Alaska Unclaimed Funds

There is currently over $84,000,000 being held in Alaska unclaimed funds.

Unclaimed funds are any intangible amount owed or held by an organization that remains unpaid, uncashed or has no evidence of owner activity for an extended period of time.

Unclaimed funds include, but are not limited to:

• stocks
• bonds
• mutual funds
• bank accounts
• uncashed payroll checks
• utility deposits
• traveler’s checks
• deposit box contents

…the list goes on and on.

Funds can become unclaimed for a variety of reasons including not closing an account, not collecting a final paycheck, not collecting a utility deposit before you move and a host of other reasons too many to mention.

The current unclaimed funds list has over 170,000 people on it.

That is relatively small as far as the state unclaimed money lists are concerned, however, Alaska ranks 47th in population behind North Dakota, Vermont, and Wymoing, so you can understand why they might not have as many people on their list as other states.

Alaska has an unclaimed property act, (AS 34.45) that requires businesses (both profit and non-profit) as well as governmental agencies to file unclaimed money reports with the Department of Revenue.

Alaska has dormancy periods which let companies know how long they can hold onto funds before turning it over to the state.  Most property in Alaska is considered unclaimed after three years.

The following are abandonment periods for property commonly reported under the unclaimed property program:

• Safe deposit box contents – 1 year
• Utility deposits – 1 year
• Wages – 1 year
• Life insurance proceeds – 3 years
• Customer overpayments – 3 years
• Savings/Checking accounts – 5 years
• Stocks and Bonds – 5 years
• Travelers Checks – 15 years

This is only a partial list as there are many types of property turned over to the department of revenue. For more information on reporting unclaimed money and Alaska unclaimed money in general please go to the official Alaska unclaimed money website.

The State of Alaska does not charge a fee to return unclaimed funds. It is very easy to search for unclaimed property for yourself, family, and friends.

To see if the State is holding money for you, you can go here, AK Unclaimed Property  , and conduct a free search.

If you see your name and can verify the address as your current or former address, you can file a claim online through the website.  You will need to provide documentation to prove ownership.

Only the actual owner, heir, or court appointed representative can file a claim for the unclaimed funds. If you are not sure if the funds belong to you, you can write down the Property ID number and email it to the States unclaimed funds division at ucproperty@alaska.gov

The Unclaimed Funds Office responds to inquiries as quickly as possible.  You should allow several days for the office to respond to your email or telephone call.

If you find funds that you feel belong to you, you can file a claim electronically.  Again, you can go to AK Unclaimed Property to do a search and then file a claim if you find funds that you feel belong to you.

The time for a claim to be paid varies depending on a variety of factors including the number of property ID’s involved, the property typed and amount as well as the information about the claimant and the state’s ability to validate and document all of the information provided in a claim.

There are times when claimants, at no fault of their own, submit false claims because they have a similar name.  Or, they have relatives with a similar name that on the Property ID.  That is why the State is required to establish and document facts that the claimant is entitled to the funds being held.

The State of Alaska takes ownership determination very seriously and works very hard to protect unclaimed funds from fraudulent claims.  The State processes claims as quickly as possible.  However, there currently is a backlog of pending claims.

This is because the unclaimed funds division is very small.  So, they do appreciate your patience.  You should allow at least several weeks to review your claim.  You can improve your claims processing time by quickly responding to any requests for additional information or documentation.  The State will only request additional information when it is deemed necessary.   This helps to protect against fraudulent claims, which is very important.

If additional documentation is required to support payment of a claim, the State will request it in an email or a letter.  You will have 90 days to respond to that request.  Any claim where a claimant has not responded to this request for documentation withing this 90 day period will be dropped from their claim tracking system.  If you still want to pursue a claim, you will need to start all over.  You can upload claim documentation here AK Unclaimed Property

Document Submission Requirements:

• Uploads must be either a standard PDF, TIF, PNG or JPG file type.
• Individual files must not exceed 10MB.
• Individual files must be greater than 1 byte.
• Uploaded file names must not exceed 100 characters and must only contain letters, numbers, dashes and underscores.
• Documents must not be password protected.
• Before uploading your image, please make sure the image is cropped to fit the document. Any non-essential portion of the image such as a white background from a scanner should be trimmed away.
• Certain claims require original documents in order to process and therefore cannot be uploaded to the website. Please refer to your claim form to determine if your claim requires original documentation. If you are unsure, please contact us.

When you submit a claim, your claim is assigned a Claim ID number.  You can use that number to check the status of your claim at any time.  The Claim ID number and status link are identified in your confirmation email and must be used to check the status of your claim.   You can check the status of your claim here .  If you cannot access your claim there, you can send an email to check the status at ucproperty@alaska.gov

It’s possible that sometimes when you want to check the site, you are unable to connect.  This happens due to occasional outages occurring or planned maintenance windows,  and/or unforeseen circumstances beyond the States control.  If that is the case, you can revisit the site after an hour and the outage should be resolved.  If there appears to be an extended outage or if an outage occurs during business hours, it is best to email the State at  ucproperty@alaska.gov

You can contact Alaska’s unclaimed funds division here:

Phone: (907) 465-3726

844-AKCASH1 (844-255-2741)
Fax: (907) 465-2394

Mailing Address

Alaska Department of Revenue
Treasury Division
Unclaimed Property Program
PO Box 110405
Juneau, AK 99811-0405

Physical/Overnight Delivery

Alaska Department of Revenue
Treasury Division
Unclaimed Property Program
333 Willoughby Avenue
11th Floor State Office Building
Juneau AK 99801-1770

Did you know that there is a little known business where you can actually get paid to find unclaimed money for other people?

Unclaimed money finders search for people that have money being held for them and help them claim it. In return they charge a fee for their service, which is a percentage of the amount that they have recovered. It’s a very easy business that not too many people know about.

If you would like to learn more about it, please click here.