How to know if you have unclaimed money

Nationwide, more than $20 billion is waiting to be collected by citizens who may not even know they may be owed money from “unclaimed property,” which can include checks payroll, refunds or uncollected deposits.

“It turns out a lot of people have unclaimed property. You might be in for a very pleasant surprise,” said Deb Goldberg, Massachusetts State Treasurer and Receiver General.

According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), one in seven Americans owns unclaimed property. Even if you’ve checked in the past and haven’t found any unclaimed property, NAUPA suggests checking for annual updates – you might be surprised by what you find.

Here’s how to check if you have unclaimed money:

MissingMoney.com

MissingMoney.com is endorsed by both the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators and the National Association of State Treasurers. The website aims to “facilitate the return of unclaimed money to the rightful owner” by using a multi-state database platform to search for and claim forgotten funds.

Users can first go to Unclaimed.org or MissingMoney.com to check if they have unclaimed property. Then, if found, users can submit a free claim through the platform and, if accepted, connect to the state to securely transfer the funds to the owner.

“Because the evidence required to complete a claim varies by state, read carefully and follow the instructions. For other questions related to your claim, please contact the state in which your claim was filed directly,” it says. the website.

Tax Service Office

According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, users can access a platform to find out if unclaimed funds are being held by the federal government.

However, it is important to note that each federal agency maintains its own records and there is no centralized government-wide database of unclaimed government assets, according to the department.