Unclaimed Money In Washington State

Unclaimed money in Washington State amounts to $700 million and it continues to be on the rise. Factors that contribute to this is the difficulty of the state to locate its rightful owners, lack of information dissemination or simply lack of belief in the system.

The Washington State Department of Revenue website defines unclaimed property as any lost financial asset that may come in the form of uncashed payroll, abandoned bank accounts, utility and phone company deposits, insurance proceeds, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, traveler’s checks and contents of the safe deposit box. Under Washington’s State Law, financial institutions and other agencies entrusted with financial transactions are obliged to remit all unclaimed property to the state within 3-5 years.

The Washington’s State’s Unclaimed Property Law states: “State law protects unclaimed property until it can be returned. There is no time limit for filing a claim and rightful owners or their heirs can claim property reported since 1955. The state may auction the content of safe deposit boxes, however, if not claimed within five years.”

Unclaimed money in Washington State becomes accumulated when there are errors in the paperwork, misspelled first or last names, or the owner forgets to forward an address once he changes his place of work or residence. Sometimes a married person forgets to inform companies of his or her change in last name, or they simply lost track of their financial accounts. There are also those who do not want to go through the hassle of finding their unclaimed property in Washington State.

Unclaimed money in Washington State is made easier by means of a system. In fact, Washington was the first to take the initiative to have a system for tracking down lost financial assets. It started the so called ‘Unclaimed Property E-Claim System’. This way, tracking down the owners is lot easier and faster.

It is a fact that Washington is home to many large companies and online companies. These companies may serve as media or means of searching the rightful owners. Unclaimed money in Washington accumulates to around $55 to $60 million on lost financial assets. Find ways to search and how to legally claim your dormant property. Learn how to track down money that is rightfully yours and you may just be in for a big surprise!