Expert: Steven Taylor - 12/27/2011

Question
I found a certificate for 840 shares of Ohio Resources Corporation in my mother's papers.  It is dated June 20, 1996.   Also says transferable at the R-M Trust Company at Vancouver, B.C., Canada and Ilford, England.  I haven't found anything on them.  Please help if possible.

Thank you

Answer
Melanie, from the information I have available, Ohio went through numerous acquisitions and mergers - at least 8 to date, with the next one being finalized this Thursday. The upshot is that it appears your mother, assuming the certificate was valid, should now have a handful of shares of Midway Energy and Daylight Energy. Daylight is being acquired this Thursday by Sinopec (Chinese National Oil Company) for $10.08 per share, while Midway is still trading.

First thing you need to do is contact the current agent, Valiant Trust (www.valianttrust.com) and see if they have your mother as a shareholder of both companies. Also, way back in 2001, there was an acquisition that started this chain which was both cash and stock. If you mother did not receive the cash, it would have been turned over to the government for safekeeping. You need to search every State or Province in which your mother lived from the time she acquired the certificate in 1996 until now to see if they money is still there. You can search many of them online for free at www.missingmoney.com and www.naupa.org.