Every year states receive lost and unclaimed money, property or other assets, and the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators \u2013 NAUPA helps them find the rightful owners. It costs nothing to search, it’s FREE.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Most States Unclaimed Property Law requires banks, insurance companies, corporations, and certain other entities to report and submit their customers\u2019 property to the State Controller\u2019s 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,\u00a0insurance 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\u00a0transferred over to the State Controller\u2019s Office. It is easy to find out if the Controller is protecting property in your name.<\/p>\n
If you did not contact the business by the deadline listed, the property will simply be transferred to the State Controller\u2019s Office and then you can claim it. There is no time limit for claiming your property from the state.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
There are several ways to find out if you have missing money, non-paid refunds from the IRS, including visiting one of your state\u2019s official unclaimed property outreach events.\u00a0 You can also find out immediately by using one of two key online search resources.<\/p>\n
Most states make it easy to check for your unclaimed property. Each state maintains a database of unclaimed property for that state, and\u2014by law\u2014attempts to return the property to its rightful owners. Use official state government websites to conduct free searches: It\u2019s free to search, if you use your official state government\u2019s unclaimed property website. Use the interactive map of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators to go directly to your state\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Unclaimed property is reported to the state in which the company or organization resides. Therefore, it\u2019s common to have unclaimed property in multiple states, especially if you have moved to another state.<\/p>\n
Most states participate in MissingMoney.com\u2014a free website, sponsored by NAUPA, from which you can search participating state\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n