It’s money that hasn’t been touched for years and while it sounds like a scam, unclaimed property is the real deal and rightfully belongs to millions of people. In the U.S., one in seven Americans have unclaimed property. In Massachusetts alone, there is over $3 billion dollars in waiting to be returned to their rightful owners.
“Oftentimes what happens is that these unclaimed accounts are forgotten by the owner,” explained James Royal from Bankrate. “When they pass on, they're not recorded in an estate plan, so the heirs don't know that that money is out there.”
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“This might be retirement accounts such as 401ks or IRAs. It could be bank accounts. It could even be unclaimed wages,” said Royal.
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SIGN UP Others include: stocks, unredeemed money orders or gift certificates, utility security deposits, annuities, insurance payments or refunds and life insurance policies.
In 2023, the average claim was over $1,100. Unclaimed money usually ends up being sent to a state’s treasurer’s office.
“Each state has their own website dedicated to unclaimed properties,” Royal said. “You'll need to go to each state where you think you may have unclaimed property and assets through there, do the search.”
The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators has a website that can search for any missing assets.
People who live in multiple states can visit MissingMoney.com to see if there is unclaimed money in more than one place.
“If somebody reaches out to you about finding your unclaimed property, they may be asking a fee to do so,” said Royal. “It's important to remember that anybody can go on these sites and access, do the search themselves. It's very quick and it's free.”
To check if you have any unclaimed property in Massachusetts, just visit findmassmoney.gov.
