Check with your state department of treasury. There is no fee to claim unclaimed money. You will likely be required to produce a death certificate and proof of kinship. Be very WARY of those who want to charge for this service.

I am tempted to say its not accurate, nobody charges to give money away...unless its a scam.

Here is a link that provides information to find unclaimed property. There are links on this page to websites for every state. You do not have to pay anything to reclaim any money you find.

Here is a link that might be useful: Unclaimed Property

If your father died years ago...why wasn't his estate settled?
If you know he owned some stock....where are the certificates?

And, most importantly...how did they get your name and address?

If you really want to investigate it...ask them how much it would it cost you "up front" to have them do this.

You do realize that if there is any "missing" money, you would have to do more than simply claim it. Is there a will naming you as sole heir? if it is stock or CDs, there may be a beneficiary named...and it can only be claimed by that person or their estate. If there is no beneficiary, and your father had a will, the administrator of his estate will have to claim the money and amend the probate docs. If there was no will probate, then you will have to get yourself identified as administrator and go thru probate process.

All that said....i'm 99% sure t's probably a scam. They take a fee to "investigate", and you end up with nothing but the cancelled check they cashed.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

These are not scams, but companies who do searches for unclaimed property and charge "finders fees". However, it is not necessary to use the companies to find your money. Please read the information in the link below. This is information from the US Treasury.

Here is a link that might be useful: Treasury FAQ

Got to be a scam.

I just settled my mom's estate this past year. As a matter of fact, just yesterday I dropped off the paperwork for my accountant to do the final estate tax accounting.

Along the way, I discovered that the state had some unclaimed money in her name. There WAS NO FEE for claiming it--I just had to produce the appropriate proof that Mom was dead and I was the executrix of her estate. As a matter of fact, when the state sent the check, it was for more than they originally noted--because they added interest to it.

You should definitely be able to do this yourself WITHOUT paying someone else. It's a very simple procedure.

If you still are uneasy, uncomfortable tracking this down on your own, please, speak with your lawyer before making your decision.

good luck.

"I recieved a letter from a company that says they have information that there is some thousands of dollars of missing money."

That sounds too much like "You may have already won a million dollars."

Of course they may have information about missing money. It is available on the internet for everybody to read the information!

Don't fall for it. People get these emails all the time.

I left out important info for those responding. Thanks to those who responded. I was the executrix of my dads estate. A brother who dided 1 1/2 year later had a number of things of dad's stocks, who knows what else, that I have not seen, sister has, don't know why? The estate was closed long time ago by me, then these things came out. I will get ahold of the state and see if they have record of this. I do not want to pay someone to do this if I do not have to. By the way my siblings are all out of state and do things that is questionable and there are 7 of us...Thanks for the info...Deb

This sounds like a rip-off. Proceed with caution.

'Estate Finding' is a legitimate business. Ask to see their contract and take it to an attorney. Do not pay upfront; they should take a percentage out of the funds they have found.

It does seem odd that only you of all your siblings is named. Perhaps money was left to you by someone other than your late father or brother. Might you have been on the registry for a safe deposit box along with a parent?

'Estate Finding' is a legitimate business.

Where?

Here is a direct quote from the US Treasury Dept website.
"Several companies, or locator services, engaged in the business of identifying and recovering unclaimed assets for profit, acquire federal check issuance data from FMS and various federal government agencies under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. The information requested by these companies pertains to specific check symbols, numbers and dollar amounts identified on Treasury check cancellation listings compiled by FMS. These listings are not searchable by personal identifiers, such as a person's name or social security number. Personal identifiers may, however, exist in federal agencies' check issuance or cancellation records. Using such personal identifiers, if available, these locator services attempt to locate the prospective beneficiaries, or "payees," for canceled/unpaid government checks and, on their behalf, attempt to collect the payment amounts from the federal agencies that originally certified the payments. It is important to note that these firms are also involved in recovering unclaimed property in the possession of state and local government entities."

There is nothing illegal about notifying some one there is unclaimed property available to them. No one has to use their services to get the money. Any one can do it on their own, but it is certainly not illegal for them to take a percentage of the money if you use their service.

Sometimes estate finders are hired to assist in settling an estate where all the named heirs cannot be found. The estate cannot be closed until all reasonable efforts have been made to find the heirs or, if the named heirs are deceased, to find *their* legal heirs.

If they actually GET you money that you can't find elsewhere, and if you don't pay them upfront, I say 70% of something is better than 100% of nothing. I'd give it to them if you can't find it on your own AND if their fee is deducted from the money they find, not laid out beforehand.

Exactly Redcurls, that the way it works. You don't pay them anything upfront. However, when you receive one of these notices, with a little research, most people will be able to get the money owed them without going through these companies. Occasionally, there is a lot of paperwork involved in getting the money, and some people would just rather pay the "finders fee" than do the actual process themselves.

Yeah, there are legit companies that do this... it's probably not a scam. But, since you are made aware of the fact that there is money somewhere out there, you can probably find it yourself and forego paying someone else to do the leg work and get a commission.

I was contacted by a similar agency regarding 'unclaimed money' that was due me by a life insurance co. The notice had the company name & phone number - I contacted them and was issued the check owed me without any additional fee or costs. I think this type of thing happens more frequently now as we're a much more mobile society - My parents probably moved 3 times after WWII. College, 1st home and 2nd home... I moved that much my first year out of school!! You leave a little $ in a bank in town A to cover those last checks.... forget to go back and close the acct.. Move, don't leave a forwarding address... all these things add up... It's worth the time to go to the "Unclaimed Property" site for any state you've lived in... Some states take out regional newspaper ads listing unclaimed property.

Thanks for all the helpful info. I have the state sending me paperwork , even though the amount the person gave me is not listed . I will start here and see what I can find out about the other money. I wonder if any of you know if I have a docket# does that mean they know something at the courthouse where my father lived???