Have you checked to see if your state has property belonging to you? If not, do so at least annually. The State of Georgia, and all states, have an unclaimed property department. Unclaimed property is given to the state for holding when a company or person has property that belongs to another, but cannot locate that person to give her the property.
This often occurs when you own stock in a company, or have a deposit at a bank, and merely forget about it. You move on in life, move to a new address, and the person holding your property can no longer find you. That company is under no obligation to spend its funds searching for you. When this occurs, companies can give your property to the state with the identifying information it has about you.
The State of Georgia holds unclaimed property for 5 years. If, after 5 years, you have not claimed the property, it then belongs to the state (escheats to the state). To find out whether you have any property being held by Georgia or any state where you once lived, go to https://www.unclaimed.org/ . This website is The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administration. Once on the website, you can choose from the 50 states to contact that state directly. You then search using your name in each state where you maintained an address in the past five years. Because many people share your name, you will then be requested to enter additional identifying information so the system can determine whether this property belongs to you or another person with your same name. Once you have confirmed with the state you are the owner of this property, the state will turn the property over to you.
Everyone should check the unclaimed property website annually for any state in which you have lived within the past five years.
