California Unclaimed Assets

California unclaimed assets have accumulated almost $6 billion dollars comprised of 11 million dormant assets and financial instruments unclaimed by its rightful owners. About $300 million dollars are being filled within the coffers of the government through many forms of unclaimed property.

Under Californian law, unclaimed property or escheat goes into the custody of the treasury department until the rightful owners show up and make their respective claims. California unclaimed assets can be anything from gift certificates, forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks and money orders, mineral deposits or unclaimed tax refunds. Failure to redeem these unclaimed assets within three years will result to the forfeiture of these funds in favor of the state.

It is important to claim lost money in California since it is first of all rightfully yours! Sweat, tears and even fair labor contributed to these deposits, and to allow it to just go to the State’s hands does not make sense. Generally, California unclaimed assets go to the general fund of the state. Before the expiration of the prescription period provided for under state laws, the governmental agency must first exert all necessary means to locate the rightful owner before making the claim for the state’s fund following the Regalian doctrine.

California unclaimed assets have been controversial and have placed its officials under fire. Being highly criticized for their non-action, California tops the chart for most number of unclaimed properties in the past years. Who would believe that people such as Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Zsa Zsa Gabor and many other celebrities would be difficult to locate? In other words, it seemed that the state have turned California unclaimed assets in a money making scheme to cover up for budget deficiencies amounting to billions of dollars.

Because of the criticism, California has sent out memos for the rightful owners. The internet is also brimming with information regarding those who may have claims with the state. California unclaimed assets can be searched on the cyberspace since it is connected to the various agencies have databases consisting of names of those with unclaimed assets in California. Newspapers of general circulation can also help since the government has also published these names to serve as notifications.