Unclaimed Property Recovery

Unclaimed Property Recovery

Unclaimed Property Recovery

What is Unclaimed Property?

What is unclaimed property?  If you received a letter from us letting you know the Pennsylvania Treasury has unclaimed property for you, it can be due to a number of reasons.  Here are the most common scenarios:

  1. You worked at a job and did not pick up your last paycheck, or for some reason, failed to cash one or more paychecks.
  2. You owned a life insurance policy from Prudential, MetLife, John Hancock, or other smaller companies and it demutualized, paying you a benefit in shares of stock in the new stock insurance company and/or cash, and you moved and didn’t update your address.  
  3. You had an old bank account or mutual fund that you forgot about and it went dormant after a period of inactivity.
  4. Your parents, grandparents, aunt, or uncle opened a custodial bank or mutual fund account for you when you were a kid and it was forgotten about. 
  5. You were the beneficiary of a life insurance policy and either did not know, or for some reason, never cashed the check when it paid out a death benefit.
  6. You had an auto or home insurance claim, and for some reason, never cashed the check.

Owner Claims, Heir Claims, and Company Claims

You can file a claim for unclaimed property if you are:

  1. The original owner of the funds
  2. An heir of a deceased owner of the funds. Pennsylvania recognizes two ways to claim funds that were owned by an individual that was deceased:
    • If you are the surviving spouse, child, parent, or sibling of the decedent, the property amount is under $11,000, and the original estate was opened more than five years ago, Pennsylvania allows you to apply directly as an heir and bypass the estate by filing an affidavit.  Preference is given in the order of surviving spouse, child, parent, and then sibling.
    • If you are not the surviving spouse, child, parent, or sibling of the decedent, or if the property amount is over $11,000, or if the original estate was opened less than five years ago, Pennsylvania requires you to apply through the estate.  The executor or administrator must apply and submit a short certificate from the county Register of Wills or similar office where the original estate was probated.
  3. The or officer of a business that owns the funds, in the event the funds are titled to a company name.