Arizona Unclaimed Funds

There is currently over $2.4 billion being held in Arizona unclaimed funds!

Unclaimed funds are financial assets owed to an individual or business.  Funds are considered unclaimed when there has been no owner contact for a specified period of time.  The time period is usually 1 to 3 years.

There are over one million individuals owed these unclaimed funds.

If you have lived there, there is a one in seven chance that Arizona unclaimed money belongs to you.

Unclaimed Funds consist of:

• Utility deposits
• Safe deposit box contents
• Savings accounts
• Checking accounts
• Royalties
• Certificates of deposits
• Stocks and bonds

and many other types of property.

Funds go unclaimed for a variety of reasons including:

• Forgetting you put a utility deposit on an apartment or house
• Not claiming a final paycheck
• Not knowing about an inheritance
• Forgetting about a savings or checking account
• Not collecting an insurance payment

The list of reasons for funds going unclaimed is almost limitless.

Arizona is considered a “custodial state”.  It holds unclaimed funds on behalf of owners of abandoned or lost assets.  Unclaimed funds are reported to Arizona when the owner’s last known address is located in the state.  The Arizona Department of Revenue is responsible for finding owners of unclaimed funds that have been turned over to the state.

The dormancy period, or amount of time that money goes unclaimed before it has to be turned over to the state, varies depending on the type of property that it is.

The property types and time period that they are considered abandoned in Arizona are listed below.

Property Type	Abandonment period
Traveler’s check	3 years
Money order or similar written instrument	3 years
Any stock or other equity interest in a business association or financial organization	2 years
The principal on debt of a business association or financial organization	2 years
A demand, savings or time deposit and any interest or dividends	3 years
Credits owed to a customer as a result of a retail business transaction	3 years
An amount owed by an insurance company on a life or endowment insurance policy or annuity that has matured or terminated	3 years
Policy or annuity that is payable on proof of death	1 year
Proceeds of a life or endowment insurance policy or annuity contract not matured by actual proof of the death of the insured or annuitant according to the company’s records	1 year
Property that is held by a court, government or governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality	2 years
Property in any individual retirement account, defined benefit plan or other account or plan that qualifies for tax deferral under the income tax laws of the United States	2 years
Any amount that is payable on a check, draft or similar instrument on which a financial organization or business association is directly liable, including a cashier’s check and a certified check	3 years
All other property	3 years
Excess proceeds deposited with the county treasurer pursuant to A.R.S. § 33-812	2 years
Any dividend, profit, distribution, interest, redemption, payment on principal or other sum held or owing by a business association for or to its shareholder, certificate holder, member, bond holder or other security holder	2 years

The state of Arizona will return unclaimed funds to owners that provide proof showing their right to claim these funds. 

Each claim that is received is unique and once it is received, the Unclaimed Property Division may need to request additional information to support the claim.  If this is the situation, the Division will contact the claimant by telephone or in writing to explain the additional requirement(s) and will allow the claimant an opportunity to provide the additional evidence instead of just denying the claim.

If the claimant cannot provide the evidence requested, such as something from a former address, it is recommended to complete the claim form and submit evidence that can be provided along with a note explaining the circumstances.  A claims specialist may be able to clarify and assist with the evidence requirement.

To support your claim, you must submit the following evidence:

You must provide a clear copy of your official identification or have the claim form notarized

You must provide proof of your social security number 

You must provide proof that you or the original owner lived or received mail at the address listed on the web site

Examples of address proof include:

• Auto Registration
• Driver’s License
• Birth, Death or Marriage Certificate
• State Income Tax Returns
• Postmarked envelope addressed to you
• Bank or utility statement
• Medicare Card or Insurance Policy
• Credit Report
• School Transcripts
• Court Documents

The below form is used to file a claim for Arizona unclaimed funds.

This form must be completed and included with the documentation listed in Section 3 of the form when filed.

Your claim will be considered invalid if the required documentation is not provided.

Due to established business procedure for processing mail that is received, the Unclaimed Funds Division is unable to honor special requests such as returning original documents.

The Unclaimed Funds Division cannot play claims based on name similarity alone or disclose the type of funds or its value before receiving a completed claim form.

You must provide a clear copy of official photo identification or have your signature on a claim form notarized.

If your name has changed since the property was reported to the State of Arizona, you must provide verification of your name change.  

Providing proof of your social security number is optional.  

However, if you choose not to provide your SSN, it’s very possible that there may be insufficient evidence available to determine if you are the owner of the unclaimed funds being held by the Division.  In some cases, this may result in your claimed being denied. 

If you do provide your SSN, the Division will only disclose this information to its employees involved in paying your claim and to the federal government as required by law.

You must provide proof that you lived at or received mail at the address reported to the State of Arizona as the last known address of the original owner.

If you do not know what address was reported to the State of Arizona, you can call the customer service hotline at (602) 346-0380 or 1 877 492-9957.

Please go to the Arizona unclaimed funds website to do a search for your funds.

You can contact the Arizona unclaimed funds department here:

Email

You can submit your unclaimed funds questions and concerns to the Unclaimed Property Unit via email.

The Arizona Unclaimed Property Unit cannot respond to anything other than general questions over the internet.  

A.R.S. 44-315 prohibits the discloser of confidential information relating to a fund to anyone other than the claimant or relating to reports of unclaimed funds to anyone other than the holder unless specifically mentioned as an exception to that statute.  

Please do not email any personal identification such as your social security number or address.

Claims related questions:

Claims Unit: unclaimedproperty@azdor.gov

Telephone

Claims Related questions:
Phone: (602) 364-0380 / 1-877-492 -9957
Fax: (602) 542-2089

In Person

1600 W Monroe
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2650

Mail

Arizona Department of Revenue
Unclaimed Property Unit
PO Box 29026
Phoenix, AZ 85038-9026

Did you know you can make money finding unclaimed money for other people?

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