On Jan. 31, the United States Treasury proclaimed Unclaimed Property Day, revealing that many American citizens might have millions in cash or property assets sitting unclaimed. 

According to the message, “Over 30 million people in the United States have unclaimed property that they have either forgotten about or never knew was theirs.” The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, a Department of the National Association of State Treasurers, explained that the money could lie in unused rebate cards, uncashed checks, inactive bank accounts, inheritance, dividend checks or even life insurance policy payouts. 

Illinois State Treasurer and NAST president Michael W. Frerichs said there are “any number of reasons” that someone may not know about their own unclaimed assets. 

Thankfully, he cited the NAUPA as an easy way to search for unclaimed assets that you may have through a state-by-state database.

The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators explained that citizens should first use the site by checking for any unclaimed property under their name in states where they’ve lived and then check the nationwide NAUPA database for anything else that may come up.

Although each state chooses how transparent they are in revealing how much unclaimed property is worth, it’s still beneficial as a first step since most US states have no statute of limitations on property claims. 

Additionally, the NAUPA outlined a few scenarios that may have resulted in unclaimed assets. For example, “If you’ve moved a lot, you may have checks that were sent to old addresses and never forwarded. You may have old bank accounts from years ago that you never closed and have forgotten about. You may be entitled to a payout from someone’s life insurance policy or estate and… weren’t notified about it.”