Is your state holding onto unclaimed money or property that belongs to you? It could be a refund or cash settlement, a forgotten bank account, an abandoned safe deposit box, an uncashed cashier’s check and money order, wages, an insurance benefit, stocks, bonds or a dividend. To get your money or property from the state, all you have to do is claim it.
While digging into an issue around identity theft, I came across a link to check for unclaimed property with my state. I followed it, and a few minutes later — much to my surprise — I discovered I had $200 in property to claim. I’m not alone. The amount of unclaimed property across the US is significant. In 2019, the average claim paid was $1,780, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. California is holding on to around 57 million unclaimed pieces of property valued at approximately $10.2 billion, according to the state’s website, and in 2020 returned $258 million worth of unclaimed items. New York has even more unclaimed funds, holding on to $16.5 billion in lost or forgotten property; the state returned $126 million worth of property last year.
We’ll explain why your state may be holding money or other financial assets for you, how to check if you can make a claim and how to recover money for a deceased relative. For more ways the government may owe you money, here’s what to know about stimulus check plus-up payments, seven tax credits for 2020, the expanded child tax credit for up to $3,600 per kid and what we know about student loan debt forgiveness.
Why would my state be holding my money or property in the first place?
Governments or businesses will send unclaimed property or money to a state-run unclaimed property office when they can’t locate the owner. The state office will then hold these items until their owner claims them.
With most states, finding out if you have any unclaimed property easy. And even better, free. Claiming it can be more work, however, depending on which documents you need to collect and then send to the state to prove you’re the rightful owner.
Read More: Your state may owe you hundreds of dollars. It takes less than 2 minutes to