You Think You Know Somebody

I was recently contacted by a money-finder person. She told me that she thought I was due some unclaimed insurance money through my grandparents on my dad's side. Being the frugal sleuth that I am, I immediately thought that if this was for real, and it was really money that was coming to me, I could do this without her taking 20% of my money for doing a little legwork. Legwork, I can do!

I investigated the matter with the information the easy money lady gave me on my contract. A few well-placed phone calls put me in touch with the state treasury who has this unclaimed fund. Paperwork was mailed to me, and discussions with my brother were underway to complete the necessary steps to getting this free money. I've done the hard part, and we are turning in our packet of proof that we are who we say we are next week.

I have to say that it's definitely awesome to get this little windfall. Financial matters for me and brother have been tough for awhile, so we are tickled to be getting this treasure. It's enough to make you blink, but not enough to be a real big deal. The bonus to this is that we both thought the amount the money-finder had on our contracts was the total, (which would net us each a quarter of that) not the amount due us. Turns out, that amount is the total amount due us! My aunt gets half, and me and my brother split my deceased dad's portion. This is where the equation of how this came to pass gets interesting.

My brother and I are in line for the inheritance solely because my dad died before his parents. I don't understand exactly why it works this way, but had my dad died AFTER his parents, this money would be my mom's. (I think we should give my mom a little bit, but I haven't talked to my brother about this yet). Now, I was under the impression that this insurance money was a policy that my grandparents had taken out for their children--my dad and his sister. Yesterday, while trying to fill out the proof of heirship form, I got a little confused. I have to fill this out because there was no will. My aunt confirmed this when I talked to her. She also seemed baffled by where this policy came from since she was the one who cleaned out the apartment after my grandmother died. No policy existed and no key to a safety deposit box surfaced. (More on this later). I called the Unclaimed Property Office to ask exactly what was expected on this form. Normally, you get a snitty woman who acts like you are bothering her. Yesterday, I got a very nice man who replied with, "Gooood question" when I asked if I needed to fill out two proof of heirship forms since it looked like there were two policies, one for each grandparent. (It turns out, I need to prove I'm my dad's daughter, so I only need to fill out one proof of heirship).

The nice man and I had a conversation about the policy after he brought up my claim number and looked at the specifics. We had to chronicle the death order, which is how I found out exactly why I'm in line for this instead of my mother. Then I told him that I was under the impression that this was a policy the grandparents had taken out for their children. This is when he corrected that notion. He informed me that this was a policy that was taken out for my grandmother, with my grandfather as the beneficiary. Oh my. And nobody knew about this policy! Oh, oh, oh! My grandpa took out a little insurance because he was sure his frail tiny wife would die before him. Shocking. In reality, my granddad passed away first. My grandmother only lived eight months more than him, like you hear so often with two people who have been married so long. But indeed, she outlived him. My guess is that she knew nothing of the policy. This also explains why my aunt never encountered any evidence of this in her finalizing of their estate.

I don't think any less of my grandfather for having this policy without my grandmother's knowledge. On the contrary, it tickles my funny bone that he secretly took this out thinking that he'd surely outlive her and might enjoy a little cash in his loss. It's been a very nostalgic trip to encounter this money and get a glimpse of my family history. Poring over the death certificates makes me sad. My dad's death certificate makes me especially lonely. Amended to add the cause of death as suicide a week after it was filled out, it makes me wonder all over again what actually went through his mind. Was it suicide? Why does a daddy who had so much fun with his little kids kill himself? Did he kill himself or was it an error in judgment? Very interesting to ponder for this daughter.

Meanwhile, it's given me a better understanding of the folks who love family genealogy. I've sat and stared at those death certificates, reading my grandparents' mother's names, dates, causes, social security numbers, and times of death. It's old school. It's my family. It's a human life summed up on one document. Cool. And my grandpa had some secrets we just didn't know about. I wonder what other secrets those three people whose DNA runs through my blood had. We'll never know, but this has been a satisfying little journey into the past with the bonus of a very nice payoff.