This morning on Today I heard mention of a website hosted by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators that contains unclaimed property records for 40 states. It is www.missingmoney.com. It's nice to see the data all in one place versus having to go from one state website to the next. Searches are free and links are provided to the state forms and websites to claim property.
Happy hunting!
Showing posts with label Unclaimed Property Records. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unclaimed Property Records. Show all posts
Friday, April 4, 2008
Saturday, December 15, 2007
How my family research really paid off...in $$$
Shortly after I started my research, I was searching the New York State unclaimed property records and found a listing for a C. Israel Lutsky. This was my great grand uncle. He had his own show on Yiddish radio from the 1930s to the 1960s called The Jewish Philosopher. He lived on Central Park West so we knew he made a pretty good living. I got excited that this could be some kind of windfall. I called the state for more information and they told me it was life insurance proceeds and gave me the contact information for the insurance company. When I called the insurance company I was told that it was about $460 (so much for the windfall) and that it was the type of property they could send to me directly vs my having to go through the state. They would get the money back from the state. All I had to do was prove the relationship.
I sent them a copy of my birth certificate showing my father's name. My father's birth certificate showing his mother's name, Ida Lutsky. Her birth certificate showing her father's name, Louis Lutsky. I also sent my ggf Solomon Lutsky's US naturalization papers showing a list of his children which included Louis (my great-grandfather) and Israel. This was proof enough. The check arrived a few weeks later, the day before I was driving to NY for Thanksgiving. I deposited the check and made out 4 new checks, 1 for my dad and 3 for his brother & sisters. When I gave them the checks it was exciting. Not a lot of money but still fun. My Aunt Linda was in tears. She was very close to Uncle Israel so it meant a lot to her.
I had also found some smaller bank account balances for other members of the family who were still living. I sent them the information and they were able to claim the money.
I sent them a copy of my birth certificate showing my father's name. My father's birth certificate showing his mother's name, Ida Lutsky. Her birth certificate showing her father's name, Louis Lutsky. I also sent my ggf Solomon Lutsky's US naturalization papers showing a list of his children which included Louis (my great-grandfather) and Israel. This was proof enough. The check arrived a few weeks later, the day before I was driving to NY for Thanksgiving. I deposited the check and made out 4 new checks, 1 for my dad and 3 for his brother & sisters. When I gave them the checks it was exciting. Not a lot of money but still fun. My Aunt Linda was in tears. She was very close to Uncle Israel so it meant a lot to her.
I had also found some smaller bank account balances for other members of the family who were still living. I sent them the information and they were able to claim the money.
Unclaimed property records
One source of information about your family that many researchers don't know about or overlook are the unclaimed property records. When a bank or business has unclaimed funds such as account balances, paychecks, safe deposit box contents, and insurance refunds and proceeds, they are required to send the money/property to the state after a required holding period. All of the states have searchable online databases so people can check to see if any of the money/property belongs to them. I search these databases occasionally looking for old accounts family members may have left behind. Thanks to our research, it's usually easy to prove ownership of the property, or at least that you're related to the owner.
For more information, see http://unclaimed.org/mainframe.asp?VisitorType=owner
Unclaimed property records are not maintained by the same agency for every state. You can also go to the state home page and just search for "unclaimed property" to get to the correct agency. Don't wait too long. A lot of states are only required to hold property for a few years. After that time passes, the cash belongs to the state and the property can be sold (I think Texas sells property, e.g. jewelry, on ebay).
For more information, see http://unclaimed.org/mainframe.asp?VisitorType=owner
Unclaimed property records are not maintained by the same agency for every state. You can also go to the state home page and just search for "unclaimed property" to get to the correct agency. Don't wait too long. A lot of states are only required to hold property for a few years. After that time passes, the cash belongs to the state and the property can be sold (I think Texas sells property, e.g. jewelry, on ebay).
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