Unclaimed Assets

Unclaimed Assets Search Rule #1 - Search Often and Search Thoroughly.

Why do you need to search often? You need to search often because there are no uniform laws as to how often each state (and a handful of federal agencies) is required to update their records.

Unclaimed property and money is turned over to the government on a daily basis from the original holders based on laws that very from state to state and from account type to account type. Below are just a handful of the various potential sources of unclaimed assets:

dormant savings and checking accounts

safe deposit box contents

payroll checks

uncashed money orders

cash or property like cashiers checks

securities

unclaimed security deposits

stocks

credits

lost cash dividends

court deposits

unclaimed insurance benefits

found utility deposits

unused gift certificates

mineral royalty payments

Each of these account types has a different "dormancy period", after which the property is turned over to the state to act as a custodian. But if the state doesn't input the record right away you might do a search and not find any returns.

In addition to infrequent record updates, you won't be able to search a state database to find your unclaimed assets if their dormancy period hasn't passed. These accounts are referred to as "pre-escheat" assets, and there are less traditional strategies for finding them. This is why the second part of the primary rule is "search thoroughly".