LEWISTON, ID – Idaho State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth today kicked off National Unclaimed Property Month. Each year, the Idaho State Treasurer’s Office’s Unclaimed Property Division receives millions of dollars in unclaimed money and property from businesses and organizations that have lost contact with the owners. The State of Idaho is responsible for safeguarding the money until claimed by the rightful owners or heirs. By law, businesses must attempt to contact the owner of the money in an effort to return it. If the owner doesn’t respond to the business, the money is considered abandoned. Businesses and organizations must review their records for unclaimed money and report the money annually to Unclaimed Property.
Along with money, banks and financial institutions send the Unclaimed Property Division contents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned.
Ellsworth told KOZE News the Unclaimed Property Division has contents from over 2,300 safe deposit boxes which have been collected from banks. Those contents include items like jewelry, photos, legal documents, collectables, or stocks and bonds.
One of the main reasons these safe deposit boxes are abandoned is because the owner of the box is deceased and the family had no knowledge of the box’s existence. At that point, the contents are bagged up and labeled, kept in a secure location within the bank for five years, and then sent to the Unclaimed Property Division where the employees work to reunite the contents with either the original owner, or relatives of someone that is deceased.
Ellsworth says the process of claiming the property has become simple across the United States.
Even if you haven’t owned a safe deposit box in Idaho, one of your family members might have opened one to keep something important or sentimental to them safe. Relatives of someone who is deceased may be entitled to the contents within the safe deposit box.
Be sure to check YOURMONEY.IDAHO.GOV to find out how to search our database to see if you or someone you know has claimable property.
Ellsworth adds that in Idaho it is illegal for anyone to charge you to find unclaimed property.
For Washington State residents, the Department of Revenue handles unclaimed property. Learn more at: https://ucp.dor.wa.gov/. For a national search, visit: https://unclaimed.org/search/.
