Virginia

Va. Holds More Than $1B Worth of Unclaimed Property

More than $1 billion worth of property is waiting to be claimed in Virginia.

Typically, unclaimed property includes items from abandoned safety deposit boxes and money from bank accounts, stocks, dividends, insurance claims, utility deposits or paychecks.

The Virginia Department of Treasury is the custodian of property that isn't claimed. Department spokesman Benjamin Jarvela told The Virginian-Pilot that the treasury paid out about $45 million in claims and took possession of more than $136 million in the previous fiscal year.

"That is a giant pile of money,'' he said.

Jarvela said the average claim was around $1,978.

About 1 in 4 Virginians have unclaimed property held by the state. Some claimants might no longer live in Virginia, he said.

Unclaimed property can be claimed no matter how much time has passed because the state holds it "in perpetuity,'' Virginia Treasurer Manju Ganeriwala told the newspaper.

Jarvela said a family claimed a $20,000 inheritance in 2013 that the state had held since the mid-1960s.

Most of the unclaimed property is deposited into a fund that can only be spent on K-12 education. A portion is reserved to pay claims as they come in. Another portion is held to pay for the unclaimed property division's activities, Ganeriwala said.

Virginia ranks fifth in unclaimed property per capita, which is $183, according to a study released this month by SmartAsset, a company that offers financial advice.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe wants to use a one-time $250 million sell off of unclaimed property to help reduce school districts' teacher retirement liabilities and future costs, and to help with new school construction.

If the General Assembly approves the governor's proposal, the proceeds would be paid out if the owner of the stock, or a rightful heir, eventually came forward to claim it.

Virginia and other states received an "out-of-the-ordinary'' amount of stock when about 10 big insurance companies decided to go public in 2000. Many of the companies' policy holders did not know that they wound up with shares of stock, said Vicki Bridgeman, director of the treasury's unclaimed property division.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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