Using Technology to Identify Owners Based on Recent Tax Filings is One of Several Ongoing Initiatives to Return Unclaimed Property to Delawareans

Statewide, DE (September 12, 2023) – The State’s annual MONEY MATCH Program automatically returns lost money to Delaware taxpayers without the usual need to file a claim or gather paperwork, Delaware State Escheator, Brenda R. Mayrack announced today. This week, Delaware will mail approximately 4,700 checks and return over $570,000 directly to Delaware taxpayers.

“MONEY MATCH demonstrates how state government can use technology to put money directly into the pockets of almost 5,000 Delaware taxpayers without requiring any action on their part – except to cash the check,” said Mayrack.

MONEY MATCH matches the State of Delaware’s unclaimed property database with verified address and taxpayer information so that lost money can be returned to its owner automatically and without requiring the filing of a claim and supporting documentation. In many cases, individuals might not be aware they were missing unclaimed property until the check arrives in the mail.

This is the fourth time Delaware has conducted the MONEY MATCH Program, which now occurs annually each September. In total, the MONEY MATCH Program has returned over $5 million to over 35,000 Delaware taxpayers.

MONEY MATCH is one of several ongoing initiatives of the Delaware Office of Unclaimed Property to increase the return of property to owners:

• In July 2023, the Delaware Office of Unclaimed Property expanded its MONEY MATCH Program to include the state’s volunteer fire companies, identifying and returning over $150,000 in unclaimed funds, without requiring paperwork or the filing of a claim, to over fifty of Delaware’s volunteer fire companies.
• On February 1, 2023, Delaware participated in National Unclaimed Property Day, a multistate awareness campaign of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) to encourage people to search for their unclaimed property. Last year, state unclaimed property offices returned more than 4 billion dollars.
• In October 2022, Delaware joined a coalition of now forty-nine states participating in MissingMoney.com, a free multistate unclaimed property search website sponsored by NAUPA. MissingMoney.com allows individuals to conduct one search across almost all states simultaneously to find their lost property. MissingMoney.com will display any states where there is a match and provide information and links to the official government websites to begin the claims process. The site directly integrates with Delaware’s claims processing database for real time information.

“MissingMoney.com has been an excellent tool for our office to return property to owners more efficiently,” explained Mayrack. “Delawareans are able to easily search for and submit claims for their unclaimed property, whether you use our website or missingmoney.com, which aggregates property data for nearly all other states.”

Unclaimed property can include money left in old bank accounts, uncashed paychecks, unused balances on gift certificates, unreturned utility deposits, uncollected insurance payments, and forgotten stocks and dividends. Businesses are required to turn over these amounts to States after a certain number of years if contact is lost between the holder of the property and the property owner.

While MONEY MATCH automatically reunites many Delaware taxpayers with their unclaimed property, not all types of property are included. Delawareans are still encouraged to search for unclaimed property held by Delaware at https://unclaimedproperty.delaware.gov/ or at https://missingmoney.com/ to search across forty-nine states at one time.

In 2021, the MONEY MATCH Program was recognized as a Champions Award winner among the 2021 Governor’s Team Excellence Award Recipients.

More information about MONEY MATCH is available at https://unclaimedproperty.delaware.gov/app/claim/money-match.

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