Government agencies acting as custodians for individual’s and business’s unclaimed money have no incentive, in general, to make it easy for the $ Billions to be found and thus claimed. *All assets issued or owing by Federal Agencies will not appear in any State unclaimed database. Each Federal Agency maintains its own unclaimed property records, however only approx. 15 Federal Agencies offer online databases for the public to search for unclaimed accounts. *Specific assets issued by many State or local governments themselves (State income or property tax refunds, payroll, child support checks, vendors checks or warrants) will NOT show up in State databases because its owner has a specific time frame by which to claim these unclaimed assets or refunds. Once the specific time period has lapsed, these unclaimed assets become the property of the government agency. This is similar to one’s IRS tax refund – one has 3 years to file and claim an IRS refund.
*The dollar amount or value of the unclaimed property is under specific value i.e.) $50 or $100 and the some States do not upload these records into their online database.
*The unclaimed or lost asset is still in its ‘dormancy period’ meaning the asset holder is not yet required to transfer over to the appropriate Government agency. This ‘dormancy period’ varies per property type and per each state’s unclaimed property statutes. Those assets in their ‘dormancy period’ are also called “pre-escheat”. An unclaimed asset that is in government custody is called “escheated”.
*Some States will sell escheated securities immediately and credit the owners account; whereas, other States will hold retain the securities, but may not give a dollar value to these (actual value can change daily) in their online database and with a some States the value will be given as $0 or might not be uploaded into in their database for a couple of years.
*Cashier checks, money orders and traveler checks are examples of unclaimed property turned over to the States without names. I have seen records listed as a serial # in the Owners Name field! These accounts will likely never be claimed!
*A few States only list the most recently added unclaimed accounts.
*One may need to check all states in which you have resided or worked in, as well as, the State in which a former employer/company is or was headquartered. *Many States Unclaimed Property Divisions are understaffed and cannot update regularly.
*Two States, namely Indiana and Idaho have passed laws by which assets left unclaimed after a specific number of years in their custody will not longer be claimable by the Owner, but will become the property of the State.
*Tangible items left in an abandoned Safe Deposit Box will, in most States, be auctioned off and the proceeds credited in the owner’s name. *Since unclaimed assets/money is effectively revenue for the States, if there is a question as to the last known address of the owner, State A maybe challenging or delaying a reciprocal agreement to transfer the asset/money to State B and therefore not list that asset/money in its public online database until the issue is resolved.
*There is no incentive for any Government agency to try to find or to contact individuals who have unclaimed money or property. These funds, for the most part, once received are placed in the Government general fund and spent on roads, schools etc.
Tags: cashier checks, child support checks, irs refund, irs tax refund, property tax refunds, state databases, traveler checks, unclaimed asset, unclaimed assets, unclaimed property records
