(Part 1 of 2)

The state of California’s unclaimed property department takes in roughly 300 million dollars each year. What’s it to you? Well, if you or someone you know is or was a resident of the Golden State (or had any kind of business dealings, whether you were aware of it or not), a chunk of that big heap of CA forgotten funds could very well be yours!

Under the California unclaimed property (or escheat) law, lost money like forgotten checking and savings accounts, uncashed checks and money orders, mineral deposits, salary checks, cash and stock dividends, state of California unclaimed tax refunds, gift certificates, and other financial assets are passed along to the Department of the Treasury if the rightful owners don’t locate them within a given period. This ‘dormancy period’ varies widely from state to state, but in CA it’s three years. These lost assets then head to the California unclaimed property div, where they stay in the state’s general fund until returned to the rightful owners. This is where state officials who handled CA unclaimed cash were recently criticized. It seems that they were eager to locate and collect the lost assets from the various establishments holding them but but were less than enthusiastic about contacting the owners in the CA unclaimed funds list.

(to be continued)

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