Around when my son was born, my grandmother bought him some shares in a Legg Mason Equity Fund. I used to get statements from them, which I just filed away for when he would be older. I just found those papers now, but the last one is from 2003. I have no recollection of liquidating this fund and I think I would certainly recall that. The statements are in my son's SSN.

Legg Mason was bought out by Franklin Templeton in 2020 and they told me that this particular fund was sold to Morgan Stanley by Legg Mason in 2005, and they have have no record of my son's SSN. I contacted Morgan Stanley and they have no record either. I contacted a local (Michigan) financial advisor who is an official rep of Morgan Stanley and he said he checked in both Morgan Stanley and Franklin Templeton himself and also in unclaimed property for Michigan and it does not show up.

No one has any record of this account every existing and certainly no record of it being liquidated.

Do I have any legal recourse here?

Yes, I will contact a lawyer, but any other advice/ideas are welcome.

Why on earth would this be something to post on a Linux forum??? Most likely no one here is going to be able to tell you if you have any legal recourse, since you've not given any details except you "found some papers". This is much like some other threads:

Outsourcing cold-calling: https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ng-4175733382/
Getting an LLC: https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ss-4175730183/
Wanting to get a friend a work-from-home job as an interior designer (???): https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...gn-4175727338/

Not a whole lot people on a Linux technical forum can help with. Take your papers to a lawyer and get them to straighten it out, and you'll most likely have to get your bank(s) involved too for deposit records.

I agree that you should contact a lawyer – who is "an expert in the law." He or she can then probably refer you to another attorney who has specific experience in these matters, and who specializes his or her practice in it. ("The best way to find the right lawyer is to ask a lawyer to help you.")

Probably what you are looking for is an "estate attorney." Someone who specializes in sorting out estates, poorly-written wills, abandoned trusts, and other such messy things. Necessarily "detective work." But, they do this for a living. They've got the resources, they've got the experience, and they've got the Rolodex.

In your case, the records probably are "computerized, not paper," which is very nice. But even then, a lot can go wrong over the years, because "computers were advancing so rapidly." These attorneys know how to do the leg-work, and they should be prepared to give you a good idea of what will be involved to sort things out. To them, yours ought to be "a pretty straightforward case." And: "ask|hire someone who knows."

P.S.: Don't be afraid to engage an attorney. My first exposure to "Tom" was to help settle another messed-up estate. Since then, I've learned why an early term for the profession was: "counselor." He charges fairly and transparently for his time and expertise, and it is worth it. In the very-strange world of Law, "Here Be Dragons." Your ship needs a pilot.

("You specialized in 'computers.' They specialized in 'the Law.'")