How to Claim the Money California Is Holding in Your Name

Search your name on ClaimIt.ca.gov and file with the State Controller yourself. It's free, and a cash claim can take as little as 30 to 60 days.

You got a letter saying a forgotten account would go to the state if you didn't answer by a deadline, and the deadline passed. The money isn't gone.

The California State Controller's Office says on its claims help page that in that case the property moves to the Controller, and you can search for it there and claim it back. State law makes corporations, banks, insurers and other businesses hand accounts over once there's been no activity or contact with the owner for a set period, usually three years.

Getting it back costs nothing. As of Nov. 6, the Controller's claims FAQ says owners and heirs can file directly with no service charge or fee of any kind.

That's where people make their one expensive mistake. Investigators, which the state calls asset locators or heir finders, can charge up to 10% of the property's value if you've signed a contract with them. The state does the same work for free.

The steps

1. Search your name on ClaimIt.ca.gov. The Controller's filing instructions say every claim starts with a search on that site.
2. Pick the instructions that match who you are. The office keeps separate document lists for an owner, for an heir, trustee or executor claiming for someone who died, for a business official and for a government agency.
3. Prove a name change if you've had one. The FAQ asks for papers like a marriage certificate or court documents showing you're the person named on the account.
4. File online if the site offers it. Once you enter the information it asks for, an eligible claim gets the option to file electronically. If yours needs paper, the site tells you how to do it. Either way, the signed Claim Affirmation Form goes in with your documents.
5. Mail a paper claim to Sacramento. It goes to the Unclaimed Property Division, P.O. Box 942850, Sacramento, CA 94250-5873. Overnight packages and walk-ins go to the public counter at 3301 C Street, Suite 750, Sacramento.
6. Give a mailed claim about 60 days. That's how long the office says it can take to receive a package and log it in its system. After that, check your claim on the status page.

The clock

Once your full package arrives, state law lets the office take as long as 180 days to go through it and rule. A claim from an owner that involves only cash can come through in as little as 30 to 60 days. Claims from heirs, from several owners or from businesses usually take longer but still fall inside the 180 days.

Stock takes extra time after approval, because the office has to check whether mergers, splits or dividends changed what the shares are worth while the state held them. The office says it pays out most stock claims inside 120 days, though ones that need heavy research can stretch past that.

If your listing disappears from the website partway through, don't panic. The office takes the property off the site once a complete claim package arrives and keeps it off while the claim is processed.

If 60 days have passed since you mailed a claim and it still isn't in the system, or you're facing a hardship, call the Unclaimed Property Contact Center at (800) 992-4647. It picks up on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific time, and it's closed on state holidays.

Source: California State Controller's Office.

Source: State of California, retrieved November 6, 2026. Other sources: State of California (2), State of California (3).