The Florida Department of Financial Services, the Unclaimed Property Division, announced that more than $44 million in unclaimed property had been returned to Florida resident in March.
Unclaimed property is a financial asset that has been unknown, lost, invalid, unclaimed, or abandoned by its owner. The most common types of unclaimed property are dormant bank accounts, unclaimed insurance, stocks, dividends, undiscarded checks, deposits, credit balances, and refunds.
The unclaimed property also includes content from the financial institution’s abandoned safe deposit box. Unclaimed real estate assets are held for a period of time set by the business or governmental agency (holder) for a period of five years. If the owner cannot be found, contact with the owner is reestablished and if the assets cannot be returned, it will be reported and remitted to the Florida Financial Services Department of the property department.
Florida law says that in order to find an owner, you need any business (holder of unclaimed property). Still, if their attempt fails, they report the property and owner’s name, last known address, and other information to the department. The department acts as a custodian for Florida, but does not acquire legal ownership of the property. The state uses a variety of methods, including database searches, to notify owners. Citizens are entitled to claim their property at any time, no matter what amount.
Before the money is charged, it is deposited in the State School Fund and used to support public schools. However, the owner or his/her heir may at any time claim the original amount reported for free.
If your personal claim is successful, it can take up to 90 days for the claim to be completed. With the large amount of claims received by the department, the state says it will get all the necessary documents and fill out the form correctly. If you experience slight errors when filling out the form, we may delay processing your claim.
For more information about possible claims, please visit fltreasurehunt.gov.
