You may be owed money no one ever told you about. There is a good chance I have already found it.
Most of what I recover for families belonged to someone they lost: a parent, a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle. It has been sitting for years with a county, a court, a state treasury, an insurance company, a bank or a brokerage, waiting on paperwork nobody knew to file. I find it in the records, do the work to get it released, and it is paid to you. Nothing up front, ever.
- Cost to you up frontNothing
- How I am paidOut of the recovery
- Who sends you the moneyWhoever holds it
- Costs along the wayI pay them where the law allows
- Who you deal withMe, start to finish
It probably raised more questions than it answered. That is fair.
- Why you got itIn the course of my research I located money or assets that appear to belong to you, or to someone in your family who has passed away. Usually it is the second one. I trace the family and the chain of entitlement before I write to anyone, and I write to the person who on the record appears to have the strongest claim to it. Families rarely know any of this, because the notice, if there ever was one, went to an address from years ago.
- Why the letter does not say where or how muchTwo reasons. The letter went to an address, and I have no way of knowing who opened it. And finding the money is the work you would be hiring me to do. What I can tell you before anything is signed is that a record exists, that it connects to you or your family, what it costs, and what the process looks like. Once there is an agreement in writing, I share the details.
- What it is notIt is not a bill. It is not from the government. It does not obligate you to anything, and you are never required to use a representative to claim money held by a government office.
- What usually happens nextYou reach out, we talk, and I explain how it works and what it would take in your situation. If you want to go ahead, the fee and the terms go in writing first. Then I do the work and follow the claim through.
Reply to my letter
Money gets left behind more often than anyone realizes.
When someone passes away, their financial life does not close neatly. A refund is issued to an old address. A deposit is never returned. A property is sold for taxes and the leftover money sits with the county. An account goes quiet and the bank turns it over to the state. A life insurance policy is never claimed, a CD or a brokerage account sits untouched, a trust distribution never arrives. None of it is hidden. It is simply sitting with a government office, an insurer, a bank or a brokerage under a name the family stopped checking on years ago.
The same thing happens to the living. A foreclosure sale brings in more than what was owed and the difference sits with the court. A county mails a check nobody cashes. A company merges, renames itself, and forgets about deposits and payments made under the old name.
Getting it back takes three things most families do not have on hand at that moment: time, money and know-how. Often an estate has to be opened, or reopened, before anyone is allowed to claim. There are forms the office will not explain, deadlines nobody mentions, and proof of who you are and how you are related that has to be assembled from scratch.
That is the part that stops people, and it is the part I do. I read the records, find what is owed, put the paperwork together, and where the law allows I pay the costs of the process myself as they arise.
The money never passes through my hands. Whoever holds it pays you directly.
Families, mostly. Organizations and counsel too.
Money that belonged to someone you lost, or to you.
This is most of my work. Sons and daughters, grandchildren, nieces and nephews who had no idea a relative left something behind. Former homeowners after a foreclosure or a tax sale. People with an old refund, deposit or check, a forgotten bank account or CD, a life insurance policy nobody claimed, or stock and brokerage accounts that went quiet.
I handle the research, the documents, the estate if one is needed, and the follow-up. You provide proof of who you are and how you are related. The fee is capped by law in many states and agreed in writing first.
What this looks like for you
- You tell me the name. A maiden name, an old address or a rough date is enough to start.
- I confirm the record connects to you or your family, and I tell you what recovering it would involve in your situation.
- The fee and the terms go in writing before anything is signed.
- I assemble the proof of who you are and how you are related, and I open or reopen the estate where the office requires one. Where the law allows I pay those costs as they arise and they come out of the recovery, not your pocket.
- I file, I chase it until it is finished, and whoever holds the money pays you directly.
Money reported to the states under a name your company stopped using.
Banks, hospital systems, utilities, insurers, contractors and any business that has merged, renamed or reorganized. Uncashed vendor and refund checks, dormant deposits, dividends and securities, reported to state treasuries under a current, predecessor or subsidiary name.
I research the corporate family tree, search every state, file the claims and report in writing. Contingency only, within each state’s limits, with a written proposal on the scale of what I found and the terms before any commitment.
What this looks like for you
- One signed authorization and a contact in treasury or legal. Nothing else is needed from your team to begin.
- I build the corporate family tree: predecessors, subsidiaries, trade names, acquisitions and the spellings each one was reported under.
- I search every state under all of them, then send a written proposal with the scale of what I found and the terms before you commit to anything.
- I file the claims and handle the holder questions, evidence requests and follow-up.
- Each state pays your company directly. You get a written report reconciling what was claimed against what was paid.
The research and the filings behind an estate, a trust or a client’s claim.
Probate and estate attorneys, trustees, executors, planned-giving officers, receivers and administrators. I locate and document assets, trace and confirm heirs, reconstruct bank and card records, and prepare claim packets and evidence to a standard that holds up with the custodian and the court.
I do not practice law. Where a state requires counsel to file, I work through counsel of the client’s choosing, and where the law allows I pay the costs of the process as they arise.
What this looks like for you
- Tell me the matter and what has to be proved. I work to your standard of proof, not a marketing standard.
- I locate and document the assets, then trace and confirm the heirs or successors with the records that establish the line.
- I reconstruct bank and card records where a matter calls for it, and prepare claim packets and exhibits that hold up with the custodian and with the court.
- Where a state requires counsel to file, counsel of the client’s choosing files and I do the work behind it.
- Fee arrangements sized to the matter and agreed in writing before work begins.
Four steps, and you are in control at each one.
We talk
You tell me what you know, even if it is only a name. I confirm that a record exists and that it connects to you, and I explain what recovering it would involve.
Everything in writing
The fee and the terms, before you sign anything.
I do the work
Research, documents, the estate if one has to be opened, the claim itself, and the follow-up with the office until it is done. Filed directly wherever the law allows; through counsel of your choosing where it requires one.
You are paid
By whoever holds the money, whether a county, a court, a state, an insurer, a bank or a brokerage, directly to you. Your money never comes through me.
Twelve places money gets stranded.
Accounts, refunds, deposits, surplus and benefits that belonged to a relative who has passed, found in the records and recovered for the family, including opening the estate where one is needed.
What is left after a mortgage foreclosure sale pays the lender and costs. Held by the trustee, the court registry or the clerk, and rarely sent to the former owner without a claim.
The same rule when a county sells property for delinquent taxes. The overage belongs to the owner of record or lienholders and sits with the tax commissioner, treasurer or clerk.
Refunds, vendor payments, jury and witness checks, deposits and warrants that counties, cities, courts, utilities and businesses issued and no one ever cashed.
Dormant accounts, securities, dividends, insurance proceeds and deposits turned over to a state treasury, including money stranded under a maiden, predecessor or subsidiary name.
FHA and HUD premium refunds, and escrow and settlement balances that were never returned.
Policies and annuities that were never claimed, including ones the family did not know existed, traced to the company that holds them today after mergers and name changes.
Checking and savings accounts and certificates of deposit left behind, whether the money is still with the bank or has already been turned over to a state.
Shares, dividends, bonds and brokerage accounts, including stock held by a transfer agent and accounts that went quiet when the owner moved or passed.
Trust distributions and beneficial interests that never reached the beneficiary, and trust assets no one has accounted for.
Unclaimed distributions held by bankruptcy clerks, class-action and settlement administrators, and court registries.
Bank and card record reconstruction, financial-exploitation analysis and evidence packets prepared for counsel, fiduciaries and, where warranted, authorities.
Look me up before you call. I would.
Most people have seen a letter that turned out to be nothing, or worse. I understand the hesitation, and I would rather you check than wonder. Everything below can be looked up without talking to me.
What you can look up on your own
- Georgia registrationClaimant’s Designated Representative registration number 2024000016, Georgia Department of Revenue, Unclaimed Property Program, 2024 to 2028. The program and what registration requires are described at dor.georgia.gov.
- The companyJJ Herndon Company, LLC, a Georgia limited liability company, on file with the Georgia Secretary of State.
- The personJames Herndon, Marietta, Georgia, on LinkedIn and in the business listing on Google. More than twenty years in Georgia law enforcement before this.
- AffiliationMember of the Georgia Genealogical Society. Tracing families and proving who is entitled is a large part of this work.
- The agreementThe fee and the terms go in writing before you sign anything, and the payment comes to you from whoever holds the money, not from me.
Things I will never ask you for
- Money up front, a deposit, a processing fee or a filing fee paid to me.
- A card number, a bank login, a wire transfer or a gift card.
- Your Social Security number or a copy of your ID by email before we have spoken and you have decided to go ahead.
- Access to your bank account. Whoever holds the money sends it to you.
- A signature on anything you have not had time to read, or that I have not explained.
If anyone contacts you claiming to be me and asks for any of these, please stop and call (404) 618-1920.
I do not buy lists. I read the records.
County by county and state by state, I pull the records myself and read them, which is how I find money that mass-mail outfits never see. A snapshot of that work as of October 2026:
Figures updated weekly. Current as of .
The states I have searched, and the ones I am searching next.
Touch or hover a state to see where it stands. Tap again to open that state’s page.
Open the page for your state
What gets left behind, and who ends up holding it, is not the same in any two states. Each page is a short read.
These figures describe money I have located and identified. What any one family or company recovers depends on their own matter, and I say so in every proposal.
[DRAFT, awaiting approval]
Slot for the anonymized institutional matter.
[DRAFT, awaiting approval]
Slot for the trustee matter.
[DRAFT, awaiting approval]
Slot for the $1.27M estate recovery, pending confirmation.
James Herndon
I spent more than twenty years in Georgia law enforcement, followed by senior corporate security roles, and picked up graduate degrees in public administration and criminal justice along the way. Nearly all of that work came down to the same thing: reading records carefully and following what they said, wherever it led.
This company applies that to a problem most people never know they have. Counties, courts, state treasuries, insurers, banks, brokerages and trustees are holding money that belongs to families, estates and businesses, and nobody is looking for the owners. I look. When I find something, I write to the person it belongs to, and if they want my help I do the research, prepare the documents, open the estate if one is needed, file the claim and follow it through. Where the law allows, I pay the costs of the process myself as they arise, and they come out of the recovery at the end rather than out of your pocket.
I run this company myself. When you write or call, you get me. I am registered with the Georgia Department of Revenue for this work, the fee and terms go in writing before anything is signed, and I never handle your money. I am not a law firm and do not give legal or tax advice; where a state requires a lawyer, I work through counsel of your choosing.
Marietta, Georgia. Working in every state, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories.
- Georgia Department of RevenueClaimant’s Designated Representative #2024000016, 2024 to 2028
- Master of Public AdministrationValdosta State University
- M.S., Criminal Justice
- Georgia POST certifiedretired
- More than twenty years in Georgia law enforcementfollowed by senior corporate security roles
- Member, Georgia Genealogical Societyresearch, records and lineage work
- LinkedIn profile
Finding the right family, and proving the line, is half of this work.
The questions people ask me most.
How do I know this is legitimate?
Look me up. Registration 2024000016 with the Georgia Department of Revenue, the company record with the Georgia Secretary of State, and my name on LinkedIn and in the public record are all in the Check me out section. Nothing is ever paid up front, and whoever holds the money pays you directly.
Do I have to use you to claim it?
No. You are never required to use a representative, and I will tell you plainly if a matter is simple enough that you should handle it yourself. Most of what I work is not. It takes proof of the chain from the person the money is recorded to, down to you, and it usually takes a court step, an estate, a hearing or an appeal, each with its own filing fees and its own paperwork. That is the part that stops people, and it is the part I do.
What does it cost?
I never ask you for a dollar out of pocket. Not a deposit, not a retainer, not a filing fee, not a single dollar from your own pocket at any point. My fee is paid entirely out of the money you recover. If you recover nothing, I am paid nothing. My fee is a percentage of what comes back, it is capped by law in many states, and it is put in writing before you sign anything.
What if an estate has to be opened, or the office will not simply pay it out?
That is common, because much of the money I find belonged to someone who has passed, and because the offices holding it rarely hand it over on a form alone. Opening or reopening an estate, a petition for letters, a guardianship or conservatorship question, an interpleader the county has already filed, an administrative hearing, an appeal of a denial, a quiet title or a name and identity discrepancy that has to be proved up: these are the ordinary steps, and they are the reason most people never get their money. Where the law allows I pay those costs myself as they come up, and they come out of the recovery at the end, never out of your pocket. Where a state requires an attorney, counsel of your choosing handles the filing and I do the work behind it. This is the cost of collecting property that is already yours. It is not the financing of a lawsuit for damages, and I do not take a stake in anyone's claim for damages.
Who pays me, and does the money go through you?
Whoever holds the money pays you directly, whether a county, a court, a state, an insurer, a bank or a brokerage. Your money never passes through my hands.
Why did you write to me and not someone else in my family?
Because the research pointed at you. When I work a matter I trace the family and the chain of entitlement before I write to anyone, and I write to the person who on the record appears to have the strongest claim to what I found. That is usually a judgment call made from wills, deeds, probate files, addresses and dates, and it is not a guess. Often more than one person is entitled, and sorting that out fairly is part of the work, but you received the letter because you were the person the records put first.
Is there a deadline?
Sometimes. Some states and counties forfeit surplus funds after a fixed period, while state unclaimed property generally has no deadline. I check the deadline for your specific matter and tell you before you decide anything.
What do you need from a company or an institution?
One signed authorization and a contact in treasury or legal. I do the corporate-history research, search every state under current and predecessor names, file the claims and report in writing. You see a written proposal with the scale of what I found and the terms before committing to anything.
Do you work with my lawyer?
Gladly. Where a state requires counsel to file, counsel of your choosing files and I do the research and documentation behind it. Where the law allows, I pay the costs of the process as they arise, and they come out of the recovery rather than out of your pocket.
Tell me what you know. Even a name is enough to start.
A relative who passed, a property, a company, a letter you received. There is no cost and no obligation to ask.
- Phone(404) 618-1920
- Emailjames@jjherndoncompany.com
- MailJJ Herndon Company, LLC, P.O. Box 669931, Marietta, GA 30066
- HoursMonday to Friday 9:00 to 7:00, Saturday 9:00 to 3:30, Eastern
Would you rather talk it through? Pick a time on my calendar for a video call.
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