Union Bank Unclaimed Property: $126.7 Million Reported

• Union Bank reported 58,440 unclaimed property records worth $126,733,820 combined.
• Checking accounts are the largest category, at $59,975,571 across 15,036 records.
• 2,125 records are worth $10,000 or more, though the average record is $2,169.
• There is no deadline to claim; the State holds the money until it is claimed.
• A recovery fee on property reported this way is capped at 10 per cent of what is recovered.

Why did Union Bank send my money to the State?

California law requires banks to report accounts that have gone dormant for a set period and then remit the balance to the State Controller under Code of Civil Procedure §1530. This is not a penalty against the account holder and it does not mean the money is lost. It means the bank could not confirm the owner was still using the account, so custody passed to the State, which then holds the funds until the rightful owner or their heir comes forward.

Union Bank’s remittance to the Controller covers 58,440 separate records with a combined value of $126,733,820. That includes checking accounts, savings accounts, cashier’s checks, official checks, and retirement plan balances tied to customers, employees, and account holders across the years.

What kinds of Union Bank property are unclaimed?

The reported records fall into a handful of categories. Checking accounts make up the largest share, with 15,036 records worth $59,975,571. Cashier’s checks account for 11,138 records worth $22,413,357, and savings accounts add another 8,080 records worth $14,794,563.

• Pension and profit-sharing balances: 9,769 records, $6,431,264
• Outstanding official checks: 6,790 records, $6,383,002
• Savings accounts and credit union shares: 1,754 records, $1,075,300

Together these six categories account for the great majority of what Union Bank turned over. If you held any of these products with the bank and later moved, closed an account without a forwarding address, or simply lost track of a small balance, this is the kind of record where your name is likely to appear.

How large are these balances, really?

Most individual records are modest. The average value across all 58,440 Union Bank records is $2,169. But averages hide the spread: 2,125 of these records are worth $10,000 or more, and pension and profit-sharing accounts in particular tend to run higher than routine checking balances. A cashier’s check or an old retirement account can sit at the Controller’s office for years without anyone realizing what it is worth.

How do I check if my name is on this list?

The Controller’s published files are large and not easy to search by hand. We index 14,613,528 property records statewide, including all of the Union Bank entries described here, and our search tool lets you check by name in a few seconds. A match does not guarantee the money is yours if names are shared or similar, and it does not obligate you to do anything. It simply tells you whether a record exists worth looking into.

If you find a match, the next question is what the State requires to pay it out. Our documents guide explains what proof of identity and address history the Controller typically asks for, and our timeline page explains roughly how the process unfolds once a claim is filed.

What if the account holder has died?

Bank funds reported this way sometimes belong to someone who has since passed away, in which case the claim usually needs to be filed by an heir or the estate’s executor. That is a different process from a routine individual claim, and it can involve probate documents rather than the identity records used for a personal claim. Our heir and estate claiming guide walks through what is typically needed. Separately, we also track probate estates that have reached the Controller directly: 4,438 of the 37,166 we index remain claimable, holding about $59,038,273 in total. Who is legally entitled to inherit is a question for an attorney, not for us, and we do not offer an opinion on it.

What does it cost to recover money reported by Union Bank?

Property reported under §1530, which includes the bank records described on this page, is subject to a statutory cap: a recovery fee may not exceed 10 per cent of what is recovered (CCP §1582(a)(2)(C)). That cap does not extend to estates that reach the State through county probate rather than through a holder report like this one, since those arrive under a different part of the Probate Code. No fee may be collected before the Controller has approved the claim and paid the owner, and any agreement must be in writing and disclose the nature of the property before you sign it.

Our own fee is 10 per cent of what is recovered, and we charge nothing if nothing is recovered. Full detail on how the law treats these agreements, including an owner’s right to challenge one at any time, is on our finder fee law page.

What should I do next?

Start by checking whether your name, or the name of a family member, appears among the records Union Bank reported. From there, our full-service recovery team can confirm the match, prepare the documentation the Controller requires, and file the claim on your behalf. See our pricing page for how the fee works before you decide.

Questions People Ask

Figures on this page are from our copy of the State Controller’s published file as it stood on 7 October 2026. The State republishes the file weekly, so current totals will differ. Search is always against the latest copy.