After a year of planning, where we had the help of a social worker, Elder Care lawyer and CPA, we thought we filed the Medicaid application properly. We have just discovered an IRA belonging to the ill person that no one knew about. ARGHHHH!
What do we need here to make sure more stuff isn't going to pop up? Is there an agency like a credit report agency that lists assets? How about life insurance policies and annuities? How do you find those if the person can't remember?
We went through all the papers in the house and never saw anything about this account. Lawyers filing probate must do this somehow...find all the assets. There must be a way to do it.
Note to self: List all your assets and policies somewhere so if you get hit on the head and have memory loss, you can find your money.
What are we supposed to do? Call every insurance company and bank in the world and ask "Do you have any accounts for this person?" It would be great if they had an Asset Report like they have a Credit Report.
I don't understand why it didn't have any withdrawals. I thought every year you had to take a withdrawal from a retirement account. That's why the CPA didn't know about it. It didn't come up on the taxes.
The other important thing we learned is you can list a secondary person to be notified if you have fallen behind on your utility, life insurance or other important payments before they cancel the policy or shut off the lights. Good to know!
Many attorneys and Forensic CPA' s hire them, but you can hire them directly, I think for about $185-$200. US dollars.
Note to self: I made such a list, but cannot find it.
“White shoe” type of law firms and Pittbull divorce attys tend to have one or two on staff or on permalance. There seems to be a real art to it. Think CSI / crime scene investigator without the wet work.
A bigger CPA group will have one and likely know of one to refer to.
As Executor now 3x, those Notices placed in newspaper by your probate atty create a valid way to deal with assets and debts.... so if nothing surfaces within whatever your state requires, the Executor can go ahead and do a Distribution. If somehow something was unknown & comes up after Distribution done &/or probate closed, then in my experience what family can do is wait till your state Treasuer does a statewide redemption & you take your documentation as to why your a heir, fill out the form w/your SS# and state issues you a check.
I’m in New Orleans and after Katrina, state got ooodles of checks from everything from insurance co to utility outfits and sent to State Treasurer as folks moved, house gone, no mail delivery possible... but companies were required to issue checks. State treasurer gets them and deposits into state coffers. It was beyond chaos in many ways for years. So years of checks accruing interest in state Treasury. When John Kennedy became State Treasurer a few years back he did the first statewide easy redemption system to pay folks $ they were due or inherited. It was publicized and held at Lakeside Mall in Metairie for our area. Lines snaked through the mall. Tons of folks getting checks cut on the spot. Happy voters. He’s our junior Senator now, sharp as a whip, well educated the country accent belies how savvy he actually is.
My point is, if you find something years later, you can go the unclaimed property payment system within your state Treasury to get $.