How do I find out if my deceased aunt’s missing Royalties are being held in suspense?
Contact the Unclaimed funds for the NM Treasurer’s office. Also contact the operator and ask.
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If she lived in another state, you may have to contact that state as well. Also, sometimes Delaware since many companies are domiciled there.
Thanks. Did that for Delaware & Texas. Nothing. Are funds held “in suspension “ the same as being held by the state Treasury awaiting claims?
If they are held in suspense, my understanding is that the title is in need of curing. You would contact the operator for that since they are in charge of paying. If the title is clear and they cannot find someone, then after a certain amount of time (about four-seven years depending upon the state), they turn it over to the state to hold.
In my case, the money was being held by Florida unclaimed, even though the deceased never set foot in Florida. An interested person had moved there and changed the address to her home there, then moved and did not realize that the checks could not be forwarded by the post office. That was a wonderful thing for me since I then knew all the operators and leases. Florida would not give her the checks, wanted proof of ownership by probate and wills, so we got our share by that lucky break, ending 26 years of crooked stuff!
That was very fortunate. Good detective work!
Gives me a little hope. My aunt’s missing royalties go back 50 years. Still don’t understand how they could have lost track of her. She didnt move around that much. Will decide in the next few days whether or not to continue pursuing this. Have already spent $4,000 in researching her royalties.
Here’s a link to New Mexico’s unclaimed property site. There’s a link in there to search nationally for those funds or contact the New Mexico office directly. Hope this helps.
http://www.tax.newmexico.gov/Individuals/search-unclaimed-property.aspx
I would contact the Division Order department Operator who owns the wells if you haven’t already. Every time you move addresses it is up to the Mineral Owner to notify the Operator of the new address. After a year or so, I don’t know the exact amount of time, of uncashed checks they just assume that the person has moved and or passed away and put the money in suspense. They are relying on the Mineral Owner or their heirs to notify them of what has happened. There are too many Mineral Owners for them to keep track of.
Hope this helps.