Every year states receive lost and unclaimed money, property or other assets, and the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators – NAUPA helps them find the rightful owners. It costs nothing to search, it’s FREE.

Conduct your free search for bank accounts, safe deposit box contents, uncashed checks, insurance policies, CDs, trust funds, utility deposits, stocks and bonds, wages, escrow accounts, inheritances and IRS refunds. Start your search-and-claim process at the only site endorsed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators: www.MissingMoney.com

If you get a result, claim the property and fill out the requested details, then submit and you will receive instructions on next steps from the state where you made the claim. Participating states regularly update the assets they have, so check back often.

Most States Unclaimed Property Law requires banks, insurance companies, corporations, and certain other entities to report and submit their customers’ property to the State Controller’s Office when there has been no activity for a period of time (generally three years). Common types of unclaimed property are bank accounts, stocks, bonds, uncashed checks, insurance benefits, wages, and safe deposit box contents. Property does not include Real Estate. States safeguard this lost or forgotten property as long as it takes to reunite it with the rightful owners; there is no deadline for claiming it once it is transferred over to the State Controller’s Office. It is easy to find out if the Controller is protecting property in your name.

If you did not contact the business by the deadline listed, the property will simply be transferred to the State Controller’s Office and then you can claim it. There is no time limit for claiming your property from the state.

To electronically claim property, an owner must complete a secure form online (including name, social security number, birth date, and address). Some more complicated claims may require additional proof of ownership.

There are several ways to find out if you have missing money, non-paid refunds from the IRS, including visiting one of your state’s official unclaimed property outreach events.  You can also find out immediately by using one of two key online search resources.

• Search by state or province (recommended)

Most states make it easy to check for your unclaimed property. Each state maintains a database of unclaimed property for that state, and—by law—attempts to return the property to its rightful owners. Use official state government websites to conduct free searches: It’s free to search, if you use your official state government’s unclaimed property website. Use the interactive map of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators to go directly to your state’s official program website. From there, you can conduct a free search for your unclaimed property! Be sure to check each state you’ve lived or done business in.

• Search multiple states at once

Unclaimed property is reported to the state in which the company or organization resides. Therefore, it’s common to have unclaimed property in multiple states, especially if you have moved to another state.

Most states participate in MissingMoney.com—a free website, sponsored by NAUPA, from which you can search participating state’s databases for unclaimed property. MissingMoney.com will display any states in which there is a match and provide information and links to the official government websites for beginning the claims process.

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