Finding Lost Money…. Where to Look for Lost Assets
One question we are often asked after someone passes away is: “How do I know if I found all of the estate assets?” For many years, the only answer was to check with each state’s Treasurer’s office (or its equivalent) in every state where the decedent lived or worked. In Florida, that meant searching https://fltreasurehunt.gov, which is a website from the Florida Division of Unclaimed Property. In New York, one would search www.osc.ny.gov/unclaimedfunds, which is a website sponsored by the New York State Comptroller’s office.
If an individual believes that they might have money left in an FDIC insured bank that was closed, try https://closedbanks.fdic.gov/funds. The FDIC’s website shows that since 2020, there have been twelve United States situs banks that failed that were not merged into another bank, including First City Bank of Florida, which was based in Fort Walton Beach. For closed credit unions accounts, try ncua.gov. AARP Magazine reports that there are more than twenty closed credit unions in the United States.
Looking for past unpaid wages? Visit the Department of Labor at dol.gov/agencies/whd/wow. Requests to receive these funds are limited to only three years from when the payment was made. This website is referred to as Workers Owed Wages.
What about savings bonds? One can go to treasuryhunt.gov to look for savings bonds, treasury securities, or interest payments on these types of accountants. For this website, one needs the individual’s full social security number.
There are now several newer websites that deal with finding other types of assets, or that allow an individual to partake in an almost nationwide search. For example:
- Missingmoney.com allows individuals to search for assets in forty-nine states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico (Hawaii is the only state that does not participate in this search). This website was created by an association of multiple state treasurers.
- The United States department of labor launched lostandfound.dol.gov, which is a database of lost and found retirement savings.
- The United States has also established a website where one can find pensions and unclaimed benefits from private companies that have closed their plans. This website is pbgc.gov/workers-retirees, which is sponsored by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
Finally, there are companies that will help track down assets for individuals. For their services, the companies usually take a contingency fee of between ten and thirty percent of anything that they collect. Many times, these companies will solicit individuals by mail when they believe they have found something to which an individual or their loved one might be entitled. All of these websites listed in this article are accessible to the general public, so hiring a company to assist is not required. For most of the websites listed above, only the individual=s legal name is needed to run a search.
One final note about lost assets in Florida. Often times, if an individual has passed away and if there are assets being held by the State of Florida, then a probate administration would be necessary to secure those funds.
If you have any questions regarding securing unclaimed assets, feel free to contact one of the attorneys at Revis, Hervas & Goldberg, P.A. today.
