Photograph Courtesy Of Tax Credits
Millions of people are unaware that they have unclaimed funds or property waiting for the person to claim them. There are a wide variety of scenarios that could lead to unclaimed funds or property that you are unaware of. For example, some people are owed money for utility deposits that could not be forwarded while others have gained property from a relative passing away. Most companies are required to try and notify the person that is owed at their last known address, but if they are unsuccessful, the property or money is turned over to the state’s unclaimed property program. Experts have estimated that there is nearly $41.7 billion in unclaimed property waiting to be claimed by the rightful owner in these programs across the nation. Here is how to check and see if any of it is owed to you.
Check Online State Databases
In some states, as many as 1 in 10 residents of the state are owed some sort of unclaimed property. To make it easy for people to check and see if anything belongs to them, many states have created online databases that list the people that are owed money or property and the type of item owed. To access these databases, you can go to Unclaimed.org and click on each state you’ve lived in to check for money that is due to you. You can also check MissingMoney.com, a combined database of those states, to do a fast review.
Submit A Claim
In most cases, if you find that you are owed unclaimed property or money you will have to submit a claim proving that you are the rightful owner or heir of the unclaimed property. The rules for submitting a claim for unclaimed property vary by state and depend on the type of property in question, so make sure that you review the laws for your state before submitting a claim to ensure that you are completing the process properly. Incomplete claims or claims that contain incorrect information will be returned or discarded and you will have to begin the entire process over again.
Claim Your Property
In many cases, property can be reclaimed in perpetuity, even by heirs. In the case of money owed, you can often receive a check within 30 days of your claim being verified. Many states say that it should take no longer than 90 days to be reunited with your property once you have submitted a claim that is accepted.