Choctaw Tribal Members may be entitled to Cobell Money
If you are on this list or are an heir to a deceased tribal member who is on this list, contact David Smith by phone at (866) 383-6554 or by email.
Cobell List
Over 1,500 Choctaw Tribal members or their heirs are entitled to more than $2.5 million dollars in unclaimed funds under the Cobell settlement. The Cobell lawsuit received final approval from the federal courts in November 2012. At that time, the Department of Interior provided to the attorneys for class members, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, and the court approved Claims Administrator, the Garden City Group, the records for approximately 500,000 individuals who may be entitled to payment. However, there was no contact information for about 75% of those people. Often Interior provided a name and a Tribe, nothing more. Therefore, for the past three years, David Smith, an attorney with Kilpatrick Townsend, and Garden City, have been searching for individuals entitled to the funds. So far, over 90% of the funds have been disbursed, including over $16 million to more than 4,000 Choctaw tribal members. However, with the help of the Tribe we want to locate and get the money to the remaining 1,500.
Those entitled to participate in the settlement are tribal members who were living on September 30, 2009, or who had passed away and their estates were in probate on that date and who had in interest in trust or restricted land on September 30, 2009, or had an Individual Indian Money (IIM) account with at least one transaction in it at any time between approximately 1985 and September 30, 2009.
Below is a list of individuals identified by the Department of Interior as living or deceased members of the Choctaw Tribe who may be entitled to a payment. If you are on this list or are an heir to a deceased tribal member who is on this list, if you could please contact David Smith by phone at (866) 383-6554 or by Email.
Cobell List