Delaware is holding unclaimed money for about 100,00 people.
I say about 100,000 people because they haven’t updated the amount on their site.
In 2009, there were 85,000 names on the list, so I’m going basing it on that.
From 2016-2019 Delaware returned over $300 million in unclaimed funds.
Unclaimed funds (property or assets are terms also used) consists of accounts and other financial instruments, usually intangible, being held at corporations, financial institutions, financial intermediaries, courts, and life insurance companies, that have gone dormant for a specified period of time based on the property type.
Common types of unclaimed property include:
- checking and savings accounts,
- uncashed wage and payroll checks,
- uncashed stock dividends and stock certificates,
- insurance payments,
- utility deposits,
- customer deposits,
- accounts payable,
- credit balances,
- refund checks,
- money orders,
- traveler’s checks,
- mineral proceeds,
- court deposits,
- uncashed death benefit checks and life insurance proceeds. Unclaimed property does not include real estate or vehicles.
Funds often go unclaimed when contact is lost, when the owner forgets that the account exists, or moves and does not leave a forwarding address, or the forwarding order expires. In some cases, the owner dies and the heirs have no knowledge of the property.
Unclaimed property laws began in the United States as a consumer protection program and they have evolved to protect not only the owners, but their heirs and estates as well. Once property is in the custody of the state and its unclaimed property program, the state will maintain custody of the property in perpetuity until the rightful owner or heirs come forward to claim.
Delaware’s Unclaimed Money Law requires corporations, businesses, associations, financial institutions, courts, and insurance companies (referred to as “Holders”) to annually report and deliver property to the Department of Finance after there has been no activity on the account or contact with the owner for a period of time specified in the law-generally three (3) to five (5) years.
You can search here for unclaimed money in Delaware.
The State acts only as custodian for the missing owners, holding the property in trust until it is claimed. There is no statute of limitations regarding refund requests. You may submit a request form at any time.
Once your request has been received by the Office of Unclaimed Property, it takes about 3-5 weeks to receive a claim form in the mail if property is found. If additional information is needed, some owners may receive a request for additional information in lieu of a claim form. If property is not found in your name, you will receive a letter informing you that a claim cannot be initiated.
The length of time it takes to approve a refund varies by situation and depends heavily on the completeness and accuracy of documentation provided by the funds claimants.
You can contact the Delaware unclaimed funds department here:
escheat.claimquestions@state.de.us
855-505-7520
Delaware Department of Finance
Office of Unclaimed Property
PO Box 8931
Wilmington, DE 19899-8931
Did you know you can make money finding unclaimed money for other people?
There is a little known business that lets you do that. Unclaimed money finders locate people that don’t know they money being held for them and help them to recover it.
In return, they charge a commission after the money is recovered.
Please click here if you would like to learn more about this business.
