Lost Assets

Lost assets laws vary from state to state, and from property type to property type within each state, but eventually, unclaimed property is turned over to the state (or in some cases a specific federal government agency).

Again, the period of time which passes before state law requires that funds be turned over to the state varies greatly, so even though you may be due unclaimed money assets, the state might not have a record of it yet.

The assets that have yet to be turned over to the state, because their dormancy period hasn't run its course, are known as "pre-escheat" funds. What many sites don't tell you, is that it IS POSSIBLE to locate and reclaim these funds without the state's help.

There are other reasons that the state might tell you that they have no record of lost assets for you, when you might indeed be owed money. One of the most common reasons is that the state simply hasn't added the account to their records. Many states update their records very infrequently, because they simply lack the manpower to do it.

The government is not very efficient in most respects, why should they be any different with lost assets? For obvious reasons, not the least of which is the interest they're earning, they don't make tracking you down a priority. Because of this, it's important that you take some initiative and learn how to do exhaustive unclaimed money searches on your own.

lost assets can come from a variety of sources, including (but not limited to) the following:

dormant savings and checking accounts

cash or property like cashiers checks

securities

stocks

uncashed money orders

safe deposit box contents

lost cash dividends

unused gift certificates

unclaimed insurance benefits

unclaimed security deposits

payroll checks

found utility deposits

mineral royalty payments

court deposits

credits