A last paycheck that went unreceived. A paid up insurance policy that was forgotten. A dividend check that was sent to the wrong address. Jewelry in a safe deposit box that family didn’t know existed. These are just a few examples of unclaimed assets listed by the Massachusetts State Treasurer. It is estimated that over $200 million worth of “stuff” goes unclaimed each year in Massachusetts alone.

To see if you are among the millions of people in Massachusetts with assets owed to them you can conduct a simple search at the Abandoned Property Division. If you never lived in Massachusetts, or you think you may have abandoned assets in other states, you can search www.missingmoney.com. Not all states register their abandoned property there. If that doesn’t work, check with your state’s Treasurer for how they handle abandoned property.

Claiming found property usually includes proving its connection to you. You may need to prove your identity, usually your social security number, and a prior address. In the case of claiming property that belonged to a deceased family member you may need to prove your right to collect that property. This could require probating the estate, or showing that you are the sole heir. Claiming stocks requires finding the original certificates. Don’t worry though, there are procedures in place if you can’t find them, but it will require a surety bond which will mean forfeiting a percentage of the stock value. Check your state for specific instructions.

It’s always amazing to me that people could simply forget about money that is owed to them. Then I realized that when a loved one dies, we don’t always know all the details of their financial lives. A paid up life insurance policy that was purchased in the 1940s could easily be overlooked as no longer relevant. If you didn’t find a safe deposit box key when you were cleaning out Mom’s apartment, would you think to check with every local bank for one, or instead just believe that she must have sold her jewelry to make ends meet? These are just a couple examples of how assets become abandoned.

In today’s economy we scrimp and save, cut coupons, hyper-mile to get the best gas mileage. Take a few minutes to search for your abandoned property. You might get an unexpected windfall just in time for holiday shopping.

Tags: abandoned property, Assets

This entry was posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 9:52 pm and is filed under Assets. Follow comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.