subject: California Residents: Find Unclaimed Property [print this page] Millions of dollars in unclaimed property resides with the California government. Californians would be stunned to realize that there are millions of unused dollars in their governments treasury account. Incidentally, the surprise does not end there, as every year, the government of California takes in around 300 million dollars into its account, the sum of which belongs to millions of California residents. Consequently, anyone who has lived in California for a few years can also search their name in Californias database for unclaimed funds.
According to California law, any asset that has been abandoned for longer than three to four years in banks or other financial institutions will transfer to the state treasury department to be safeguarded until the rightful claimant steps forward. In addition to money, lost properties such as jewellery and other expensive assets can be found in safety deposit box accounts, or as lost or stolen properties that are auctioned off, after which the money is transferred to the governments account.
The same law states that the list of California unclaimed property includes cash and stock dividends, money orders, salary checks, unclaimed tax refunds, savings and checking accounts, gift certificates, and much more. Though the period of inactivity can vary according to each states policy, in the state of California it is generally three years. If the owners of the accounts do not step forward by the end of this period, the accounts will automatically be transferred to the government of California.
The money transferred into the governments account remains there until the rightful owner claims it. Though State Unclaimed property funds in the governments account are increasing by the day, the government is concerned that such a large sum of money in their account is virtually worthless. Currently, there is around $5.5 billion in unclaimed money residing in the state governments account. Ultimately, the government owes this money to 11 million individuals and organizations.
Unfortunately, individuals have found it difficult to actually recover their unclaimed money, as they may forget their previous addresses. However, it is not difficult to search for these unclaimed assets, as the entire database of state unclaimed property is available on the governments official website for lost funds. To search for their money, a claimant will not have to pay any fees; however, if the claimant chooses to hire a locator, he or she may end up paying 10% of the amount of the total assets found.
After finding unclaimed assets on the database, the rightful owner will need to complete an Affirmation Form and attach the necessary documents with signatures to make claim of the lost money. If there is another claimant from the same name or business, the rightful owner might have to provide extra documents to prove his or her identity.
After receiving the claimants form, the state government takes about 180 days to transfer the unclaimed property to it owner. While a claim for money generally takes 60 days to transfer into the account of its rightful owner, more complicated claims will take the government around 180 days for proper approval and processing.
