I lived in Illinois nearly twenty years ago and had a bank account there. I moved around and last used it around 1995. I know the account was still active in 2003. Now all I can get from the bank is that the account number is not on their system and does not exist. Can you shed any light on where this money has gone and how do I get hold of it?
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Every state has laws that are commonly referred to as "abandoned property laws." Each state has a rule that requires banks to turn over to the state any account without activity or customer contact in a period of X years, with X varying from three to five years in most cases. Shorter periods may be in effect in some states.
Start by looking at the information and tools you can find here. If the bank surrendered your account, it would send it either to the state in which the bank is located or the state of your last-known address.
In spite of the fact that surrendered funds can often be located and are readily reclaimed, it is never a good idea to leave a bank account idle for as long as you have. At minimum, you should touch base with your bank annually and immediately follow up if an expected statement does not reach you. In that way you can avoid the surrender of accounts under abandoned property laws.
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Every state has laws that are commonly referred to as "abandoned property laws." Each state has a rule that requires banks to turn over to the state any account without activity or customer contact in a period of X years, with X varying from three to five years in most cases. Shorter periods may be in effect in some states.