If you have an account with any company that remains dormant
for more than 5-7 years they are required by law to turn over
the contents of your account to your state governing body for
safe keeping. This includes but is not limited to: bank accounts,
brokerage accounts, previous employers uncashed paychecks, safety
deposit boxes, refunds from utility companies, uncashed tax refunds,
Insurance companies, etc. The state is obligated to hold on to
your property until such time that you or your beneficiary can
claim the seized property. This process is called escheating.
Every state in the United States escheats money into their coffers.
How does it work?
Lets say that you have a savings account containing $500 and you
do not take money out or put money into your savings account for
a period of 5-7 years. At this point the savings account is considered
a dead account and your $500 and accumulated interest will be
seized by your state government. As a policy, the state makes
no attempt to contact you concerning your money; consequently,
they have unrestricted use of it until such time that you claim
these lost funds. During this period, you will not be entitled
to any interest causing its intrinsic value to diminish through
inflation. Your bank may attempt to contact you prior to your
money being turned over to the state but there are no guaranties
that this will happen. Typically, money is turned over to the
state without notification.
Is it lost forever?
No, if you have an account that has been seized by a state government
you can apply to your state governing body to request that they
return your property to you. While this process is not straight
forward, you will be able to retrieve your property if you follow
the established procedures exactly. (Remember you are dealing
with the government, the inventors of red tape, who love to stick
by rigid complex rules)
What if the property belonged to a dead relative, is
it lost forever?
No, if you have legal right to any property seized by a state,
you are entitled to the seized property even if it is not in your
name. You must have proof of your right to the property such as
a will or court order to prove your claim to ownership but the
state is required to turn any seized property over to you upon
being presented with documentation showing your right to the property.
What can I do?
You may contact the proper state agency who holds your money directly
and you may inquire if any of your accounts have been seized.
When you reach the proper agency with your request, the state
will provide you with the required forms that will have to be
filled out and explain the requirements for retrieving your property.
You will then need to fill out the forms and provide all supporting
documentation as required by your state. If you have followed
the procedures properly you should receive your seized property
in about 6 to 10 weeks. If you have made a mistake in the process
it will take longer. You may not even realized that this has happened
to you.
Is there an alternative?
GovWatcher provides a free service to search for
your seized property. What we will need from you is your name,
the name of all of the states that you would like us to search
(this should be any state that you have lived in or have maintained
an account in) for your seized property, and a way to contact
you once our search is completed.
Lets get Started!
Due to the lack of donations being
provided to govwatcher we are unable to continue providing this
service at no charge to the public. If you are interested in searching
for funds that may be due you please check with your state government
for escheated accounts.
