Are you owed money and don’t know about it? That’s a tough question to answer. That is, unless the money you are owed is from more than a year ago. In that case, finding out if you are owed money is as simple as searching for unclaimed funds.
What are unclaimed funds (the formal name is escheated property)? These are funds due individuals and businesses that remain unclaimed for over a year. No, the person who owes you the money can’t keep it; they are required to give it to the estate to hold in trust for you. And there it waits! Think of bank and utility deposits that have not been returned, insurance claims or class action payouts; uncashed dividend checks, last paycheck at your last job, security deposits, and more.
It happens more frequently than you might guess. The culprits are varied and are usually innocent enough. For instance, you might move to a new home and neglect to provide the holder of your money or deposit your new address. Or, there could simply be a typo in your address for a check that was sent to you, which was returned to the sender.
So how do you go about finding money you did not know was lost? Just follow these steps:
- Make a list over everywhere you have ever lived, or temporarily resided. There are no rules here, but I recommend being as broad as possible.
- Go to MissingMoney.com and/or Unclaimed.org. These are both free and reputable sites endorsed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA).
- For each state you identified, search your name, prior (maiden) names, and any common misspellings of your name. Also try just your first initial and last name.
If you find money (you are welcome), fill out the form yourself and submit a claim. It is easy to do. Your receipt of the unclaimed funds will generally take about 60 – 90 days if the state is able to easily confirm that you are you. If not, they might come back with some follow up questions. Either way, you will not need to pay a fee to get your money.
Good luck with your search.
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