Locating Your Unclaimed Property

When I was fourteen, my dad let me in on a rumor than had been floating around the family for years.  The rumor was that my great-grandfather, who had passed away two decades prior, had a fairly significant amount of property that had not been included in his estate.  Of course, anyone that could have substantiated this rumor had long passed and without any specific information concerning the property, the rumor was destined to remain just that – a rumor.

A few months later, while surfing the internet, I decided to try and locate this rumored “treasure.”  By chance, I stumbled upon the California State Controller’s Office website.  Here, I discovered a forum that allows users to search the California database of unclaimed property.  I typed in my last name to see if anything would come up – and there it was!  My great-grandfather’s name and an unclaimed property record of $28,000.  I was pretty excited, to say the least.  As the executors of my great-grandfather’s estate, my dad and uncle claimed the $28,000 and split it amongst their other siblings…leaving me with nothing.  Thanks dad!

So what is the moral of this story?  If you happen to find unclaimed property belonging to someone you know – MAKE SURE YOU NEGOTIATE YOUR FINDER’S FEE UP-FRONT!  No – but really, you never know what treasures may waiting just a mouse-click away.

STATISTICS

According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), there is at least $32.877 billion in unclaimed property that is currently being safeguarded by state treasurers and other agencies in the U.S.  In 2006 alone, approximately $4.686 billion was handed over to various unclaimed property administrators by businesses that had lost contact with the properties’ owners.  What does this mean to you? Two things:

1.  Always make sure you leave a forwarding address when you move.
2.  Some of that unclaimed property could belong to you!

My favorite site for locating unclaimed property is www.naupa.org.  From this site, you will be able to select any state and be connected directly to their unclaimed property administrator – and the service is FREE.  Be sure to check the unclaimed property administrator for each state you’ve lived in.  If you would like to search the California site for unclaimed property, their direct link is CA Unclaimed Property.  I’ll be keeping an eye out for my 5% indirect finder’s fee!  Good luck!

1 Comment for this entry

• 

  Wendy

  February 25th, 2011 on 7:07 PM

  I’ve heard of this before too, but never have looked into it. I could use some $ for a down payment on a house.

  Thanks!

  Wendy Spindler