Georgia Unclaimed Funds

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The State of Georgia is holding $1 billion in unclaimed money!

Unclaimed funds refers to accounts held by businesses and financial institutions who have lost contact with the owner of these funds.

Examples of unclaimed funds includes:

  • wages
  • savings accounts
  • accounts payable
  • insurance payments
  • shares of stock
  • escrow funds
  • royalites
  • safe deposit box contents

There are many more examples to numerous to list.


The Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, adopted by Georgia’s legislature in 1973,  protects the rights of owners of unclaimed accounts and relieves banks and companies of the continuing responsibility to maintain such accounts.

Under the Act, when a bank or company holds property belonging to someone else, but has lost contact with that person for a certain period of time, the bank or company must send the property to the state.

The state serves as custodian to the property and they say they make several attempts to reunite the owners with their property, but with so many people owed money, it’s difficult to contact them all.  That’s why they do things like print names up in the newspaper once or twice a year or set up booths at county fairs for people to see if their names are on the list.

Anyone holding abandoned property must remit it to the State when they have held the property for longer than the holding period.

Companies must report abandoned property to the State of the last known address of the owner. When the owner address information is unknown, incomplete or foreign, the holder company reports unclaimed property to their state of incorporation.

The holding period is the time that must elapse before the property is considered
abandoned and reportable to the State. The duration depends on the type of property held:

Wages 1 year from payday
Company Liquidation Proceeds 1 year from sell date
Safe Deposit Boxes 2 years from drilling date
Money Orders 7 years from issue date
Travelers Checks 15 years from issue date
All Other Property 5 years from last contact


Go to the Georgia unclaimed money website if you would like to search in Georgia.

You can also contact them at 855-329-9863

Did you know there is a little known business opportunity where you can make money searching for unclaimed funds?

Unclaimed money finders help find and return unclaimed money to people that don’t know they have it being held for them.  In return they charge a fee, usually a percentage of the amount of money that they have helped return.

Please click here if you would like to learn more about becoming an unclaimed money finder.

Delaware Unclaimed Funds

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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.

Florida Unclaimed Funds

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The State of Florida is currently holding more than $2 billion in unclaimed money!

This comes from a variety of dormant accounts from financial institutions, utility companies, insurance companies, and just about any other type of company you can think of.

Funds can go unclaimed for a variety of reasons including

  • never claiming a final paycheck
  • moving before getting your utility deposit back
  • not having an over payment on an item returned
  • or not knowing about an insurance payment.

There are many reasons for funds going unclaimed.

In Florida, unclaimed money is deposited into the state school fund where it is used for public educations.  That does not mean that you can’t claim it.  There is no statute of limitations and you can claim your funds at any time.

You can search the Florida unclaimed money website  and see if you have money being held for you or someone you know.  IMPORTANT: IT LOOKS LIKE THE FLORIDA SITE TO SEARCH IS ONLY WORKING IN CHROME.  


If you find money being held for you, you will need to submit a claim form.  The unclaimed money department in Florida is allotted up to 90 days to process your claim.  If they need more documentation, it may take longer.

Even if they don’t need documentation, it may take longer, not much you can do there but wait.

Proper documentation will definitely include a proper form of identification and will probably require proof that the unclaimed money does indeed belong to you.   Depending on whether you have moved or a person is deceased will effect what type of proof you need.

Chapter 717 of the Florida Statutes does not allow for interest to be paid on your money.

You  can contact the Florida unclaimed funds department here:

Florida Department of Financial Services
200 East Gaines St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399

Phone: (888) 258-2253 or (850) 413-5555

Email: FloridaUnclaimedProperty@myfloridaCFO.com

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.