Jan 30, 2013

Picking Up the Pieces and Losing $25,000

This is kind of way off topic from running but I am going to share it anyway. 

It has been almost two months since my grandpa passed away and it still hasn't really hit me. I am not in denial but I feel like I haven't really had a lot of time to really process it. I never realized how many things have to be done when a person dies. The last seven weeks of my life have been consumed with helping my grandma get her life back in order. I have been busy getting her Social Security benefits in order, removing him from bank accounts, and all of that good stuff. We have been running across so many things that she was looking for and some things that she did not know she had. I think the most shocking thing that we found was a $25,000.00 check dated back to 2006 that they never cashed. It turns out that the company that issued the check has since gone out of business and filed bankruptcy in 2009! I am still trying to figure out if there is any way for her to claim this money. I think I was more upset about it than she was because she could really use the money right now. My grandpa handled all of the finances and I am not sure how he passed this one up.
Even though all of his funeral arrangements were made in advance, we still spend lots of time signing paperwork and planning the arrangements. My grandma is 85 years old and this was just way too overwhelming for her so I kind of took the lead and just made sure she was on board with everything. Yesterday was kind of bittersweet because the proof for my grandparents memorial marker was emailed to me. Just seeing my grandpa's name on it just made me sad all over again. It was even worse to see my grandma's name on it with the date of her death left open. I don't even want to think of the day that the date is added.
I know that something good always come out of something negative and the death of my grandpa has brought my grandma and I even closer. She is now able to do things that she was not able to do in the past because she was always home taking care of grandpa. She was a very loyal wife and I will always respect her for that. We have spent time at the movies, we go out to dinner, and sometimes I just visit her and we sit on the couch together and just laugh about old times or just talk about life in general. She tells me the craziest things sometimes!

Her favorite thing to do now that my grandpa is gone is spend money at the grocery store. My grandpa used to limit her on what she could buy because she always had to have three of everything. I think she has ten of everything now. She loves to cook but I told her that she has to learn how to cook for just herself and not an army.

Any ideas on how my Grandma might be able to recover the $25,000?
I think it is a done deal but I am still hopeful for her.

16 comments:

  1. No idea what to do about the check. I hate the company is no longer in business.

    It sounds like you and your grandmother have been enjoying spending time together. I think all grandmothers cook as though they are planning to feed an army!

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    1. My Grandma cooks according to her pans and never measures so I think that is why she cooks so much! I think cooking for her is kind of therapeutic right now. She likes to feed people and loves it when they love her food.

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  2. You are such a sweet grand daughter. This was a touching post. Thank you for sharing! You are so lucky to have each other and it's really nice to see how much you enjoy her company.

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    1. Thank you! My grandma has always been there for me growing up and I will always love her for that. I always told her that when the day comes that she can longer care for herself that I am going to take care of her. I think she is enjoying life a little right now after having such a big responsibility at home.

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  3. You are an amazing person! And I am a firm believer of something good coming out of every situation, no matter how bad. It's great to hear of your strong relationship with your Grandma, and I bet she appreciates it more than you will ever know! xx

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    1. Thank You! Yes, she is so grateful and thankful but I kind of feel like I owe it to her. She is still grieving and all of the added work would have been overwhelming for her so I am glad that she allowed me to help her.

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  4. I think the only thing you can do is to get into contact with the receiver or liquidator to register your claim against the business. You'll need to send them proof.

    You might be out of luck though- does the check have a 'void after' date on it?

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    1. The check was void after 60 days and I am sure that the bank account has since been closed. I am doing more research and hoping that she can recover something but if not it's just one of those things. She has already let it go but I want to make sure that there is nothing that we can do before we give up all hope. She still has the original check and all of the supporting paperwork so that is a good thing.

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  5. I wish I knew what to do about the check--maybe the attorneys involved in the bankruptcy are still around? I think talking to a bankruptcy lawyer would be a good idea no matter what, but you and your grandma are probably already doing that.

    It's nice you are there to take care of her--I'm sure it gives her peace of mind. My grandma died in 2007 and I miss her still, sometimes really vividly.

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    1. I did find the attorneys office who handled the bankruptcy and I do need to call them. I think that once a bankruptcy is recorded the business is protected if you do not file a claim by the deadline that is provided and that was back in 2009. It is worth a try though so we are going to call. Thank You for the advice. I hope all is well with you :) I am glad you are still on FB!

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  6. The State of California has an unclaimed money database. I rememeber feature it on the news every once in a while. I wonder if the company would have put it there prior to filing bankruptcy. http://www.sco.ca.gov/upd.html

    And then I believe there is a Federal version of the site as well - maybe google unclaimed property.

    I hope that you can get through the rest of the arrangements in a timely matter.

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    1. That is the first place that we looked and we did not see anything listed for either one of them. I did not check the federal version so I will check that one out. Thank you for sharing your ideas!

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  7. Something else occurred to me. If you pass the void date on a cheque accidentally you can request that the business reissue it. Did you check your grandparents banking records in the months following the cheque being issued to see if there was another deposit of that amount?

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  8. Anonymous1/31/2013

    Wow that sucks about losing the money. I'm pretty sure that if the company has gone out of business, the check would bounce anyways. So sorry about that!

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  9. you are an amazing person. The loss will always be there...but I do promise, after some time, it does get easier. When I lost my grandpa in 07 is was so very hard. But I have his shadow box on my mantel, and he's always here in our hearts. xoxo

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  10. Good for you for helping out your grandmother, I am sure she appreciates it more than you will ever know!!!

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