Unclaimed property
The Pennsylvania Treasury holds more than $5 billion that belongs to somebody else. The official search is free and open to anyone, and we would rather you tried it before you spoke to us.
What this is
Dormant accounts, uncashed cheques and forgotten refunds are turned over to the Treasury by law. It sits there under the name and address the company last had.
Before anything else, search the Treasury database yourself. It is the official search, it is free, and it is the same database anyone else would be searching on your behalf. Try the surname on its own, then any earlier address, then every spelling the family has ever been given. There is no charge to search and no charge to file a claim.
We say that first because the whole complaint against this industry is that people are charged for something they could have had for nothing. So: you can have it for nothing, and the link above is where. If you search, find something, claim it and never speak to us, that is a good result and we would rather it happened than not.
More than $5 billion, and $334.1 million of it went back to people in 2025. More than one in ten Pennsylvanians is owed something, and the average claim is worth more than $1,000. It is rarely dramatic. Closed savings accounts, uncashed payroll checks, utility deposits, insurance proceeds, refunds from companies that no longer exist, and the contents of safe deposit boxes that were never emptied.
It goes unfound for a dull reason. A holder writes to the last address it has, gets no reply, and reports the property to the Treasury under the name on its records. If the person moved, or married, or the surname was recorded with one letter wrong, the family searching later will not match it. Accounts held at banks that have since been bought and renamed twice are a standing example.
Then it is an estate asset. It is distributed with everything else and it counts for Pennsylvania inheritance tax like any other asset, which matters most when a family had thought the estate was finished. Act 50 of 2025 raised the amount claimable without letters from $11,000 to $20,000 with effect from 25 May 2026, so a modest claim may not require an estate to be opened at all. Above that you need letters from the Register of Wills, which is where how probate works becomes the relevant page.
Charging a fee to recover unclaimed property in Pennsylvania requires a Certificate of Finder Registration from the State Treasurer under 72 P.S. § 1301.11a, and the fee is capped at 15% under § 1301.11(g). Those are statutory limits and they apply to everyone, including us. If a letter arrives offering to recover money for a share and the sender cannot tell you their registration, that is the end of the conversation.
If you would rather not do the searching and the paperwork, that is a legitimate reason to hire someone, and we will agree what it costs in writing before any work starts. What never changes is where the money goes: the Treasury pays you or the estate directly. We never hold estate funds.
How it works
We will not invent a deadline to hurry you along. The only dates on this page are effective dates written into statute.
4 steps in total
0 deadlines that cost money if missed
Start here, and it costs nothing
The official search is free, open to anyone, and the same database we would use. Try the surname, then earlier addresses, then any spelling the family has ever been given. Property is filed under the name and address a company last had, which is usually not the current one.
If a name comes up
The Treasury tells you what proof it needs and there is no charge for filing. Where the property belonged to someone who has died, you will generally be asked to show the death and your authority to act for the estate.
Only if you would rather not
Nobody may charge a fee to recover unclaimed property in Pennsylvania without a Certificate of Finder Registration from the State Treasurer, and the fee is capped at 15%. That cap and the registration are set by statute, not by us.
72 P.S. § 1301.11a and § 1301.11(g)
When it is paid
Payment goes from the Commonwealth to you or to the estate. We never hold estate funds and money never passes through our hands, whoever did the paperwork.
Anything found is paid by the Treasury directly to you.
Being straight with you
The boundary, stated plainly rather than buried in the small print.
We can search and file on your behalf if you ask
You can search the same database and file the same claim yourself, for nothing. Plenty of people do exactly that and it works.
We work under a written agreement, agreed before anything starts
We cannot charge a fee for recovering unclaimed property without a Certificate of Finder Registration from the State Treasurer, and the fee is capped at 15% by statute.
The Treasury pays you or the estate directly
We never hold estate funds. Money goes from the Commonwealth to you, never through us.
We tell you what the database shows
We are not the Treasury. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any government agency.
Checked against PA Treasury unclaimed property and the Treasury search on .
Common questions
Yes. Pennsylvania charges nobody to search for or claim unclaimed property. The database is public and the claim form is free.
In Pennsylvania a fee for recovering unclaimed property may only be charged by someone holding a Certificate of Finder Registration from the State Treasurer under 72 P.S. § 1301.11a, and the fee is capped at 15% under § 1301.11(g). If somebody asks you for more than that, or cannot tell you their registration, walk away and file the claim yourself.
The Pennsylvania Treasury holds more than $5 billion in unclaimed property and returned $334.1 million of it in 2025. More than one in ten Pennsylvanians is owed something, and the average claim is worth more than $1,000. Most of it is unremarkable: closed accounts, uncashed checks, refunds, insurance proceeds, the contents of safe deposit boxes.
Not always. Act 50 of 2025 raised the amount of Treasury unclaimed property that can be claimed without letters from $11,000 to $20,000, effective 25 May 2026. Separately, a bank may release up to $20,000 without letters under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3101 from 23 January 2026, and that limit is per financial institution rather than per estate.
The § 3102 small estate figure did not change. It is still $50,000 gross, excluding real estate and § 3101 property. Expect to find the two conflated elsewhere.
Usually, yes. If it was owed to the person who died, it is an estate asset, it is distributed with everything else, and it counts for Pennsylvania inheritance tax like any other asset. That is worth knowing before a cheque arrives, particularly where the estate had otherwise been wound up. See the inheritance tax guide.
Because the holder writes to the last address it had, which is often two moves out of date, and then reports the property to the Treasury under whatever spelling it had on file. Accounts at banks that have since been bought and renamed are a common case. Nobody is told twice.
Tell us who died, which county they lived in, and what is worrying you most. If the answer is that you need a probate attorney rather than us, we will say so.
Free, and there is no obligation afterwards.