What is escheatment?

Updated November 8, 2026

Escheatment is the process by which unclaimed property passes to the state. When a holder, such as a bank, insurer or business, cannot reach the owner of money it owes, it eventually turns the money over to the state. The money has "escheated."

Escheat does not mean the owner loses it

In California, the State Controller takes escheated property into custody and holds it for the owner. The owner, or someone entitled to act for the owner, can file a claim and be paid. The word sounds final; for owners, it mostly means the money moved to a different address.

The two sides of escheatment

• Holders report and remit property they cannot deliver. For a business, this is a compliance job: tracking uncashed checks and dormant credits and reporting them.
• Owners are the people and businesses the money belongs to. Escheated money shows up in the Controller's records under the owner's name as the holder reported it.

Most businesses are on both sides: they report their own uncashed payroll and vendor checks, and they are also owed money other holders have reported.

What gets escheated

Bank balances, uncashed checks, refunds and credits, securities and dividends, insurance proceeds, deposits, wages and more. In California's file dated November 4, 2026, the largest kinds held for business-type owners owed $10,000+ were:

Getting escheated money back

The owner proves who it is, that it owns the property, and that it was at the address on the record. A business also proves its FEIN and the signer's authority. The claim form is signed in wet ink and notarized at $1,000+ in cash or for any securities, and the Controller decides within 180 days of a complete package.