State shouldn’t keep estate dividends

Open letter to Burt Constable:

Thanks for a good article on the state’s efforts to reunite lost or unclaimed funds to their rightful owners. Having dealt with them on a claim for stock and dividends for an estate, I would give their employees gold stars for helpfulness and follow up. I would give these employees platinum stars for candor.

There is a class of funds that are not returned to the rightful owners despite court rulings declaring as illegal the state’s practice of not returning them. As in the case I am involved with, dividends were declared on the stock in the window of time between the state transferring the stock to the transfer agent and the actual registering of the stock in the estate’s name. Subsequently, the dividend was paid to the state.

I became aware of the dividend that was going to be declared and contacted the state with copies of the original claim and their transmittal letter for the cash, dividends accumulated over the years, and their transfer of stock to the transfer agent. In checking later, the state employee acknowledged receipt of all of the paper work and in all candor advised me of the state’s practice, the court’s decisions and his wonderment as to how the state can ignore the courts and not return funds that they have identified as due to how many thousands of claimants. He didn’t know the amount of money but indicated it was significant.

So give their unclaimed funds program no more than a bronze star. Maybe you can get them to explain their illegal actions.

Raymond Bellock

Sleepy Hollow