To find and claim inheritance money, pull together the deceased person’s identifying documents, search the free state and federal databases that hold unclaimed assets, then file a claim with proof of death and proof that you have legal authority to receive the property. Billions of dollars sit in government accounts waiting for rightful owners, much of it belonging to relatives who never knew the assets existed. Financial institutions turn dormant accounts over to state authorities after a period of inactivity, typically three to five years depending on the state and account type.1National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA). Property Type – All The work is mostly free and mostly online; the hard part is having the right paperwork before you start.
Gather the Decedent’s Records First
Before you touch a search engine, pull together every identifying detail you can find. You need the full legal name, including maiden names, former married names, and nicknames that may appear on old accounts. Accounts get filed under previous legal names all the time, and a search under only the most recent name will miss them.
The Social Security number is the single most useful identifier. State agencies and financial institutions use it to match dormant accounts to their rightful owners, and without it, verifying your claim becomes much harder. Look for it on old tax returns, military discharge papers (DD-214), Social Security cards, or Medicare correspondence.
A certified death certificate is your primary proof that the person has died and that their estate may be owed money. Contact the vital records office in the jurisdiction where the death occurred. Fees and processing times vary by state, and a certified copy generally runs $10 to $30. Order several. Nearly every agency and insurer you deal with will want an original.
Beyond these basics, collect anything that shows where the person lived, worked, and banked: old utility bills, pay stubs, brokerage statements, tax returns, safe deposit box keys, and insurance policy numbers. The more addresses and employer names you have, the more thoroughly you can search.
Search State Unclaimed Property Databases
State governments hold the vast majority of unclaimed assets: dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, forgotten stock dividends, and proceeds from auctioned safe deposit box contents. Every state runs an unclaimed property program, and in most states the funds are held indefinitely, so your right to claim never expires.
The fastest way to search multiple states at once is MissingMoney.com, a free site managed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA).2National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA). National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators A search requires a last name and state; you can add a first name and city to narrow results.3MissingMoney.com. Claim Search Most states participate, but not all. If you know the person lived in a specific state, also search that state’s own unclaimed property website directly. Links to every state program are at unclaimed.org.
Run the search under every plausible name variation: maiden names, initials, common misspellings, hyphenated versions. Errors in original bank records are common, and a match sometimes only appears after you try phonetic variations of the surname. Search every state where the person lived, worked, or did business. An old utility deposit in a state they left decades ago is exactly the kind of thing that ends up in these databases.
If your relative had a safe deposit box that went unclaimed, its contents were likely sold at state auction after a waiting period of two years or more, with the cash proceeds held for heirs. Those proceeds show up in the same state database, sometimes labeled “safe deposit box contents” and sometimes just as a dollar amount.
Federal Databases Worth Checking
Savings Bonds
Savings bonds that were never cashed are now handled through state unclaimed property programs. The Treasury Department’s Treasury Hunt tool was retired on September 30, 2025, and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service transferred unclaimed bond records to individual states.4TreasuryDirect. Treasury Hunt Search your state’s unclaimed property site with the decedent’s full legal name, last known address, and any bond documentation you can find.
Unclaimed IRS Tax Refunds
A deceased person may have an unfiled return with a refund owed, or a refund check that was never cashed. The IRS gives you three years from the original filing deadline to claim a refund. After that, the money is forfeited permanently.5Internal Revenue Service. Time You Can Claim a Credit or Refund To claim a deceased person’s refund, file their final return and attach IRS Form 1310, Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer.6Internal Revenue Service. Form 1310 A court-appointed personal representative must include a copy of the court certificate. Other claimants complete the form’s verification section and keep a copy of the death certificate in case the IRS asks for it.
The three-year deadline makes this one of the few areas in unclaimed property where delay can cost you everything. If you find unfiled returns in the decedent’s papers, prioritize this over other searches.
Veterans’ Insurance Funds
The Department of Veterans Affairs holds unclaimed insurance funds, including death benefits, dividend checks, and premium refunds, that could not be delivered to policyholders or their beneficiaries. The VA’s Unclaimed Funds Search covers government life insurance programs such as National Service Life Insurance and Veterans Special Life Insurance, and you only need the veteran’s last name to search.7Veterans Affairs. Unclaimed Funds Search The tool does not cover Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) or Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI) policies from 1965 onward. For those, contact the Office of Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance directly.
Life Insurance Policies
Life insurance benefits often go unpaid because the insurer doesn’t know the policyholder has died, or can’t find the beneficiaries. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) runs a free Life Insurance Policy Locator that sends your request to participating insurers nationwide.8National Association of Insurance Commissioners. NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator Helps Consumers Find Lost Life Insurance Benefits Submit the decedent’s Social Security number, legal name, date of birth, date of death, and veteran status through the NAIC’s online portal.9National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Learn How to Use the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator If a matching policy is found and you are the listed beneficiary, the insurance company contacts you directly, typically within 90 days. If no policy is found or you aren’t the beneficiary, you won’t hear anything back.
When the original insurer has gone out of business, the policy isn’t necessarily worthless. State life and health insurance guaranty associations cover policyholders of insolvent insurers up to certain dollar limits. Contact your state’s guaranty association or insurance department to find out how to file a claim against the liquidated estate.
Unclaimed Pensions
Private pensions go unclaimed more often than people realize, especially when companies merge, relocate, or shut down. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) maintains a searchable database of unclaimed benefits from terminated defined benefit pension plans.10Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Find Unclaimed Retirement Benefits You need the person’s last name and the last four digits of their Social Security number to search. If you find old pay stubs or benefits statements referencing a pension plan from a company that no longer exists, the PBGC search is the right starting point. The Department of Labor also keeps records that can help trace a plan transferred to another company rather than terminated.11U.S. Department of Labor. Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
Prove Your Legal Right to Claim
Finding the money is half the job. You also have to show you’re legally entitled to it, and what that requires depends on whether there’s a will, whether probate has been opened, and how large the estate is.
When There Is a Will
If the deceased left a will, the executor named in the document has legal authority to collect assets on behalf of the estate. The will typically goes through probate, where a court validates it and grants the executor formal authority, called letters testamentary, to act. Most unclaimed property agencies and financial institutions accept these court-issued letters as proof of standing.
When There Is No Will
Without a will, state intestate succession laws decide who inherits. The general order of priority runs surviving spouse first, then children, parents, siblings, and more distant relatives. Unmarried partners, friends, and charities typically inherit nothing under intestate rules. A court appoints an administrator to handle the estate, and that person receives letters of administration to present when claiming assets.
Small Estate Affidavits
For modest estates, most states offer a shortcut called a small estate affidavit. It lets you claim property without opening a full probate case as long as the estate’s total value falls below the state’s threshold. Limits vary widely, commonly ranging from roughly $20,000 to over $150,000. You typically have to wait at least 30 to 45 days after the death before using this process, and it generally covers only personal property such as bank accounts and stocks, not real estate. If the unclaimed property you’ve found is modest, ask the holding agency whether a small estate affidavit is enough. It can save months.
File the Claim and Get Paid
Once you’ve located an asset and gathered your legal documents, the actual process depends on which agency holds the property. Most state unclaimed property programs let you file online, uploading scanned copies of your government-issued ID, the death certificate, and proof of your legal authority (letters testamentary, letters of administration, or a small estate affidavit). Some agencies also want proof connecting the decedent to the address on file, which old utility bills, tax returns, or bank statements can supply.
Higher-value claims often get extra scrutiny. Some agencies require notarized claim forms mailed physically, particularly for amounts above a few thousand dollars. Notary fees are generally modest, capped between $2 and $15 per signature for in-person notarization in most states, though remote online notarization can run up to $25 or $30.
Processing times vary. Simple claims with clean documentation sometimes pay out within a month, but complex cases involving multiple heirs, incomplete records, or high dollar amounts can take six months or longer. If the agency asks for more documentation, respond quickly. Delays in providing what they need are the most common reason claims stall.
Approved claims are paid by check or direct deposit. If the property earned interest while sitting in the state treasury, some states include that interest in the payout and others do not. A handful of states withhold taxes on the interest portion for certain claimants, particularly non-resident aliens.
Tax Consequences of What You Receive
Claiming inherited money rarely creates a federal income tax bill, but a few things are worth knowing.
For 2026, the federal estate tax exemption is $15,000,000 per decedent.12Internal Revenue Service. Whats New – Estate and Gift Tax Estates below that owe no federal estate tax, so most families never encounter it. Even when it does apply, the estate pays it before assets are distributed; you don’t personally owe it as an heir.
About 17 states and Washington, D.C., impose their own estate or inheritance tax, often with much lower exemption thresholds than the federal level. A few states tax inheritances based on the recipient’s relationship to the deceased, exempting spouses and children while charging more distant relatives or non-family beneficiaries. Check whether the state where the decedent lived, or where property is located, imposes one of these taxes.
Most inherited property receives a stepped-up basis, meaning its value for capital gains purposes resets to fair market value on the date of death. If you inherit stock the decedent bought for $10,000 that was worth $50,000 when they died, your basis is $50,000, and you owe no capital gains tax unless it appreciates beyond that after you inherit it. Cash in a bank account or an uncashed check has no capital gains implications; you simply receive it. Life insurance proceeds paid to a named beneficiary are generally not taxable income.
Watch for Scams and Overpriced Finders
The unclaimed property space attracts scammers and middlemen who charge for work you can do yourself. A few warning signs:
- Upfront fees. Legitimate state unclaimed property programs are free to search and free to file a claim. Anyone asking for payment before they search is either a scammer or an unnecessary expense.
- Urgency and pressure. Messages warning that time is running out to claim an inheritance are almost always fraudulent. In most states, there is no deadline to claim unclaimed property.
- Unsolicited contact from “estate attorneys.” Emails or letters claiming to represent a deceased person you’ve never heard of, especially ones promising large sums, are a classic phishing tactic.
- Requests for personal financial information. No legitimate unclaimed property agency will ask for your bank account or credit card number during a search.
Private asset recovery companies, sometimes called heir finders, are a gray area. Some are legitimate businesses that locate unclaimed property and contact potential heirs, taking a percentage of what they recover. Many states cap these fees, commonly around 10% of the property’s value, but the rules vary. Before signing anything, search for the property yourself at MissingMoney.com and on your state’s unclaimed property site. Anything a finder can locate, you can usually find in about ten minutes for free. The only case where a finder adds real value is one where they’ve identified property you had no way of knowing about, and even then the fee is negotiable.