our state's 'unclaimed' website. They both came up on the list, plus my aunt and another uncle. Each with funds listed to be claimed (bank origin, deposit from insurance company, another unidentified source). Brother says, "Hold on when I tell you the amounts......" Totaled in the low 6-figures. Yeah, no wonder the PIs were on the trail. Brother had planned to speak with someone in the state office this morning to get particulars on making the claims.

Stay tuned

[Tanga]

texsuz Ooooooh. That's cool. Low six figures. I never find anything like that!

[Koolkat]

The "dept of unclaimed property" in Florida fell under my younger brother's jurisdiction for quite a few years before he transferred to consumer protection/banking regulation with the state. The amount of assets in the account were huge (not surprising in Florida, given the retiree population). He took the time to run the family name through the all the states' databases, too. Alas and alack.............. it's amazing how under reported this information/resource is. Congrats on your windfall!!!!

[Moutaineer]

Texsure, my husband always asks me if I've "asked the horse-ladies."

[Hayburner]

Wow! Get that money before time runs out.

I guess in the end you should be glad these real or fake PI's contacted you

[texsuze]

Well, "horse-ladies" Here's some more scoop, in case anyone finds themselves in a similar situation. Brother has been in back & forth communication with our uncle's bank and the state unclaimed funds folks. Our uncle's estate will have to be reopened (by an attorney) in order to satisfy producing the required documentation within the mandatory timeframe required. Just a bit more admin for my brother. Thank heavens he kept all documents related to the executorship. Fingers crossed there are no serious hiccups.

BUT....brother said there are two more bank accounts that were somehow overlooked(?) during the creation of the will/probate, which now increases the total amount of unclaimed funds by a non-trivial amount.

AND....Mom and two other folks in the will were the recipients of the bulk (but not the entirety) of my uncle's estate. Brother discovered that those two other folks have since passed away. So the division and disbursement of these unclaimed funds to those in the will is now minus two folks. We're waiting until the wheels really get turning before letting mom know the details, since she'll think it's all scam undertaken by the Russians and alien beings.... Stay tuned!

[Chancellor]

It's amazing what information is out there if you only know where to look!

[acheyarcher]

Certainly my first thought it was a substantial amount. The "PIs" would never have made an effort over the 5 and 10 dollar amounts usually listed.

I wonder if you can simply complete the process and tell Mom when the money is in hand that an audit of the estate found some accounts which have been obtained and here are the funds. No reason to tell the full story/

[texsuze]

My brother had to go ahead and disclose all to mom, emphasizing that the PI's are no longer in the picture. She took it very well! So now to have the attorney re-open my uncle's estate, create a new bank account in the estate in which to deposit the unclaimed funds, and provide the appropriate documents to the state to process the request. Then my brother will cut checks again for the heirs so they can receive their portion. Not sure how long all of this will take. I'll post again when further along

[silk]

I'm looking forward to "texsuze's horse shopping thread" ...

[texsuze]

Thanks, Silk, but you'll have a long wait on that one I'm on my last equine partner right now--he's 29, in full retirement, no longer able to eat hay, crappy vision and hearing, and getting to be high maintenance! I just can't handle the workload of more than one any more, and he'll likely live another 10 years, which would put me into the senior citizen category.

I won't receive any of mom's unclaimed funds windfall. I've already told her I don't want to be given any money at all in her will (she'll put me in there just to spite me....). Since my uncle's entire estate will require "re-opening", and apparently since all the other living heirs received lump sums (not a % of his estate), looks like mom will get the entire amount of unclaimed funds, minus any attorney and admin fees. A nice chunk of change Will buy her lots of cat food and cat litter!

[silk]

Ok ok ok, we need texsuze's mom's new kitty pictures then, haha!

[texsuze]

Mom already has six (that's 6!) cats, so she's trying to outlive them all at this time. DH suggested to her (on my recommendation), that when she finally receives these unclaimed funds, mom should put all the money into a dedicated Cat Care account. That way, in the event that she does not outlive all or some of her cats, there will be money to use towards their care until we (family) can formulate a plan for what happens to them next. Mom agreed with that idea. For now

[texsuze]

Got an update from my brother yesterday re: this unclaimed funds process. On the website there is now some type of "pending" notation assigned to the unclaimed accounts he's working on, which makes me feel better that they've been tagged as 'in progress', sort of. Brother submitted part of the attorney's fees for all this estate work to the lawyer's office; says they'll hopefully be plodding along with the necessary admin. Far east TX, so could be snail's pace. Updates as they occur.