How you can stop your money from becoming unclaimed property

 Did you know if you don’t respond to correspondence from companies and organizations handling your money, the funds could be considered “unclaimed property”? Chances are if you’re reading this blog post, you already know about unclaimed property, and you know BC Unclaimed is the province of BC’s designated caretaker of unclaimed funds. But you might be wondering why your money got sent to us in the first place and how to prevent it from happening again. This blog will provide some tips and strategies to manage your money and prevent your funds from being turned over to BC Unclaimed (or another jurisdiction’s unclaimed property office). While we will keep your unclaimed funds safe until they’re claimed and use the money to support non-profits and charities, we recognize you probably want to make sure your money stays where you intended.

Don’t “ghost” your financial institutions and keep your contact information updated

Keeping your financial accounts active and with up-to-date contact information is crucial to ensuring your funds don’t get transferred to BC Unclaimed. For accounts you don’t use on a monthly or annual basis, set a reminder to make an annual transaction, or consider consolidating or closing unused accounts. Most importantly, keep your contact information up to date. Holders of unclaimed money must make attempts to contact you before sending your funds to our office. But if a credit union reaches out to you about the status of your account, and the address is no longer valid, you won’t receive the notification and be able to take the necessary steps to prevent them from being transferred to us. Finally, if your financial institution sends you letters, emails, or account statements, don’t ignore them. They may be reaching out to say your money may be transferred to BC Unclaimed due to inactivity.

Keep track of your accounts and investments

Another useful strategy is to keep a list off all the financial institutions or businesses managing your money and the accounts you have with them (i.e., banks, credit unions, pension plans, insurance companies, brokerages, and investment companies). Review this list annually and consider merging old retirement accounts or investments into a single brokerage account to make it easier to monitor your finances and prevent inactivity. Once again, if you move or change your contact information, having this list already compiled will make it easier to notify the organizations to update your contact information. Finally, make sure your intended executor or relatives know where you keep this list, so when you pass away, they can take the necessary steps to close your accounts.

Provide a forwarding address

Moving to a new home or leaving a job are both exciting, but also stressful times. While you may be tempted to literally move on and not look back, it’s important to provide your old landlord or employer with a forwarding address. This will ensure you’re able to get your deposit back or if you have any additional wages owing to you your cheque will make it to the right address and not end up with us.

Set up direct deposit and use e-deposit

This might seem obvious, but sometimes funds are transferred to BC Unclaimed simply because the owner forgot to cash a cheque they received. Setting up direct deposit when possible, can save you time going to the bank and might prevent funds from an uncashed cheque from being sent to our office. If direct deposit isn’t an option, then take advantage of the e-deposit function on your banking app and make it a habit to deposit your cheques as soon as you receive them in the mail.

Have a will and a plan for when you pass away

Unfortunately, death is a common reason people’s money comes to BC Unclaimed, and it can be more difficult to claim funds if the owner didn’t have a will. If you want your loved ones to inherit your money, making a will and naming an executor will help guarantee your assets are distributed according to your wishes. Having an up-to-date will, an estate plan, and a list of all your accounts will lower the likelihood of your money needing to be transferred to us. Don’t neglect to update your will and estate plan after any major life events and share the will’s storage location.

Check our database yearly

Even if you’ve taken all these steps, it’s possible something was missed, or the balance might be an amount you never even realized was yours. For that reason, we recommend searching our website and the Bank of Canada’s on a yearly basis. If your money has been transferred to us, rest assured it will be kept safe until you can claim it and, in the meantime, your unclaimed funds are helping individuals and communities across the province. It’s easiest to claim your money if we received it recently, so checking annually will ensure you’re able to retrieve what’s rightfully yours.