What is unclaimed property?
Unclaimed property consists of money and other personal assets that are considered lost or abandoned when an owner cannot be located after a specified period of time. This includes checking accounts, certificates of deposit, customer deposits and over-payments, gift certificates, paid-up life insurance policies, unpaid wages, commissions, uncashed checks, death benefits, dividends, insurance payments, money orders, refunds, savings accounts, stocks, and proceeds of safe deposit box auctions.
A. Unclaimed property is any financial asset for which an owner has not generated activity for an extended period of time. This may include savings, checking, certificate of deposit accounts; payroll (wages, bonuses, commissions); stocks and bonds (uncashed dividends, interest checks, underlying shares principle); insurance proceeds; credit balances; customer deposits; travelers checks; money orders and other intangible interests or benefits. Top of Page Q. How does property become unclaimed? A. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 169 states that accounts become unclaimed when, over a specified period of time there has been no activity, and the holder of the funds cannot locate the owner. The time frame varies depending on the property but in most cases, it is three to five years. One exception is payroll checks, which are only held for one year. The funds are then turned over to the State, which acts as custodian of the funds until they can be returned to the rightful owner. All states have unc
Unclaimed property consists of bank accounts, wages, refunds, utility deposits, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, bonds, contents of safe deposit boxes, etc. that have been abandoned – that is, for which there have been no documented transactions or contact with the owners for a statutory period of time known as a dormancy period. There are over 100 types of property which may become unclaimed. The term property is defined in North Carolina General Statute 116B-52(11). There is a detailed listing on the back of the ASD-159 reporting form.
Unclaimed property includes, but is not limited to, bank accounts, wages or commissions, money orders, insurance proceeds, underlying shares, dividends, customer deposits, credit balances, layaways, and credit memos which have remained unclaimed by the rightful owner for a specified period of time. See Dormancy Table (15k .pdf) for the dormancy period for specific property types.
All tangible or intangible property that has remained unclaimed by its owner for an extended period of time. This includes but is not limited to savings and checking accounts, wages or commissions, underlying shares, dividends, customer deposits, credit balances, gift certificates, credit memos, refunds, etc.
Related Questions
- The new law abolished gift certificates as a type of type of unclaimed property in Connecticut. What is the law regarding expiration dates applied to gift certificates?
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