Unclaimed money in your name, like a refund check or utility deposit that never reached you, ends up with a state government, often one you’ve since moved away from. Search the official unclaimed property site of every state you’ve lived in, under every name you’ve used, and claim it from the state at no cost.
You’d think someone would tell you about money you’re owed. Someone often did try, by mailing a check or a notice to an address you’d already left.
After a year or more with no contact, state law requires the company to turn the money over to the state of your last address on its books, or to its own home state. So a final paycheck mailed after a move can sit with a state you no longer live in.
The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators estimates that about 1 in 7 people have money waiting. It comes from ordinary places, including uncashed paychecks and refund checks, utility deposits, dormant bank accounts, insurance payouts, and stock dividends.
Start at MissingMoney.com, the association’s free site that searches most states at once, including ones you never lived in. If a state you’ve lived in or done business in isn’t on it, search that state’s official site. Unclaimed.org links to every state’s site. Try a maiden name, nicknames, and old addresses along with your current name. If a parent has died, search their name too, since a legal heir can file a claim for a deceased relative’s money.
The state will want proof of who you are and how you’re tied to the account, such as a copy of your ID and an old utility bill showing the address on record. Many claims pay within a month, though some take up to three.
A letter from a finder company offering to recover money for a percentage tells you something is there to claim. Run the search yourself and file the same claim for nothing. Anyone who asks for an upfront fee to release your money is running a scam.
Companies send newly unclaimed money to the states every year, so put a yearly search on your calendar and run another after every move.
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