Where do I find the deceased's accounts and investments?

A reader has asked me a question that I hear frequently, so I'm sharing the question and my answer with all of you. Here's the question:

"When a person passes away, how do you locate all their accounts and investments if you don't have an updated list? Is it as simple as using their SIN card to locate them?"

I don't think you're going to like my answer, because there is nothing simple or easy about this. It usually takes a lot of legwork to find a deceased's assets and liabilities.

Having the SIN card is definitely helpful, as banks and other asset-holders can search their databases using a SIN card. This can be helpful since many people may have the same or similar name, but only one person will have a particular social insurance number. It should make searching easier.

The problem is determining which banks or brokers or investment advisors to ask. There is no place that you can enter a SIN and come up with a comprehensive list of everything a person owns in various institutions. You will have to ask one bank or advisor at a time. It used to be worse; at least these days you can go to any branch of a bank and get a search of all branches of that bank. In the not-so-distant past you had to approach each branch individually.

So how do you know which banks or advisors to ask?

Check paperwork at the deceased's home and office. Look for statements and bank books of course, but also any correspondence such as insurance offers.

In these days of paperless banking, fewer and fewer people leave paper statements around. If you don't have access to the deceased's computer, you're going to have to do it the hard way.

If you see a credit card in the deceased's wallet, check the bank that issued the card. People frequently get credit cards from the same place they do their regular banking.

Check to see which banks have branches close to the deceased's home or place of work. Most people choose to bank where it's convenient for them. Seniors in particular tend to choose the branch closest to home, within walking distance if possible.

If you have access to the deceased's past tax records, check to see which banks issued T5 slips for investments. There should be a copy of each T5 attached to the deceased's copy of a filed return.

When you check with a bank, whether or not you are successful in locating a bank account, ask the personnel to check the bank's investment arm as well. The major banks all have investment advisors attached to them (Scotia McLeod, RBC Dominion Securities, etc). Also remember to ask about safe deposit boxes, because many people will store original share certificates, deeds to the house etc. and you can often find clues there. For example, look at the deed to the house to see whether there is a mortgage registered against the house; the title will tell you which bank holds the mortgage.

Remember that many people have assets in more than one bank. So the fact that you've located an account in, say, Scotiabank, doesn't mean that you should stop looking.

The cold hard fact is that it is often an immense amount of work to figure out what another person owned, particularly where most records are kept on a computer that you can't access. This is why estate planners are always suggesting that people make an updated list of assets and liabilities.

As I said, you're probably not enjoying this answer one little bit, but unfortunately there may not be an easier way.