Check for abandoned property -- worked twice for me

[SlowMovingInvestor]

I just checked a few websites and found some abandoned property for close family. Are you comfortable entering your SSN, address, phone numbers, etc.? It doesn't seem to be an official government website.

Each state has an official website. Make sure you are using the correct site.

My current state website redirects back to the missingmoney site (with a disclaimer about how that site has different privacy policies) ! Very annoying. I'm guessing they're getting a legal 'kickback' from that site.

I did find around $80 in a state I used to live in many years ago, but the first name is mispelled . Not sure if it's worth sending in a claim, and even if I did, and they sent me a check, would I be able to deposit it ?

[sport]

I did find around $80 in a state I used to live in many years ago, but the first name is mispelled . Not sure if it's worth sending in a claim, and even if I did, and they sent me a check, would I be able to deposit it ?

My understanding is if you receive a check with your name misspelled, you endorse it as the check is written, and then endorse it again with the proper spelling. Since the check is rightfully made payable to you, there is no reason for it to bounce.

[deanbrew]

I found ~$10 from my maternal grandmother on Illinois' site but it was too big of a pain to collect, I don't have death certificates anymore and it would cost more than $10 to get one so it will probably be there forever.

Yeah, just out of curiosity, I searched my deceased uncle's name in another state where he lived awhile back. There was a couple hundred dollars, but his estate had already been closed by then. It would have been costly and cumbersome to go throughthe process of getting and distributing the money. But for any current or future estate executors, it's worth checking in any states that the dearly departed lived in. FWIW, I was not the executor for my uncle.

[linenfort]

Isn't part of being a Booglehead being meticulous about your money?

Not everyone was born a boglehead.

[alter]

I found an old paycheck on there for me. Only a couple hundred dollars, but I'll take it. Of course, from that point I spent the next several hours on the Illinois website, looking up everyone I could think of. Found 2 friends with unclaimed property too. Love being the bearer of good news!

https://icash.illinois.gov/

Omg...thank you for this link....i had 4 different items...one of them valued over $100 wonder if they will actually return it!

If they do return any of this money.I feel like I owe you guys a round of drinks...literally would not have checked ever if it were not for this thread.

[OAG]

Did this about 5 years ago and found about $500 for a small insurance policy on my deceased mother with the State of IL. I was the only beneficiary so they sent it to me pretty quickly.

In response to this thread did a search in State of VA where I lived and worked about 30 years ago and found some amount with the VA Retirement System. Do not know how much but filed a claim and they say they will let me know within 10 days after getting my claim. (Thanks OP to the I thread).

[ncbill]

I'll be doing it in a year or so for a recently-deceased relative for whom I'm handling their affairs.

They got most of their assets moved into a trust before they died, but missed a couple of credit unions 'share' accounts ($25 - required to be a member)

Since it cost over $100 to open even a "small" estate here, it'll be cheaper just to use the unclaimed property route once those accounts are turned over to the state.

[Pu239]

Saw this thread and checked my state's unclaimed property website finding two possible assets associated with my name. One small asset turned out to belong to another person with the same name but the larger one was confirmed as mine. I'm set to receive a check for over $300 any day now. Strange thing is the lost money came from Vanguard. Don't know how that happened as that amount of money wouldn't normally be overlooked!

Think I'll check the unclaimed property websites of other states I've lived in just to be sure.

Thanks OP!

[SocalLiving]

Thanks OP!
Husband just got a $350+ check through the MA abandoned property website. Was really easy and took 5 minutes to do the forms.
Also alerted a few relatives about accounts that popped up while doing the search with our last names.

[LadyGeek]

From my post Apr 09, 2013:

Thanks! I hit paydirt for myself and my Dad. I'm not sure what will happen, but I have the claim forms printed and ready to go. Pennsylvania Treasury - Unclaimed Property

My Dad's claim might be for a paycheck, about 7 years old.

I have 2 claims - one is for an insurance claim reimbursement, about 14 years old. The second is a possible reimbursement for jury duty, 12 years ago.I turned that check into my employer, as I get full pay for jury duty. I was wondering what they did with those checks.

Update 2/11/19: The above link is broken. The new link is Pennsylvania Treasury - Unclaimed property

I never followed through until: Subject: Wiki - Locating a deceased person's life insurance policy (Jan 30, 2020) which now has 3 claims...

...In addition to searching my state's unclaimed property database (PA) for my husband's name, I decided to search for my own name. Go figure, it came up with several low dollar value matches. State claim in process...
...

I understand everyone is overloaded due to COVID-19, but 5 months is a bit long to wait. A few weeks ago, I sent a polite email requesting payment. Someone responded and several days later, the claim was processed. The check was indeed in the mail, $100 received today.