Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

I need to find out information regarding my deceased mom's accounts.

She passed away in 2001 and recently, after going through her paperwork have found bank statements with information regarding her finances.

The account has both her name and mine on it. She also had other accounts but am curious as some of the activity that appears on the account.

My question is: I believe there is money in an account somewhere but because she passed away in 2001, is there a statute of limitations? In other words, if there was or is, would it revert back to the state?

Also, how do I obtain information regarding, for instance, money going from one account to another.

Thanks for any information you can provide.


Asked on 8/22/10, 12:03 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Walter LeVine Walter D. LeVine, Esq.

If your name was still on the account when she passed away, whoever handled the probate, if someone did, should have handled this for you and on your behalf, if they knew about the account. Best is to contact the bank involved and see if the account is still open. If so, all you should need to close it is an original death certificate. If the account escheated to the State due to inactivity, again, all you need to do is contact the appropraite State office and process the redemption. If the account was closed, not by escheat, and the bank refuses to provide adequate information on how this happened, you may need to get a Court Order (which may necessitate retaining an attorney to assist you) to find out what happened and to try to reclaim the funds if anyone acted improperly. This is a response to an Internet question and the reply is not intended to be legal advice or as creating an attorney-client relationship.

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Answered on 8/27/10, 12:22 pm


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