The important thing to know is that there is not a database of bank accounts out there. You can’t tap into some master list and find all of the accounts in your husbands name at any bank around the world. Any private investigator who says they can go consult a database and tell you where your husband has accounts…. is lying.

Don’t worry if you thought this was a thing. Lots of people wrongly say that with someone’s social security number, a search can be done, and all of his or her bank accounts around the world will be revealed. It just isn’t true.

Sometimes people wonder if there are any bank accounts in their name that they never knew about. One way to find an account like this is through a company called ChexSystems. It is a consumer reporting agency that is much like the credit reporting agencies we all know about. The difference is that ChexSystems helps bank and credit unions screen people who apply for new checking and savings accounts.

When someone applies for a new bank account, the bank or credit union will run a report with ChexSystems, looking for negative bank activity, habitual overdrafts, or suspected fraud. Each time you try to open a count, the bank will look at your banking history with ChexSystems, and a record will be kept of every bank that looked at your history.

You can request to see your ChexSystems report, just like you can see your credit report.

If you see that a bank has checked your history, it’s possible that there is an account with your name on it at that bank. And if you don’t recognize it or remember why they would have inquired about your history, you should get in contact with that bank and find out if you’ve got an account there. You may have just uncovered a secret account…for FREE.

But there are also other ways to find bank accounts without paying an expensive private investigator or forensic accountant for help. One way to do this is by going through the bank and credit card accounts that you and your spouse have together. Look through all transactions for the last year or two, searching for things like:

• Large cash withdrawals
• Transfers to other banks
• Wire transfers

Any of these could lead to the discovery of another account that you never knew about. This money has to go somewhere… and it could very well be going to a bank account or investment account that has not been disclosed to you.