Unclaimed property consists of many types of intangible and tangible properties that have remained unclaimed by its rightful owner for a specific period of time. The abandonment period for each type of property is defined by New Jersey's Unclaimed Property Statute.

Unclaimed Property statutes were established to protect property owners from businesses, banks, and other financial institutions taking ownership of stale property in the owner’s name.

It is common that in the normal course of business that individuals or businesses lose track of either checks that were issued to them or bank holdings. State Unclaimed Property laws define abandonment periods for these different types of property. Once property reaches the defined abandonment period with no activity the Holder of this property will turn the property over to the State.

No, after property is escheated to the State the reported property owner never relinquishes ownership. If property is not claimed it remains in the Unclaimed Property Trust Fund in perpetuity or until a valid claim is submitted and processed.

The UPA has an Outreach section whose entire purpose is reuniting abandoned property with their owners through various outreach initiatives. These initiatives include mass mailings, media campaigns, and their presence at state fairs, community centers, and other public locations throughout the year. The UPA also advertises newly abandoned property in newspapers throughout the state twice a year and subscribes a searchable web application that accepts online claim submissions, missingmoney.com

Any data requests must be submitted through the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). An OPRA request can be filed through the state’s OPRA web site. It should be noted that per State Statute (N.J.S.A. 46:30B-76.1) the UPA is only permitted to release the name and reported address of property owners.

A search can be completed by going to the web page missingmoney.com and following the instructions for locating property.

Yes! The State of New Jersey’s Unclaimed Property Administration (UPA) works securely with missingmoney.com on a daily basis to help reunite property owners with lost or abandoned property. Please have complete confidence when searching for property and when providing the personal information needed to submit a claim. The UPA is NOT affiliated with any other web site.

If the property you located on missingmoney.com lists an address that was a previous residence of yours then it is likely property belonging to you. If the address listed is not one of your previous addresses then it does not belong to you. When submitting a claim on property that was a previous address you will be required to provide proof you resided at the address.

State Unclaimed Property Statutes dictate what information is considered confidential. NJ statutes only list the name and address of property owners as public information.

The only situation where someone can file a claim on property that is not in their name is when the claimant has the legal right to do so. Examples include someone who is the executor or executrix of an estate, someone holding a Power of Attorney over the property owner, or someone who has a ‘letter of guardianship’ for the property owner.

Please follow the instructions on the www.missingmoney.com web site.

If you submitted an electronic claim through missingmoney.com nothing further is needed at this time. Upon the UPA’s review of your claim, you will be sent a claim packet which details the unclaimed property being held as well as a request for documentation to establish ownership/identity. Please read the packet carefully, fill out completely, and follow any instructions that are provided.

The only way to learn the property(s) value is to formally file a claim on the property(s). When the UPA reviews the claim submission and determines that it is valid, a claim packet will be issued to the claimant. The packet will include all the property(s) details including dollar value and origin.

After a claim is submitted to the Unclaimed Property Administration (UPA), the UPA issues a claim packet detailing the property you’re attempting to claim. Proving ownership can be established by providing our office with the detailed documentation that is requested in your claim packet.

The claimant’s SSN is required for two reasons. First, the Unclaimed Property Administration (UPA) uses a claimant’s SSN to help determine if the claimant is the rightful owner of the property. Second, the UPA pays interest on all resulting claims. The interest we pay is reportable to the IRS as interest income therefore we issue IRS 1099INT forms to all claimants with greater than $10 in earned interest.

Yes! Interest is calculated starting from the date the property was escheated to the Unclaimed Property Administration (UPA) and ending on the date the UPA approves the return of the property to the rightful owner(s).

Interest is calculated starting from the date the property was escheated to the Unclaimed Property Administration (UPA) and ending on the date the UPA approves the return of the property to the rightful owner(s). The interest rate the UPA applies to calculate interest is derived from the NJ Division of Investment’s ‘Rate of Return’ schedule.

If you saw your name in one of our semi-annual newspaper advertisements you should follow the guidance provided at the end of the advertisement.

If your name was in one of our newspaper advertisements you can go to missingmoney.com and search property using the exact spelling the name was listed in the paper and you’ll find the property. You can file a claim electronically on missingmoney.com web site.

The New Jersey Unclaimed Property Administration (UPA) utilizes an authentication process at the point a claim is submitted. This process takes the property detail information the UPA has along with the information that is provided by the claimant and determines if the claim can be streamlined to the payment process. Factors that determine eligibility are dollar value, address validation, and/or if the claimant is the reported owner.

The Unclaimed Property Administration (UPA) pays interest on property. The difference between your check amount and the amount listed in the letter or claim packet is the interest your property earned while in the UPA’s safekeeping.

When submitting a claim on property where the listed property owner is not you, you should provide the property owner’s SSN/FEIN. Be sure to also select the appropriate claimant type (executor, guardian, heir, etc.).

Missingmoney.com removes property records from their web site after a claim is submitted in an attempt to eliminate duplicate claim submissions. Duplicates can result in longer claim processing times.

No, the Unclaimed Property office is not open to the public. Furthermore, checks are not produced in our office so we DO NOT have the ability to cut and issue checks.

When a ‘due diligence’ letter is issued by a financial institution and the letter provides a date that the recipient has to respond by, that date is NOT the date the funds are escheated to New Jersey. The reporting deadline for personal property is October 31st covering the previous reporting cycle (July 1st thru June 30th). Therefore most property is not received until on or around that deadline. Please contact the financial institution for this property if it is before the deadline.

Due to the high volume of reports received around the reporting deadline it does take some time to get the resulting properties added to missingmoney.com. If you received a due diligence letter and it is after the reporting deadline you should write a letter that includes your name, current home address, the home address on the due diligence letter (if different than the current address), email address, phone number(s), and a copy of the due diligence letter.

Please mail this information to:
State of New Jersey
Unclaimed Property Administration
P.O. Box 214
Trenton, NJ 08695-0214
ATTN: Claim Section

An heir finder/locator is an individual or business who acts as an agent in recovering lost or abandoned funds to New Jersey. Please review state statute N.J.S.A. 46:30B-106 or consult an attorney for further guidance. Once property is escheated to New Jersey the UPA charges no fees for the processing and recovering of property.