The Foreign Service Journal, May 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2019 53 MetLife isn’t alone. Other insurance companies have also converted into for-profit public companies in the past couple of decades. The list includes Prudential, John Hancock, Principal, Equitable and Mutual of New York. How to Search Online States are required to search for unclaimed property own- ers, and as a result have created unclaimed property websites. (They also take out ads in major local newspapers.) There is no charge to make a claim using these official sites, which are usu- ally managed by the state treasurer’s office. Try the unclaimed property website for every state in which you have lived, as well as those of your close relatives. Naturally, authorities will require documentation to verify your claim, usually via a form they provide. Helpful documents proving you lived at a given address include copies of bills, pay stubs or a W-2 statement. You should also provide the date range when you lived at the address, and any other information that could help the state determine you are the proper owner of the unclaimed property. For inherited property, you will need legal documents to prove your ownership. In my search, I went to Virginia’s Unclaimed Property web- site, and entered my full name. To help narrow the search, the site asks for any names you have previously used, as well as the last seven digits of your Social Security number, although that is optional. The site also asks where you have lived, and offers up some street addresses. (Other states may ask you for more or less information.) When I recognized one street name and clicked on the box, the site listed two potential claims under my name, each valued at more than $50. I’m still not sure what my Virginia unclaimed property was. The office didn’t tell me even after I submitted proof of resi- dence for the first claim. But it did send me a check for close to $200. I think it was probably a deposit I had made to start a utility service many years ago. When I closed the account and moved out of Virginia, I forgot about the original deposit, and didn’t provide a forwarding address. As a result, the company had no way of contacting me. Keep in mind that the state may decide that the proof pro- vided is insufficient, so do a thorough search of your records to find anything that can corroborate your claim. My other Virginia property is still listed on the site, because I lacked sufficient proof to claim it. Best of luck with your search! n Resources State sites. Here are links for theWashington, D.C., area to get you started: Virginia: vamoneysearch.org Maryland: comptroller.marylandtaxes.com/ Public_Services/Unclaimed_Property/ D.C.: https://dc.findyourunclaimedproperty.com/ Missingmoney.com. Beyond the state sites, this is another helpful site. It is a national database that lists unclaimed property for the majority of the states (but not, for example, California or Delaware). It’s less detailed than some individual state sites, but still a good cross-check. Insurance company sites. Thanks to the efforts of a multistate task force, several insurance companies agreed in 2012 to change their practices when a policyholder dies. First, after confirming a policyholder’s death through Social Security Administration records, a company searches for a beneficiary. If the company is unsuc- cessful, it turns the unclaimed funds over to the state unclaimed property office. As a result, although you might find a life insurance claim listed on one of the state sites, you can also check directly with the insur- ance company. Here’s the MetLife link: https://www.metlife.com/ policyfinder/. In some cases, you may need to call the company’s toll-free number. You’ll have better luck if you have a policy number on hand—and, of course, can prove you’re the beneficiary.