Asset Recovery Process
Discovery
When a valuable unclaimed asset is discovered, The Shepherd Company’s first task is to ascertain who are the legal owners and who has a legal claim to the asset. Unclaimed assets can be more than twenty years old, having been abandoned or dormant or having no legal owners identified or located. The original owner may be deceased or lost through marriage, divorce, emigration or immigration.
Search & Identification
We pride ourselves on being very thorough as we strive to identify all potential heirs and beneficiaries, establish all legal family connections, and provide a complete family picture. This work can be very time-consuming and take months to complete.
Contact
We contact heirs and beneficiaries by telephone to inform them of our purpose in making contact. We follow up by sending an engagement letter describing our services. If an heir or beneficiary wishes to proceed with the asset recovery process after they are contacted, they need only sign a simple Assignment Agreement and The Shepherd Company will immediately begin the process of recovering the unclaimed asset for the now ‘claimant’. If you have received an engagement letter from us, it is because we have done in-depth research into the unclaimed asset to which we believe that you are entitled.
Claims
Once we have a commitment to work together, the claim process begins. This process can take many months to complete, but we believe it can be greatly expedited by employing the services of an experienced independent attorney. In most cases, we offer to pay all fees for the independent attorney that has been referred to the claimant for non-litigation legal matters related to the asset recovery process. There are no out-of-pocket expenses for the claimant unless they choose to use an alternate attorney. As part of the claim process, we research and provide the claimant’s attorney with confidential information and documentation necessary to present a proper legal claim to the asset. Each claim may be different in terms of documentation required and hours to complete. We work very hard to establish legal family connections so that those managing the unclaimed asset will respond promptly and distribute assets to their rightful owners without delay. Once information and documentation are delivered to the asset manager, we maintain close contact with the manager and attorney and promptly respond to any questions or requests for additional information or documentation.
Distribution
After the claim process is complete, a planned distribution of proceeds is approved and recovery of the asset is secured, the claimant’s proceeds will be securely delivered to the claimant’s attorney to be delivered to the claimant.