- The bank will try to contact the individual who owns the account by mail. Some owners ignore the letter, others never get it because they have moved or died.
- Depending on the state, dormant accounts escheat or are turned over to the state after three to five years. Before doing this, a bank will make a last ditch effort to notify the owner.
- In the case of many people, especially the elderly, even after notification and phone calls, they have been warned about scams and often will not give needed information over the phone. It often takes a visit by a bank officer to convince them.
- State governments have departments that handle unclaimed money. If you find that one of your accounts has been surrendered to the state, contact this department for help.
- Many companies specialize in helping get this money back. This can be done just as easily by the dormant account owner without paying a percentage to a company as a fee.
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