Finding IRAs of the deceased

[Guest pocahontas13]

My father passed away recently. Reading his journals it seems he may have purchased IRAs.

Is there a way to find out if he had any IRAs other than from his old income tax records? Most of his paperwork is missing.

[JanetM]

Watch his mail for statements. Go to unclaimed funds websites. Go thru old bank statements, you can get them from the bank, to see if there were contributions made.

[John G]

Accounts might not yet show up as unclaimed funds. You might want to look old checks for deposits. Ask at each institution where you find funds if there are any other accounts. Ask at each institution in the neighborhood.

My mother assisted a relative when a very distant relative died in NYC. She walked to the nearest four banks and asked "I would like to obtain a list of ALL of the accounts associated with Ms XYZ". This lead to lots of leads, safe deposit boxes, etc. They also used the names on the sides of toaster oven boxes (gifts from new accounts). After four weeks, they had discovered nearly a million dollars in obscure stock certificates, old passbooks, CDs that kept renewing, etc. They concluded that there was clearly things they did not find. The deceased woman had lived as a bag lady for many decades in a rent controlled apartment. No one in the building knew about her resources except perhaps the landlord who "volunteered" to clean out the old apartment. Volunteered? In New York City? That gave my mother an idea that there were assets.