Billions of dollars worth of unclaimed property is returned to people from their states each year. This article will show you how to find any unclaimed property that is owed to you. Any property that you can rightfully claim is basically ordinary income, so let’s find out how you can get your hands on this.

Unclaimed Property Basics

In most cases, unclaimed property is money in financial and bank accounts that have been dormant for over a year. Usually the owner of these funds cannot be located, which is why the account has been sitting there unattended. After a certain period of time, the length of which varies by state, these funds are handed over to the state’s comptroller.

Property is considered unclaimed after it has gone past the dormancy period. The dormancy period is the amount of time between a bank or financial institution reporting an account or funds as unclaimed and the government ruling that the account or fund is abandoned.

For most states the dormancy period is 5 years. Sometimes the comptroller or state’s treasury department will make efforts to locate the owner of the unclaimed property through letters in the mail.

Types of Unclaimed Property

Even though we’ve already defined unclaimed property as any financial or bank account funds that have gone dormant, it’s important to know a few examples. So these can include uncashed checks from your employer, checking and savings accounts, stocks, and funds from legal proceedings.

Unclaimed property will not be taxed while it still remains with the state government. But it could be recognized as taxable income once it is claimed. A few exceptions to this are investments made from a 401k account or an IRA.

Escheatment

Escheatment is a legal statute that protects unclaimed funds from being held by financial institutions. Each state has laws that require these institutions to transfer unclaimed property to the state’s general fund, who then oversee the property until the rightful owner claims it.

Owners can reclaim this property at any time by completing an application. Unclaimed is the official site of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), and should be the first place you search.

It’s Waiting For You

If any of the above examples of unclaimed property applies to you, then it’s easy to claim what’s yours. Whether you’ve forgotten about a paycheck or have funds from a checking or savings