An $846,000 Inheritance Got Lost In Transit. That Was In February

It has been more than nine months since a family in Canada realized that UPS lost a bank draft worth $846,000 (Canadian) that was sent to an inheritor. So far, the only money recovered is the $32 it cost to ship the document. The family's bank, TD Canada Trust, has delayed issuing a new bank draft.

Lorette Taylor, who lives in Ontario, was distributing the proceeds from her late father's estate when she tried to send an inheritance to her brother, Louis Paul Hebert, who lives near Cornwall, Ontario, some 270 miles from the office of the family's lawyer.

Their story ran on the CBC on Thursday — and within hours, reporter John Lancaster says in a tweet, TD Canada Trust issued a statement on Thursday that read, "It's clear to us we didn't get this right along the way and that there was more we could have done to come to a resolution faster."

Taylor told the CBC that she and her husband, John, went to their longtime bank, TD Canada Trust, hoping to get a certified check for $846,000 Canadian — around $660,000 in U.S. dollars, at today's exchange rate. But TD employees had a different idea. As Taylor said, given the large sum, "They said a bank draft was more appropriate."

Bank drafts are generally seen as being one step beyond cashier's checks, in terms of security and guarantee. In nearly every case, they're issued to signify that a bank has total control of the money being transferred. And in theory, at least, they're able to be replaced or reimbursed if an initial draft is lost or destroyed.

We can't get more specific about how TD's Canada operation handles bank drafts, because when we clicked a link in this statement on its site to "find out more information about purchasing a draft," the site returned a page stating, seemingly without ironic intent, "The document you requested cannot be found."

The Taylors' bank draft never made it to Cornwall. UPS says it was able to track it to Concord, north of Toronto. But after that, the shipping company says, the trail turns cold. In February, TD Bank said the draft could be canceled — but only if the Taylors signed an indemnity agreement.

"Essentially, the bank wanted to hold Lorette — the executor of her father's estate — liable for life if the draft was cashed illegally," the CBC reports. Under the terms, the liability would extend to Lorette's spouse and heirs.

Lorette Taylor eventually signed that agreement; the bank still did not produce the funds. TD officials told the Taylors that they would need to secure the balance of the draft further, by taking a lien on their home. To that, they refused.

"If the bank really wants indemnity," she said in explaining her thinking to the CBC, "then UPS should sign it."

There may now be new hope of a deal being reached, particularly as TD Canada Trust has issued a new statement as the story has won a wide audience in Canada and beyond.

But Hebert, 61, who went to the UPS store to await his hefty check back in February, is still waiting.

"TD has the money" he told the CBC. "The money is actually sitting in an account with TD. Nothing has been stolen. It's there. That's my inheritance."

Every day, Hebert said, he kicks himself for not simply driving to pick up the bank draft.

Discussing the difference the money could have made, he said, "I would have been retired."

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