Individual claimant
The property is in your own name, or a name you used to use.
How to Claim Unclaimed Property in California
Who is claiming decides which documents you need. Start with the path that matches your situation.
Last reviewed Written from State Controller, State Controller data Everything here is checkable without asking us.
Who Is Claiming?
Business claimant
The property is in a company name — active, dissolved or since acquired.
Heir or estate
The owner has died and you are entitled to the property.
Small-estate affidavit
Claiming without probate under Probate Code §13100.
Then Work Through the Process
Documents you will need
The proof list, and how it changes with the property type.
Notary requirements
Which claims must be notarized, and why.
Timeline
What actually happens after you file, and how long each part takes.
If your claim is denied
What a denial usually means and how to respond.
The Process, Whoever You Are
Every claim follows the same five steps. What changes is the evidence each one needs.
- Find the property. Search the Controller’s records under every version of the name — including ones you would not think to try.
- Work out who is entitled. Yourself, a business, or an estate. This determines everything that follows.
- Gather the evidence. Identity, and the link to the address on the record. This is the part that takes the time.
- Notarize, where required. Cash of $1,000 or more, all securities, all safe deposit boxes.
- File and wait. The Controller has a hundred and eighty days by law to consider a complete claim, and pays the claimant directly.
The Thing That Decides Most Claims
Not entitlement — evidence of address. The record carries the address the holder had on file, often decades old. Establishing that you were the person at that address is where most claims stall and where most denials come from. If you take one thing from this section, take that: start looking for old address evidence before you need it.
How Long It Takes
A simple cash claim in your own name, filed electronically, has been paid in an average of ten days. A standard cash claim runs thirty to sixty days once complete. Securities, safe deposit boxes, business claims and anything involving an estate are worked as complex claims — generally the full hundred and eighty days.
What It Costs
Nothing, if you do it yourself. The State charges no fee to claim, ever, and there is no deadline — California holds unclaimed property indefinitely. Where someone charges to help, Code of Civil Procedure section 1582 caps that fee at ten per cent of what is recovered.
How You Are Protected
Our fee is capped at ten per cent of what is recovered by Code of Civil Procedure §1582, and nothing is owed until the State Controller has paid you. If we recover nothing, you owe nothing. Our recovery fee is never asked for up front — it comes out of money the Controller has already paid you. A booking deposit on an in-person appointment is a separate thing, and is credited back against anything you are charged.
California Unclaimed Property Services is a private asset recovery firm. We are not the California State Controller’s Office.
Sources
This page is written from the public record. Read the originals rather than taking our summary of them.
We are a private firm. We are not the State Controller’s office, not affiliated with it, and not endorsed by it.
From the knowledge base
How This Actually Works
- 16 Oct 2026 Unclaimed Property Records: What Holders Must Keep California does not state a fixed retention period in the statute text we rely on, but a holder that cannot produce the…
- 15 Oct 2026 When Your Company’s EIN Changed: Finding Property Under the Old Name When a company is acquired, the State Controller's unclaimed property records stay filed under the legal name reported at the time, not…
- 15 Oct 2026 Why California Requires Notarized Unclaimed Property Claims California requires notarization for any cash claim of $1,000 or more, and for every securities or safe deposit box claim regardless of…
- 14 Oct 2026 The Two-Sided Business Audit for Unclaimed Property A California business can turn up twice in the State's unclaimed property records: once as the rightful owner of old refunds, dividends…
- 14 Oct 2026 Suspended California Corporations and Unclaimed Property A suspended California corporation may still appear on the State Controller's unclaimed property file, but the Controller will not release payment until…
- 13 Oct 2026 Owner of Record vs. Actual Owner: What the Name Really Means Owner of record is the name a company or bank reported when it handed unclaimed property to California, not a verified current…
- 13 Oct 2026 The Unclaimed Property Liability You Inherit in an Acquisition When a company acquires another, it also acquires that company's unclaimed property history: uncashed checks, dormant accounts, and any unreported liability now…
- 12 Oct 2026 California’s Two Unclaimed Property Reporting Calendars California holders follow one of two reporting calendars. Life insurance companies file their notice report before 1 May and remit property between…
- 12 Oct 2026 Table of Heirship: What It Is and When You Need One A Table of Heirship lists each heir's relationship to a deceased owner and their proportional share of an estate. It matters most…
- 11 Oct 2026 What California Does With Your Money While It Waits California does not spend, invest, or time-limit unclaimed property. The State Controller holds it in custody under the property's reported dollar value,…
Find out in About Thirty Seconds
Give us a name and we will check the State Controller’s records under every reasonable variant of it. Asking costs nothing and commits you to nothing.