Funds Being Held In Unclaimed property For Rightful Owners
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – After a several month process and a court hearing, Attorney General Greg Zoeller has succeeded in obtaining nearly $600,000 in proceeds from matured savings bonds that had been turned over as unclaimed property to the state.
In 2015, Zoeller asked the Indiana General Assembly to change Indiana statute to allow the unclaimed property division to seek title of the savings bonds that had been turned over as abandoned and unclaimed property. This change allowed the Attorney General to cash the bonds with the U.S. Treasury so that the rightful owners could find and claim the funds through the state rather than with the federal government.
“We have a strong track record in Indiana of getting money back to the people they belong to,†Zoeller said. “It isn’t right that the federal government hangs onto the money, with little to no effort to contact the rightful owner to make sure they get what they are owed. In the unclaimed property database, people have a safe, easy way to search and find their funds.â€
Indiana has received a total of $587,613.58 for 1496 matured savings bonds that are being held in the state’s unclaimed property database.  Savings Bonds – once used as a way to save for the future or as a meaningful gift for children and grandchildren, have almost become a thing of the past. The historic nature and long maturity dates of the Savings Bond is cause for many becoming lost and ending up in the possession of unclaimed property divisions across the nation. The Indiana Attorney General’s Unclaimed Property Division is no exception. Oftentimes, people have no idea that a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent had purchased the bond, which was left in a safe deposit box they also may not have known existed.
The Attorney General placed public notices throughout the state last March seeking owners of the bonds that in some cases were as old as 74 years old. Those bonds were valued at more than $700,000. The Through these notices, the Attorney General’s Office returned more than $257,000 in unclaimed bonds to Indiana residents prior to seeking the additional funds from the U.S. Treasury of those not claimed.
Zoeller encourages all Hoosiers to search the database, now that there is an additional half a million dollars added to it, and wants people to also search for friends and family, remembering that in many cases these bonds will likely have passed by inheritance to persons other than the original owner.
This effort is part of a larger initiative to assist Hoosiers in obtaining millions of dollars in matured U.S. Savings Bonds that are currently being held by the United States Treasury. Currently, the United States Treasury is not required to turn over abandoned and unclaimed U.S Savings Bonds unless the State obtains title of the bonds. With the necessary resources to return the unclaimed property already in place, Indiana successfully obtained a state court judgment to take title of the matured U.S. Savings Bonds in our possession, as well as unredeemed, matured bonds issued to Indiana residents.  This step is necessary for the Unclaimed Property Division to include these bonds in the State’s unclaimed property database, giving Hoosiers the opportunity to claim and collect their money.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office has a proven track record in returning unclaimed money to the rightful owners. Through extensive outreach, advertising and a searchable database, a record 108,477 properties totaling more than $88.5 million in unclaimed property was returned to Hoosiers in 2015 and a total $610 million has been returned since 2000.
Zoeller thanks the hard work of several individuals throughout his office as part of this effort. They include, Deputy Attorneys General, Patricia Erdmann, Betsy Isenberg. Benjamin Jones and Donna Sembroski, along with Unclaimed Property Director, Lindsey Mayes and Unclaimed Property Project Manager, Valerie Jones.
If you believe you are entitled to the above mentioned unclaimed U.S Savings Bonds, either by ownership or as an heir, please visit www.IndianaUnclaimed.gov to begin a claim. The Unclaimed Property database can be searched 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. The Unclaimed Property Division’s toll-free number is 1-866-IN-CLAIM (1-866-462-5246). This is a free service of the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.
