Unclaimed property??

[that_someone_special]

Does anyone have any experience with this? I found $2k+ owed to my husband and I.

How long does it take to get it once the claim is in? ... Do I pay taxes on it?



Has anyone else found unclaimed money/ property??

 

[that_someone_special]

More importantly:

jewelry?
savings?
dishwasher?
moving expenses?
dining room chandelier?

What shall I spend it on?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I found unclaimed property. It was through The Department of Revenue for the State of Washington. It was NOT one of those gimmick sites and I didn't have to pay a fee.

Here's a link (see the dept. of revenue part in the lower right hand corner):

http://ucp.dor.wa.gov/

I had to mail in documents and they sent a check to me.

 

[rubybeth]

My husband was notified by our state (Minnesota) about unclaimed property. It was a bank account opened for him when he was 5. He just went to the bank and they cashed out the account to him. Yay, instant IRA deposit!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Bean, this may be more info that you want, and some if it may not apply to your situation, but I actually know quite about escheatment, which is basically that if property (including financial assets) get coded as "unclaimed" through a certain process the assets then have to be turned over to the State of last known domicile for safekeeping until the rightful owner claims them.

Did you find the assets yourself or where you contacted by a vendor? (The firm I worked for would use vendors to find the people to whom assets belong. The vendors were then entitled to a percentage of the assets that they managed to get back to the rightful owners. Some owners would object to this, but the reality is that have 75% of an assets you didn't know or forgot you had is better than having none of it, so folks usually came around, LOL.)

In terms of how long it takes, every state is different. I will tell you to follow the instructions regarding paperwork and any documentation they ask for TO THE LETTER. Any discrepancy will delay the process for an ungodly amount of time, and they may even just reject the submission (sometimes not even telling you why, just that the paperwork is "insufficient") and you then have to start over.

And you do not pay taxes on the property because it's yours to begin with, however you may have to pay taxes on any *earnings* that the property has accumulated. For instance, if it was a bank account that was worth $1,500 when it was "abandoned" and has since earned $500 in interest, you may owe taxes on the additional $500 that's accumulated. Note: I am not an accountant and I do not provide tax or other financial advice!

How exciting for you! I say there should be some sort of bling in your future from this windfall!

 

[zoebartlett]

Wow! What a nice surprise. If I was in your situation, I'd put the $ towards moving. That would be a big help!

 

[that_someone_special]

I'm back!

There are two claims that we found. One is through our state. I have a letter from the company that owes it to us/ dh from 2008, but DH was never able to find it in the system. For years. I found the letter again, made a 8 minute call to the number on the state website and viola! APPARENTLY, a lot of companies (a bank in this instance) will put the name into the system in a "strange way". If it's from an estate- instead of it being put in as Jane Doe, they put it in as Estate of Jane Doe or Est. Jane Doe. Which makes it nearly impossible to find in the system on your own!

The other one is an uncashed paycheck from..... 2003 The funny thing is that two days ago I found this check in a bunch of legal paperwork and asked DH about it. He had no idea where it came from or why it wasn't cashed, so he promised to look into it. Yesterday (before DH or I contacted anyone about the check) we get a letter in the mail FROM THE EMPLOYER saying they canceled the check and to send the letter back signed, to get the $$. I couldn't believe it!

 

[that_someone_special]

OOps.. forgot to respond.

MC- The 3rd party website that the state site links to looks so fake. It made DH leery of looking into it further. haha. Glad you got some money!

Zoe- I think I might do this too. Depending on the market, I would like to be outta the condo, into an actual house in less than 2 years. Preferably 18 months. But, I also need some window sills refinished...

Dee*Jay- Thank you for your huge response! I am glad to know I don't have to pay 25% of the amount to anyone I am guessing I won't get interest..? Like I said one amount was from an un-cashed check, but the other one is from $$ that was left in an escrow account from a prior mortgage (bank).. but they probably don't get interest on that huh?

rubybeth- That is awesome. We are in the same state too

 

[soocool]

Bean, thanks for starting this thread. I am off to find money... who knows, maybe I find it for anyone in my family they may give me a finders fee.