Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

I was a recipient of my uncle's estate. The estate has been completed for at least 5 years. I recently

discovered that there are many accounts with unclaimed funds in them under his name. I contacted the attorney who handled the estate. He responded that he is aware of these and that there is not enough money in them to reopen the estate account and probate, etc. He states he will just let the money go back to the state. Isn't this illegal? Doesn't the attorney have the responsibility to see that the money goes to the estate recipients? Please let me know.


Asked on 4/20/11, 10:43 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Rachel Hunter

First, this is not "illegal." The attorney is not committing a crime. He is not stealing the money. The attorney is being honest - unless you are going to pay his fees, he is not going to mess with it. Although, the accounts should have been handled from the get go and I don't know why the attorney did not do that. Maybe he committed malpractice. However, unless you pay another attorney to open the estate, you have no damages - the money is still there.

The simplest solution is to go a site like www.unclaimed.org. That site provides links to all of the treasurers for each state. Go to the state where your uncle had funds and follow the directions on the state treasurer's website. If there are other heirs as well, there might be a mechanism for you all to sign. Or else the personal representative of the estate should do it. The personal representative should then disburse all of the funds to the heirs as per your uncle's will. There is no need to involve the lawyer.

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Answered on 4/20/11, 11:16 am


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