Missing Money: How to Find Unclaimed Property & Paychecks

I was reading No Credit Needed (NCN is one of my favorite personal finance blogs) yesterday and his latest article was a reflection on his last three years of blogging, and a look toward his future.

One section in particular grabbed my attention:

On a whim I went to the website Missing Money, and I typed in my state and last name.

No, I didn’t have a paycheck waiting for me, but my brother did!

The information provided by the website includes the person’s name, partial address, and where to contact to retrieve the money. The site also list the amount as under $100, or unknown. In my brother’s case, the amount is less than $100, but it’s still nice to get! I’ll have to let him know! 🙂

MissingMoney.com lets you search for unclaimed money in any state in the U.S. If you’ve traveled around a lot, there is a chance you could have money waiting for you in another state. They update their database every week, so it’s great to keep looking, you never know when something is going to pop up.

According to the site, there are some common types of unclaimed money:

• Bank accounts
• Safety deposit boxes
• Stocks, bonds, mutual bunds
• Paychecks
• CDs or trust funds
• Utility deposits
• Escrow accounts

Find Unclaimed Properties: When paychecks are not picked up by the employee, the business turns them over to the state as unclaimed. The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators assists states in the distribution of these unclaimed paychecks and other unclaimed properties.

If you find a name and address match, claiming your money is pretty simple. All you’ll have to do is fill out a simple form. It just requires some basic information to whichever state the money is sitting in.

You’ll have to print out a claim form, fill it out, and then mail it. Each state has slightly different requirements on how you can claim the money, but in general, it’s fairly easy. Each state is different. Some state governments are going to be quicker than others.

In order to claim the money, you’re going to have to prove you have lived at the address listed on the money. A lot of people don’t have files from years ago which can prove you lived there. What do you do if you can’t prove you lived at the address? Is the money gone for good? Probably not.

If you have no way of proving you lived there, all you have to do is attach a letter to the claim form. After this, they will contact you with the next steps of getting the money. Once again, each state will have different kinds of forms to complete.

On a similar note, if the person on the claim has passed away, you can still claim the money if you’re the rightful heir. You’ll have to go through a similar process. You will need to provide some documentation, like a death certificate.

According to the NAUPA website:

Another method of finding unclaimed property is contacting the state’s unclaimed property office.

Important Note: This is a free search! There are many companies out there that use the freedom of information act, in conjunction with sites such as Missing Money to find missing property for people. They sometimes charge a lot to do this!

From the NAUPA website Q&A:

I recommend doing a search for your name. You might just be surprised at what you find! I know my brother will be! 😉

Related Post: How We Manage Our Money on a Daily Basis