A South Carolina man is now $763,000 richer after he found out that the state Treasurer’s Office was holding unclaimed money that belonged to him left by his father who died 15 years ago. According to the South Carolina Treasurer’s Office, the $763,000 was a combination of cash and stock proceeds, and is the largest sum of money ever returned as part of its Unclaimed Property Program.
The recipient of the unclaimed money, who has chosen to remain anonymous, originally thought that the phone call from South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis was a scam because the sum of money seemed too large to be real.
According to a release by the Treasurer’s Office, Loftis first got in touch with the son of the recipient of unclaimed money, who then instructed his father to call the Treasurer’s Office back. Loftis stated that, “When I originally looked up the name, I found four different listings for it…I was determined to find the right one, and I’m so happy that we are able to return the money to the rightful heir.”
“We had no idea we had this much money waiting for us,” said the South Carolina man. The recipient doesn’t know what he’s going to do with the money, but is grateful for getting it.
According to the South Carolina Treasurer’s Office website, “In South Carolina, virtually any intangible property not in the possession of its owner can be considered unclaimed property. Examples of unclaimed property include dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks (including paychecks), unclaimed insurance proceeds, forgotten utility deposits, uncashed dividend checks and unexchanged shares of stock. The South Carolina Unclaimed Property Program does not handle real property such as land, houses, cars and boats. The property transferred to the Program for safekeeping is held indefinitely until the rightful owners can be located. If we are holding property for you, you always have the right to claim your property any time at no cost. Until claimed, the funds are used for the good of all South Carolina citizens.”
The Unclaimed Property Program transfers matches millions of dollars with their rightful owners each year. Treasurer Loftis is president of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.
You can search for unclaimed property in South Carolina here.