Unclaimed Money
Unclaimed money. I first heard about it after a friend was approached by a lawyer notifying him about money he might be entitled to. The lawyer made him sign an agreement to give him 35% of any money he’d found. As my friend was unaware of the location of the funds, he signed the papers, and received 65k. It turned out that his mother had passed away without telling anyone about the shares she owned. The lawyer kept 35k, a lot of money for a few hours of his time…
I decided to do some research to find out more about this. And this is what I found:
Free money. It sounds too good to be true. But did you know that every state in the US is currently holding millions of dollars in funds that have been unclaimed by millions of people, companies and organizations? California alone holds more than $8 billion dollars and Pennsylvania holds more than $3.8 billion dollars. Each state has an Unclaimed Property division that connects citizens with their abandoned property, regulated by the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (UUPA). The states hold this reported property until the rightful owner or heir claims it.
The same is true for 4 provinces in Canada that have unclaimed property laws, as well as multiple other countries. And the sad part is that most people do not know about this.
Here is a short video that explains how it works:
Imagine what a difference this money could make. It might even be used to fund your college!
Where does the unclaimed money come from?
Bank accounts and safe deposit box contents
Matured or terminated insurance policies
Utility refunds
Refunds on phone and cable
Stocks, mutual funds, bonds and dividends
Uncashed cashier’s checks or money orders
Certificates of Deposit
Estates
Mineral interests and royalty payments, trust funds and escrow payments
Unclaimed Railroad Retirement Benefits
Why is there such a large amount of unclaimed money?
When people move without leaving a forwarding address, a refund check is no longer deliverable. This is also the case when people change their name or when an address is incomplete or improper. In some instances people pass away and family members are unaware that they left behind bank accounts or investments. Sometimes people change jobs and do not transfer funds out of their employer retirement plan. Other people may be entitled to a refund on their old insurance policy.
Most companies don’t have the incentive to spend time and money locating people who are entitled to money – it is easier to send the funds to the state unclaimed property program, which they are required to do on an annual basis.
How to find out if you are entitled to any money?
- Make a list of any states you have lived in and check them through the links below.
- Make sure to check any name(s) that you may have been known under; you may have money owed to you under your maiden name, or from a previous marriage, or you may have changed your name.
- It may be possible that your name was misspelled – check for variations on your name and varied middle initials (c instead of k, Bill instead of William, Chris instead of Chris etc).
- Start with the exact name, then widen the search by only entering your last name or part of your name.
- If you have a hyphenated name – try without the hyphen.
- Check other states with a similar state abbreviation: AK – check AL, AR, MD – check MA too.
- Check both the national site and your state site to check for your name as not all information may be listed there.
- Check for any relatives who may have passed away and whose designated heir you are.
- Check out all the other sources above (Where does the unclaimed money come from?)
Countries and states which have unclaimed property programs:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Guam
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Virgin Islands
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Alberta
British Columbia
Quebec
Nova Scotia
Switzerland Switzerland 2nd site
United Kingdom United Kingdom 2nd site
More countries are being added as we locate their programs. Please let us know if you know of any additional sites or if any links are broken.
All information about unclaimed funds is available for free on the web. Because many people are unaware of this, it makes them vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Some companies require a 35% or more share of any recovered funds and will not share the information before receiving a signed consent to pay. Most states maintain a 10-15% fee is a reasonable compensation and the legal maximum.
We hope that this article will help others recover large amounts of money and that the article will be shared freely. If you have successfully made a claim, we would love to hear your story. And yes, a voluntary contribution to help us maintain and improve our website and pay for college is very welcome.
PS: It is great that we are getting more and more reports of money that people have located. Sometimes it is just enough to buy a cup of coffee, but other times it can genuinely change a life. Around 1 in 4 people who search for unclaimed money seem to find some property that belongs to them, their friends or relatives.
Recap:
These are the step by step instructions on finding unclaimed money:
1 Review this article
2 Check every state you lived in
3 Check name variations
4 Check the other sources
5 Check if you are entitled to the funds
6 Fill out the claim forms
7 Collect the payment – Celebrate!
8 Recheck once a year
9 Contribute to PayPal.Me/FundYourCollege – Much appreciated. Thank you!
10 Share this article with friends and family
11 Enjoy!
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