By The Scale of Unclaimed Money
The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators estimates that state agencies hold over $70 billion in unclaimed property at any given time. This is money that has been turned over to state governments when the owner couldn’t be located — bank account balances from closed accounts, security deposits never returned, insurance payouts for beneficiaries who moved, utility deposits, dividend checks that were returned undeliverable, and hundreds of other scenarios.
The average unclaimed property claim that results in a payment is around $1,000, but claims range from a few dollars to millions for larger account balances and insurance policies. Most people who check their state’s database find something — often small amounts they’d forgotten about, occasionally larger amounts from accounts they didn’t know existed.
Checking takes five minutes and requires only your name and address history.
How to Search for Unclaimed Property
Every US state maintains a database of unclaimed property and provides free public search access. The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators operates MissingMoney.com, which searches many states simultaneously.
Search for: your current legal name, previous legal names (maiden name, former married name), and names of family members — including deceased relatives whose estates you may be heir to. Search in every state where you’ve lived, worked, or had accounts.
If you find a claim, the process is handled directly with the state through their unclaimed property website. Most claims require proof of identity and documentation connecting you to the property. The process is free — paid ‘unclaimed property recovery’ services that charge a percentage of the recovered amount are legitimate but unnecessary.
Other Overlooked Sources of Money You’re Owed
Beyond unclaimed property databases, several other categories of owed money go unclaimed:
Pension and retirement account benefits: previous employers may owe pension benefits to former employees who lost track of their benefit. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) maintains a database of pension benefits owed to workers whose former employer’s pension plan was terminated. If you’ve worked for multiple employers with pension plans, checking the PBGC database is worth doing.
Insurance policy benefits: life insurance policies where beneficiaries weren’t notified of the death, dividend payments on insurance policies, and policy refunds end up in state unclaimed property databases. Searching specifically with your family members’ names may reveal policies where you’re a named beneficiary.
Bank account promotions: credit card companies and banks run promotions where cash bonuses are owed for meeting specific conditions. If you closed an account without receiving a promised bonus, the company may still owe you the payment — a direct inquiry to customer service often resolves these.
Tax Refunds You Didn’t Claim
The IRS holds billions in unclaimed tax refunds from people who didn’t file returns in years when they were owed money. The refund claim window is three years — after three years, unclaimed refunds become government property.
You don’t owe taxes for a year you didn’t file doesn’t mean you didn’t have a refund coming. People who earned below the filing threshold but had taxes withheld from employment income can claim refunds for years they didn’t file, up to three years back.
Checking your IRS account at irs.gov shows your transcript for each year, which includes information about refunds owed. State income tax agencies have similar information for state returns.
Utility and Security Deposits
Utility deposits paid when establishing service, often $100 to $300, are sometimes never returned when service is canceled — they end up as unclaimed property when the company can’t reach the former customer.
Security deposits from rentals: if a landlord failed to return your security deposit and you didn’t pursue it because you moved on, the deposit may still be legally owed to you. Depending on your state’s statute of limitations for security deposit claims, you may be able to pursue it years later.
Employer reimbursements: expense reports submitted but never paid, final paychecks not collected when leaving a job, and unreturned benefits from former employers occasionally end up in unclaimed property databases or simply remain recoverable through direct inquiry to HR.
