How to Prevent Your Stocks from Getting Turned Over to the State

The Connecticut State Treasurer's Office has a new national record. The largest single payout in US history for unclaimed property to an individual now stands at $32.8 million for 1.3 million shares of stock. This surpasses the previous high last year of $6.1 million, also from stocks, to a woman in Missouri. Prior to that, it was $4 million in New York from stocks.

There's a definite pattern.

The State of Washington enacted legislation in 2011 that allows it to sell your stocks as soon as they cross the door. It doesn't matter what the market is doing at the moment. After all, states can't use shares of stock, but they can utilize the cash until you claim it.

States are decreasing the dormancy period, that period of time where there has been no owner-initiated activity, from five years down to three for most forms of unclaimed property. In addition, the trend is changing the abandoned definition regarding securities from returned mail to owner-initiated inactivity.

The key words here are owner-initiated activity. The stocks earning money, the money going directly to your bank account, none of these are signs that the owner is even still alive, let alone that they remember they have the account. Owner-initiated activity is just as the name implies. You vote your proxy. You add to the account or make a withdrawal. You update your beneficiary information, confirm your address, call, write or log-in to the account. There is some form of activity that comes from you.

It's far better to prevent your money from going to the state than having to file a claim to get it back.

Nationwide, there's more than $33 billion being held by the states. This doesn't include: $197 million in forgotten pensionsrn$153 million in returned tax refunds
40 million savings bonds that have stopped earning interest and should be cashed out and reinvested. The estimated value is more than $16 billion. Yes, billion with a B. $200 million for creditors in bankruptcy courtrn$70 million in land and monies for Native Americansr
And more!!
To see if you have unclaimed property go to www.unclaimed.org. Click on every state you've ever lived in and enter your name. Also, at the top of the home page is another link for related sites. Click on this for federal an international sites. You may have lost a fortune and not even know it.