Unclaimed money - State treasury

[Lvsdisney]

Check your state's unclaimed money! You may have something that you didn't even realize (I had a VERY old paycheck waiting for me and my mom and business partner had something too!)

Just another way to have "found" money and not everyone knows about it.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We have something from dh dad but are not bothering with it. We checked it out twice and they sent us like 8 pages of forms to fill out plus we needed the death certificate and some other papers. I think it was $40 or less and dh said it was just not worth his time to do this.

Maybe other states are less of a hassle. We live in a different state and would have to include all the postage too and fees for obtaining any of the other papers they want.

 

[kymom99]

My husband had $300+ That we claimed

 

[pearlieq]

That was my experience too--there's probably a total of 5 things out there between me, DH, and my mom, but they make it such a hassle I can't be bothered. They want the form notarized and they want me to dig up proof of address for a place we lived 15 years ago. That money is just going to have to be lost to the universe...

 

[Sixty-something]

I have one that wants proof of address from a rental in the mid 1970's. No one hangs onto stuff that long. Even the irs, dmv, utilities don't have records going that far back. I'll never see that money.

 

[tvguy]

I found I had several hundred dollars from an account my Credit Union had closed without notice, and apparently illegally.
When I called the Credit Union to inquire why they had closed the account, they said their normal practice is if an account is inactive for 3 years, and they get returned mail, such as the quarterly statement, they send out a letter warning that they will be closing the account in 90 days.
I said that I had all my quarterly statements going back 5 years, and had never gotten a letter. She finally pulled up my account and could not figure out why my account had been closed. The last entry was "Account Closed and send to Secretary of State due to inactivity" even though she could see I had made deposits quarterly to the account, including one a week before the account was closed and I had no returned mail noted.

 

[afan]

In college I sent my CA state tax return to the wrong address, they had one for refunds and one if you owed. I sent my return showing a refund to the owed address. I've looked at the unclaimed funds for CA for several years and have never seen anything. I don't remember now how much it was, but I was sure bummed I never got it in college. I'm sure it wasn't much more than 50 bucks if that, but in college that's a lot It's almost 20 years later so I've given up.

 

[missnic]

Also note that the company holding your money must make an attempt to contact you at your last known address before sending the funds to the state. Most states remit at either 3 years or 5 years of dormancy, depending on what it is. So, make sure you change you address with everyone who could possibly owe you money. (I handle all unclaimed property where I work - you would be amazed at the amount of people who do not cash insurance checks, or who do not give a new address when selling a home!)

 

[tvguy]

Also note that the company holding your money must make an attempt to contact you at your last known address before sending the funds to the state. Most states remit at either 3 years or 5 years of dormancy, depending on what it is. So, make sure you change you address with everyone who could possibly owe you money. (I handle all unclaimed property where I work - you would be amazed at the amount of people who do not cash insurance checks, or who do not give a new address when selling a home!)

I know a lot of people who don't check their snail mail very often because they do everything paperless and only expect to get junk mail in their mailbox. Once in a while they get a surprise and get something that needed immediate attention, usually by a date before they check their mail.

 

[Lvsdisney]

I have one that wants proof of address from a rental in the mid 1970's. No one hangs onto stuff that long. Even the irs, dmv, utilities don't have records going that far back. I'll never see that money.

My old paycheck was for an old address too. I was somehow able to prove that it was still me without proof of that address (this was over 10 years at this point).

I check every now and again and found something for SIL. Now she's in another state with another last name, hopefully it's easy for her!

 

[tvguy]

I have one that wants proof of address from a rental in the mid 1970's. No one hangs onto stuff that long. Even the irs, dmv, utilities don't have records going that far back. I'll never see that money.

I was on the Board of Directors of a Little League in the late 1990's early 2000s when Little League really cracked down of people proving that they lived in our boundaries. There were people who literally couldn't produce 2 proofs of residence. Their Drivers License had a Post Office Box number. Their utility bills all had account numbers with no service address on it and were sent to the Post Office Box number.

 

[keahgirl8]

I got $5! Better than nothing!

 

[afan]

I looked at the state I'm currently in and NC because I lived there for 6 years. I'm not sure what to do with what I found in NC. So my first name is Karen and I have a somewhat common last name but not as much as Smith or Jones, but enough that it's hard to google me and there are others in the city and/or state. Not common enough that I meet many with the same last name very often though.

Anyway, that explained, there's unclaimed property in NC for someone with my name at 103 my old street, I lived at 403 my old street. It's for Lowes, not sure what it would be, but I did have their cc and shop there, NC doesn't give more info than that. What are the odds that someone with my name lived 3 blocks down the street from me? Not sure what would happen if I tried to claim it and it wasn't mine, if they just say no that's not a match but thanks for trying? If that's the case I'll try since it says it's over 50 bucks.

I kind of want to see if it's mine and I don't think I would get in trouble for trying but I feel like if it's not mine and I'm trying it I'll get in trouble. Thoughts?

 

[kymom99]

I looked at the state I'm currently in and NC because I lived there for 6 years. I'm not sure what to do with what I found in NC. So my first name is Karen and I have a somewhat common last name but not as much as Smith or Jones, but enough that it's hard to google me and there are others in the city and/or state. Not common enough that I meet many with the same last name very often though.

Anyway, that explained, there's unclaimed property in NC for someone with my name at 103 my old street, I lived at 403 my old street. It's for Lowes, not sure what it would be, but I did have their cc and shop there, NC doesn't give more info than that. What are the odds that someone with my name lived 3 blocks down the street from me? Not sure what would happen if I tried to claim it and it wasn't mine, if they just say no that's not a match but thanks for trying? If that's the case I'll try since it says it's over 50 bucks.

I kind of want to see if it's mine and I don't think I would get in trouble for trying but I feel like if it's not mine and I'm trying it I'll get in trouble. Thoughts?

Surely you wouldn't get in trouble for inquiring. I imagine they have other identifying information to be sure they get the right person.

 

[smokeyblue]

An FYI to anyone who is in Michigan. They do not put amounts under $20 on the website. The only reason I know that I had unclaimed property is because my dentist's office asked me about it since they had sent it in. I also have a $20 check from an insurance company that I never cashed. Since neither one was showing up, I was a little concerned that someone had compromised my identity and claimed it. The person I spoke with told me that since it was under $20 I didn't even have to send in any proof, I just had to verify a few identifiers and they sent me the check.

 

[disny_luvr]

I checked our state's website in early June, and sure enough, DH had some unclaimed money. He had to fill out a form and in early August he received a check for $220 that was money from our dental insurance company. It was a nice chunk of change for minimal work.

 

[DebbieB]

I had an issue with my company regarding a paycheck when I was out on sick leave. At first they declined my sick leave. When it was resolved, the deposited the money into my account. Then they sent me a paper check. I thought it was wrong so I sent it back. A year or two later I got a letter from the state saying they turned over the money because they could not locate me. I worked for them that day! I ignored it for awhile because I thought it was a mistake and when they looked into it they would realize it. This went on for awhile, I was getting letters from companies offering to assist me with getting the money (for a fee). So I decided to get the claim form from the state and send it in. I got it! It was around $1300.

 

[Minnesota!]

So, my grandpa has a few claims on there. My aunt is the executor, and the will was split 3 ways (my aunt got 1/3, my uncle got 1/3, and my brother and I split 1/3 (since my dad had passed). I have mentioned to my aunt many times about my grandpa having quite a few things out...but she doesn't have any interest in pursuing them (I know one is for a large amount..). Do I, as an heir, but not the executor, have any way to claim it without going through her?

 

[afan]

Good news, the money in NC with my name and a digit off the address was mine. I submitted the end of last week and the check came today.

So, my grandpa has a few claims on there. My aunt is the executor, and the will was split 3 ways (my aunt got 1/3, my uncle got 1/3, and my brother and I split 1/3 (since my dad had passed). I have mentioned to my aunt many times about my grandpa having quite a few things out...but she doesn't have any interest in pursuing them (I know one is for a large amount..). Do I, as an heir, but not the executor, have any way to claim it without going through her?

I would think so. You could at least see about the process and it should explain who can claim. The one I did for NC gave a few different options for who the person claiming the money is. Also I don't think an executor has to also be an heir so it would make sense that an heir can do it.

 

[leebee]

Well, I looked. Nothing for DH, DD, or me, but my sister has an unclaimed paycheck and my brother has a couple of things, so it paid off! My great aunt has 17 claims in Massachusetts, 4 of them over $100, but she has been deceased for awhile. My sister, who was the executrix and had power of attorney, said that she'd have to legally pursue reinstating the PoA and it the fees wouldn't make it worth it. Just burns me, to know that there's money there but no affordable way to get to it!!