New Hampshire Unclaimed Funds

Each year in New Hampshire, millions of dollars in dormant or lost accounts go unclaimed.

This money is turned over to the Treasury by businesses that are unable to locate the property owners.

These funds may be in the form of cash or securities such as stocks, bonds or mutual funds.

The Treasury’s Abandoned Property Division can help you discover, and recover at NO COST, what may be rightfully yours. You have nothing to lose!

Since the enactment of the unclaimed and abandoned property laws New Hampshire Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Division has been committed to its responsibility and has returned millions of dollars to current and former residents of New Hampshire.


In today’s mobile society it is not uncommon for people to lose track of their accounts, misplace a check or, for one reason or another, be unaware of an asset belonging to them.

Abandoned/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. The following are a few examples:

• • Savings Accounts
  • Checking Accounts
  • Certificates of Deposit
  • Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds
  • Gift Certificates
  • Refunds
  • Wages, Payroll, Salary
  • Commissions
  • Uncashed Checks
  • Death Benefits
  • Dividends
  • Insurance Payments
  • Money Orders
  • Paid-up Life Insurance Policies
  • Deposits
  • Demutualization Proceeds

NH RSA 471C is the law regarding abandoned and unclaimed property and how you can recover it. One example is when a financial institution holds your money in an account, and there has been no owner initiated account activity, or you have not communicated regarding the account for a period of five years, the institution presumes it is abandoned.

At this point the institution reports and remits it to the State Treasurer who acts as custodian of the property. The reported owners name is advertised statewide in a newspaper and a notice is sent to the owners last known address as reported. Upon establishing ownership you may reclaim your property from the Treasury Abandoned Property Division.

The Unclaimed Property Act http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/NHTOC/NHTOC-XLVI-471-C.htm provides for the identification, recovery, and safeguard of dormant accounts or forgotten properties and their return to the rightful owner(s).

In New Hampshire most property types are presumed abandoned or unclaimed if there has been no account activity for five (5) years. However, wages, payroll or salary and utility deposits are presumed abandoned or unclaimed after one (1) year.

Within three (3) years of being reported the money is transferred to the states General Fund and in part to the various County Treasurers, helping to reduce some of the individual tax burdens. However, the rightful owner retains the right to claim the property and this right is never lost.

Filing a claim form and presenting documentation to establish your identity and ownership of the property is required. For further information and to obtain a claim form contact the New Hampshire Abandoned Property Division.


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.