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Accounts – Abandoned or Unclaimed, The Escheatment Process

All states require financial institutions, including brokerage firms, to report when personal property has been abandoned or unclaimed after a specified period of time. Before a brokerage account can be considered abandoned or unclaimed, the firm must make a diligent effort to try to locate the account owner. If the firm is unable to do so, and the account has remained inactive for the period of time specified by state law, the firm must report the account to the state where the account is held. The state then claims the account through a process called "escheatment."

As part of the escheatment process, the state will hold the account indefinitely for the rightful owner to claim. Some states may sell securities in the account and hold the proceeds for the owner. There are several websites, including commercial ones, where you can search for unclaimed property. One non-commercial site, the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, allows you to search by individual state.

States have their own requirements for finding and claiming unclaimed property. If you believe you have unclaimed property, the state will require you to send them information about yourself to verify your ownership of the unclaimed property. After verifying your ownership, the state will either mail you a claim form or permit you to fill out the form online and print it for submission to the state.

Source: Securities and Exchange Commission

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