I would suggest that the first place you check is the Texas State Comptrollers unclaimed property website at www.cpa.state.tx.us/up. The message from the comptroller says From a long-dormant bank account to a forgotten utility deposit or family heirloom in an abandoned safe deposit box, the state may be holding valuable property that belongs to you. If so, I want to return your property to you. According to the site, the comptroller is currently holding over a billion dollars worth of unclaimed property, and is seeking thousands of rightful owners. Recently, I found a $78 dividend check listed there which I never received. I completed the online form, and received the formal claim application in the mail. A few weeks later I was $78 richer. The check was turned over to the state as unclaimed under an ancient but still worthwhile law referred to as the law of escheat. Property listed on the website which is available to valid claimants are the value of old checks, dividends from a variety of sources, contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes, unclaimed proceeds from insurance policies, and other forms of abandoned personal property. Tangible personal property, such as jewelry and collectables are listed and held for a statutory limited time, and then auctioned if unclaimed, with the proceeds available to the claimant.

Using the Texas lost property website is very easy. The direct link to the Texas search site is at www.cpa.state.tx.us/up/search.html. You can enter a last name or a business name, first name, and city, and then search for unclaimed property. [ Editors note. For Oklahoma the site is www.treasurer.state.ok.us/unclaimed.html ] If using a name, try just a last name to see if any ancestors are listed. Also check maiden names, and mothers maiden name to see if any other ancestors have unclaimed property. Last summer I went to this site as a class demonstration at LIT, and several students volunteered; a few students found accounts that belonged to deceased parents and grandparents. One lucky student found several accounts in the name of her deceased mother, totaling over $11,000. She completed the online claim form, received the formal claim application, and is in the process of gathering the required documentation to complete her claim. If successful, this student will be $11,000 richer. [ Editors note. I checked the site as well, and found two items in my mother's name. It is for a grand total of $70.16, which will have to be split with my other three siblings, but I have filed for it. ]

I found it interesting that in order to receive the best prices for unclaimed tangible personal property, the comptroller auctions the property on Ebay under the seller name tx.unclaimed.property. As I type this, there are 37 items listed on Ebay by the comptroller, ranging from a Sterling Contemporary Ring going for $4.37, and antique drafting set ($102.50), a lot of 1465 Mercury Dimes ($777.88), five Mexican 50 peso gold coins ($2380), and a variety of other items. Some of the stranger items listed in the comptrollers Ebay auctions are 2 Belly Dancing Anklets with bells ($15), an antique 14k gold pocket watch dated 1892 ($224.50), and a variety of proof sets, rare coins, jewelry, precious stones, pocket knives, and other property from abandoned safe deposit boxes. It should be noted that several other states also list their unclaimed tangible personal property auctions on Ebay.

Many of you, like me, have lived in other states, and all 50 states have a similar listing on an official state website, typically the state comptrollers or treasurers website. The trade association of these state officials is the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. The NAUPA has a website at www.unclaimed.org which has links to the appropriate websites at all 50 states, as well as U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. From the page at unclaimed.org, click on the Owners icon and a welcome page appears. It is emphasized on this page that all of the services are available for free. From that page, the link Find Property on the left side of the page will bring up the list of states and territories, which will then link to the official search sites for those states.

If you have lived in several states as I have, or have relatives that have lived in multiple states, a search of each state on the NAUPA website is time consuming. There is a commercial website at www.missingmoney.com which can perform a free simultaneous search of the unclaimed property databases of Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. There are direct links to all of the other government databases on the missingmoney.com website. I just tried this website, and found one listing for a distant relative in Florida that has unclaimed Matured Principle > $100. I emailed that information to my cousin in Florida who may be able to contact the rightful heirs.

Be suspicious of emails or other offers that allege that they will process your claim for a fee or a percentage recovered from the states unclaimed property listings. All of the official unclaimed property services are available at no charge directly from the states.

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