Free Money! (Maybe)

Did you know you may have assets out there you didn't know about? The Texas Comptroller's office holds over $3 billion in unclaimed property owned by Texas residents and businesses. Banks, utility companies, and other asset holders make diligent efforts to deliver funds they are holding to their rightful owners, but after a certain period of time, by law, they turn such unclaimed assets over to the Comptroller.

Texas's Unclaimed Property database is online, so to see if there may be any assets in your name, you can search on the website. If you locate accounts in your name, you just complete the claim process to prove your identity and the check is mailed to you. 

Often the amounts are minor and akin to what you might find in the sofa cushions, but I've also found accounts for family members that were in the hundreds or even thousands (note to self: next time charge a finder's fee! ;)). You never know until you look.

If you are the executor, administrator, heir, guardian of a person's estate, or parent of a minor child, you also have authority to claim items on that person's behalf by showing proof of your position. If you have legal responsibility for the estate of another, then marshaling assets is part of your job description. The online search takes less than 60 seconds and may potentially yield large rewards for your trouble. Even if you don't find anything, it can still be reassuring to know you haven't missed something.

One final note: I recommend searching under name variations well, including nicknames, middle names, and suffixes. This is one example of why in my wills I always include a section listing other name variations a person may have been known by or held assets under. Not only does it help your future executor know what names to look for assets under, by this website or any other search process, but also makes it easy for her/him to show authority to claim such assets on your estate's behalf.

Happy searching!