Bank account numbers found, but no idea where the money is

[a1tinkfans]

This thread prompted me to check my prior state, having moved. I just typed in my state name and Unclaimed funds. Each state apparently does this. I did this a few years back, nothing!

Today... found my brother with an insurance company name ( likely an old closed term policy) , my sister who had a bank name ( I’m really hoping it’s some good money, she could use it)
And myself... which said it was from 2013, a company name I do somewhat recall, I think I may have funded a small college fund for my son thru an old job... but many years before that. Curious indeed!! That never popped up before.
Was able to claim online.. we shall see.

Perhaps we should check each year, kind of like run ur credit report!
Good luck OP and to all.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I just found some from our last state as well in my hubby's name. Whoop!

 

[missnic]

3 to 5 years of inactivity is supposed to be the range. However I'm not sure every financial institution plays by the same rules. I had a credit union turn over an account for no apparent reason. It was my "emergency fund" account that I made deposits to every three months. I went in to make a deposit and they said the account had been closed and turned over to the state for "inactivity". But when the manager pulled up the archived account history she said she had no idea how it got closed because clearly I had been making quarterly deposits to the account for 15 years.

Depending on the state, and the item in question, it's typically 3-5 years of no customer contact. (notable exception of a payroll check - they get reported after 1 year) For a check, this usually means the check issue date. For a deposit account, it means the last date of any contact.
They're suppose to be reported to your state of residence - meaning, the last address they had on file for you. So, if you've ever lived in any other state, check there too. Also, if the company doesn't have your address, they can report to their state of incorporation. Delaware is a popular one.

That said.. unclaimed property is something that a lot of companies struggle with, so their timing may be off. States are getting better about auditing though, since they REALLY want the money.

 

[bluehen]

I am currently trying to reclaim some of my mother's property. In an heir situation it seems to be impossible for me. I have to prove where my mother lived 30 yrs ago. Also they are asking for a form from the register of wills that the register of wills has never heard of. You have to love the state asking for a form provided by the state that the state does not do. I am guessing that the state does not want to really find the owner.

 

[kymom99]

My mom has some unclaimed funds from MetLife. Just a few dollars each. She died 8 years ago. My brother says it would cost more to get the documentation than the funds are worth.

 

[bluehen]

My mom has some unclaimed funds from MetLife. Just a few dollars each. She died 8 years ago. My brother says it would cost more to get the documentation than the funds are worth.

We only know it is over 50 bucks. And since death certificates cost 25 we are not sure it is worth it either.

 

[DisneyHardin]

My mom has some unclaimed funds from MetLife. Just a few dollars each. She died 8 years ago. My brother says it would cost more to get the documentation than the funds are worth.

My stepmom found that she had $60ish out there in unclaimed money, but she ended up abandoning the process of trying to get it because it was such a hassle and they needed so much paperwork.

 

[Barnabas T Bullion]

Somewhat funny (and sad) , related story. I work for a large bank and my group does administration work on a specific set of mortgage backed-securities.

One day out of the blue a guy calls me (the FED always directs them to me), tells me his aunt died in California and his sister is out there going through her belongings and found a piece of paper in her files, literally just a printout of the front page of a prospectus for one of these MBS deals (front page lists the bonds and their values). He clearly thinks his aunt is sitting on some windfall and he is excited and he's trying to find out what she owns, etc. I told him that piece of paper is not a bond and is not worth anything and that I have many of these printouts sitting on my desk right now. I asked, how do you know she owned a bond from this deal? At one point he said, "she must own it, she would never have this piece of paper if she didn't own it. Why else would she have this paper?". At another point, I said well which bond do you think she owned and he insinuated that he thought she owned the whole entire deal (this doesn't happen, and the deal was like $2B or something absurdly huge). Clearly he thought he was about to strike it rich from his aunt and that she has secretly been sitting on 100s of millions or billions. As I slowly walked him through these questions, I was deflating this dream one question at a time. Do you have any bank statements? No. Any mail from any brokers, which is how people would typically own these as you can't just walk into a store and buy these bonds? Nope.

Eventually I think he realized the dream was over and after 3 phone calls, that was the last I heard from him. Kind of sad. But it really does illustrate how crazy things get when folks pass away and it's tough to figure out what type of wealth or bank accounts they may have potentially hidden away.