Property type
Stocks, bonds and dividends
Securities, dividend checks, mutual funds — how they become unclaimed and how to find them.
Shares, uncashed dividend checks and mutual-fund balances become unclaimed when the company or its transfer agent loses contact with the owner. In many states the shares themselves are turned over, and some states eventually sell them; if sold, the claim is generally paid in cash at the sale value rather than as shares.
Common situations
- Stock received through an employee purchase plan at a former job.
- Shares inherited or gifted decades ago and held in paper certificate form.
- Dividend checks mailed to an old address.
- A brokerage account inactive after the owner moved.
Because many large corporations are incorporated in Delaware, some securities-related property is reported there. It is worth searching Delaware even if you never lived there.