United States · Unclaimed money & official searches
Unclaimed property search, and where each official one lives.
There is no single national database. This page sorts the official searches by the kind of money you think you are owed and links straight to each one.
Short answer: Most unclaimed money sits with state governments, so start with your state’s office and any state where you have lived. Money from banks, pensions, taxes, savings bonds and bankruptcies sits with other agencies. Searching is free; anyone asking you for an upfront fee to release funds is a scam.
What kind of money are you looking for?
Result
Pick the kind of money you are looking for and press Show.
Who holds the money
USA.gov’s page on finding unclaimed money, last updated September 24, 2025, says state governments hold most of it and that there is no single place to look for all of it. It then sorts the other holders by where the money came from: employers (unpaid wages and pensions), insurance (veterans’ life insurance and FHA mortgage insurance refunds), taxes (missing refunds), investments (SEC enforcement cases), bank failures (the FDIC for banks and the NCUA for credit unions), savings bonds, bankruptcies and Individual Indian Money accounts.
That is twelve places once the state offices are counted as one. The selector above lists all twelve with the exact government address USA.gov links to, so you can go to the right one without wading through search results that are mostly paid listings.
Worked example
Say you grew up in Ohio, now live in Texas, once banked at a credit union that was liquidated, and a relative left you a paper savings bond. The USA.gov list gives you four searches to run: the state office for Texas, the state office for Ohio, the NCUA unclaimed deposits page and Treasury Hunt. That is 4 of the 12 places; the other 8 do not match your story and can wait. Run the state searches first, because USA.gov says states hold most unclaimed money.
How to spot a claim scam
The Federal Trade Commission’s consumer alert of March 30, 2026 gives three rules. Every state has a process to search for unclaimed funds for free. The government will not call or text and ask you to pay to search for unclaimed funds. And if a caller asks for personal information or an upfront “processing” fee to release the funds, that is a scam. The FTC asks people who spot a scam to report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
The unclaimed.org search page, run by the state administrators’ association, is itself titled “Search for your unclaimed property (it’s free)”. If you reached a lookalike site that wants money before it shows a result, close it and use the links on this page instead.
Method
This page does not search anything. Choosing a category from the list shows one fixed, hand-checked link to the government site that USA.gov names for it. Nothing you select is sent to our servers or recorded, and no register is copied or proxied.
What this does not cover
- Whether you actually have any money. Only the official searches can tell you.
- The addresses of individual state offices or their claim rules; use the unclaimed.org page to reach your state’s own site.
- Holders USA.gov does not list. USA.gov itself says there is no single place to look.
- Property held in other countries.
Sources
- USAGov, How to find unclaimed money from the government (last updated September 24, 2025) (retrieved October 2026)
- NAUPA, Search for your unclaimed property (it’s free) (retrieved October 2026)
- FTC consumer alert, How to handle unexpected calls about unclaimed funds (March 30, 2026) (retrieved October 2026)
Common mix-ups
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Often assumedOne national database lists all unclaimed money.
What the source saysUSAGov says there is no single place to look for all unclaimed money. State governments hold most of it, and other agencies hold money from employers, insurance, taxes, investments, bank failures, savings bonds, bankruptcies and Individual Indian Money accounts. [1]
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Often assumedI have to pay a service to find or release my unclaimed money.
What the source saysThe FTC says every state has a process to search for unclaimed funds for free, and that a request for an upfront processing fee or personal information to release funds is a scam. The government will not call or text and ask you to pay for a search. [2]
- USAGov: How to find unclaimed money from the government
- FTC: How to handle unexpected calls about unclaimed funds
Checked against these sources on .
Frequently asked questions
How do I search for unclaimed property?
Start with your state’s unclaimed property office through unclaimed.org/search, then check any other state where you have lived. For federal and other holders, pick the matching category on this page.
Is an unclaimed property search free?
The FTC says every state has a process to search for unclaimed funds for free, and the NAUPA search page is titled “Search for your unclaimed property (it’s free)”. Do not pay a site to run the search.
Is there one national unclaimed money database?
No. USA.gov says there is no single place to look for all unclaimed money and splits the holders into categories, each with its own database.
I moved states. Where do I look?
USA.gov says to search your state’s office and the offices in any other states where you have lived. Each state keeps its own records.
A caller says I have unclaimed money and wants a fee. Is that real?
The FTC says an upfront processing fee or a request for personal information to release funds is a scam, and that the government will not call or text to ask you to pay for a search. Hang up and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Where do I look for an old savings bond?
USA.gov points to Treasury Hunt on TreasuryDirect.gov for matured savings bonds that have stopped earning interest. The selector on this page links to it.
Can this page tell me whether I have unclaimed money?
No. It links to the official searches and does not look anyone up, store anything you enter or copy any register.
Guide only — not a search tool
This page describes official unclaimed-money searches and links to them. It is not run by any government agency, does not check whether you are owed anything, and does not copy or proxy any register. Nothing you select here is transmitted anywhere. Agencies change their sites; use the official source and confirm anything that matters. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.