Utilizing Technology to Locate Owners of Unclaimed Money Delaware Based on Recent Tax Filings is One of Several Initiatives Underway in the State to Reclaim Unclaimed Assets to Delawareans.
Statewide, DE (September 12, 2023) – Delaware Escheator Brenda R. Mayrack announced today that Delaware will implement its annual Money Match Program this week to return lost tax money directly back to taxpayers without filing claims or gathering paperwork, returning over $570,000 directly. Over 4,700 checks are set to be mailed this week directly back into taxpayer accounts across Delaware.
“MONEY MATCH illustrates how state government can use technology to directly place funds into the hands of almost 5,000 Delaware taxpayers without needing their involvement other than cashing the check,” according to Mayrack.
MONEY MATCH matches Delaware’s unclaimed money database with verified address and taxpayer data to quickly return unclaimed money back to its rightful owners – without needing to file claims and provide supporting documentation. In many instances, individuals might not even realize they were missing unclaimed funds until their check arrives in the mail.
Delaware has successfully administered its MONEY MATCH Program annually since 2013; to date, over $35,000 Delaware taxpayers have benefitted from it and received over $5 Million as returns.
MONEY MATCH is one of several ongoing initiatives by the Delaware Office of Unclaimed Property to increase property returns to owners:
- In July 2023, the Delaware Office of Unclaimed Property expanded their MONEY MATCH Program to include volunteer fire companies across Delaware. They identified and returned over $150,000 of unclaimed funds without requiring paperwork or filing claims – this initiative benefitting over fifty of Delaware’s volunteer fire companies.
- On February 1, 2023, Delaware participated in National Unclaimed Property Day – an awareness campaign organized by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) designed to encourage people to search for any unclaimed property that may belong to them. Last year alone, state unclaimed property offices returned over $4 billion dollars back into circulation.
- Delaware joined a coalition of now 49 states participating in MissingMoney.com, a multistate unclaimed property search website supported by NAUPA, in October 2022. Individuals searching across nearly all states simultaneously to locate lost property can use MissingMoney.com to conduct one search across almost all of them simultaneously to search. Once there’s an exact match MissingMoney will provide information and links directly to government websites so claims processes can begin immediately; in addition, its database integrates seamlessly with Delaware’s claims processing database providing real time data.
“MissingMoney.com has proven an invaluable asset in our office’s efforts to return property more efficiently,” explained Mayrack. Delawareans can easily search and submit claims for unclaimed property either through our website or missingmoney, which aggregates property data for numerous states.
Unclaimed property may include money left in old bank accounts, uncashed paychecks, unused gift certificate balances, utility deposits that have gone uncollected, insurance payments that were never collected and forgotten stocks or dividends. Businesses must voluntarily turn these amounts over to states after a certain time if no contact between themselves and their property owners can be established.
While MONEY MATCH automatically reconnects many Delaware taxpayers with their unclaimed property, not all types are included. Delawareans should still search for unclaimed property held by Delaware at https://unclaimedproperty.delaware.gov/ or at missingmoney.com/ across 49 states at once.
In 2021, the MONEY MATCH Program was recognized with a Champion Award as part of the 2021 Governor’s Team Excellence Award Recipients.
