When a business owes money to an individual or organization it cannot find, it remits those funds to the Unclaimed Property Division after three years of non-contact with the owner.
Unclaimed property comes from sources like dormant bank accounts, overpaid medical bills, uncashed checks, safe deposit box contents, and unpaid insurance benefits.
Rightful owners or heirs can claim their property in perpetuity, meaning if they find property belonging to them or a deceased relative, they are able to claim it no matter how much time has passed. In any case where there is more than one heir, the heirs can each claim their portion of the property.
The Unclaimed Property Division received another $77.2 million (496,880 properties) in unclaimed property in 2022.
The Unclaimed Property Division has returned more than $396 million in unclaimed property since its inception. The includes the 36,821 properties totaling $30.6 million reunited with rightful owners in 2022.
Maro Oaks, Treasurer for the State of Utah says, "Last year, we shifted our efforts to reunite unclaimed money with rightful owners in Utah's most economically depressed communities where the money could make the biggest difference. As a result, we reunited lost money with more Utahns than ever before, including those who needed it the most during these challenging economic times."
He explained that Property Amendments, was signed into law this year. It allows Tax Commission data to be securely matched with Unclaimed Property data to verify an owner's identity and current address. This enables the division to automatically mail a check to residents who are owed less than $2,000 without requiring them to file a claim. We estimate that up to $102 million could be automatically returned to rightful owners.
It's easy to check to see if you have any money, just go to mycash.utah.gov.
