Eighty Billion Dollars. That is one estimate for the amount of unclaimed property in the United States, as reported by the New York Times. Unclaimed property consists of property not united with its rightful owner. Unclaimed property may be the result of customers forgetting about utility and rent deposits, insurance companies failing in their efforts to locate beneficiaries, or the imperfections of our postal mail system.
Unclaimed property could include anything. Wages, estate proceeds, rebates, refunds, forgotten financial accounts, tax refunds, and safe deposit boxes. The Florida unclaimed property vault may contain (jewelry and baseball cards). Unclaimed property can be maddingly valuable. One individual had unclaimed property in the amount of $4 million.
Unclaimed property may belong to anyone. If you have unclaimed property, you are in distinguished company. “Barrack Obama at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” shows up in the District of Columbia’s unclaimed property database. Other political and cultural luminaries include Jerry Seinfeld, Joan Rivers, Madonna, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and the Dalai Lama. Even individuals whose jobs are to worry about money have unclaimed property accounts, like city and state budget directors.
So check the unclaimed property database of every state you spent some time in. For Florida, click here. For North Carolina, click here. You may be pleasantly surprised that the government is paying you for a change. In general, it is easy to search and claim unclaimed property.
But if you have trouble collecting unclaimed property you are entitled to receive, please feel free to contact me. I advised the State of Florida in several unclaimed property determinations, and I am happy to assist you.
