Tool
Find the Money
Most people leave behind more than their family realizes: an old 401(k), a forgotten policy, an uncashed refund, a savings bond in a drawer. Most of it won't find you. This checklist walks through the free, official places to look, in a sensible order, with a link to each one.
Last verified October 7, 2026. You never type a name or account number here. Nothing is sent anywhere, and your progress is saved only if you choose to.
Never pay anyone to find or claim this money.
Searching and claiming through the government is free. The Maryland Comptroller warns that if you sign an agreement with someone to recover unclaimed property for a fee, you may be liable for substantial fees, and the Labor Department says it never charges a fee to recover funds. Companies that charge a cut are generally searching the same free public databases you can use yourself.
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1. Start with the paper trail
The paper trail tells you where to point the official searches, so begin here.
Forward and sort the mail
Statements and notices reveal accounts. Have the mail forwarded to the executor.
Pull last year’s tax return and any 1099 forms
They often list the banks and brokerages that paid interest or dividends. Banks must report interest of $10 or more on Form 1099-INT, and an executor can request IRS transcripts that may show 1099 income.
Read more: Old bank accounts and safe deposit boxes
Go through statements, checkbook registers, and old checks
Checks written to pay insurance premiums can point to a policy. Look for safe deposit box keys and for box rental fees on statements.
Read more: How to find everything a person owned
Request a credit report
The Iowa Attorney General notes that a spouse or executor can request a copy. A credit report mostly shows debts, not savings accounts, but it can reveal accounts you didn’t know about.
Read more: Which accounts to cancel first
Check the phone, email, and online accounts for statements
Online statements and account emails can point to institutions you haven’t found yet.
Read more: Digital accounts after a death
List current and former employers
Employers may have records of group life insurance and retirement plans.
Read more: Notifying an employer
2. Life insurance and annuities
Lost policies are common, and there is a free national search.
Search the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator
A free nationwide service run by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Participating insurers search their records; if one finds a policy or annuity and you’re the beneficiary, the company contacts you directly.
What you'll need
- Social Security number, legal name, date of birth, and date of death, all from the death certificate
- Your relationship to the person
Good to know: It can take up to 90 business days or more. If no match is found, you’re not the beneficiary, or you lack legal authority, you won’t hear back. It searches participating insurers’ individual policies and annuities, so it can’t guarantee finding every policy, and it does not cover group, military, or federal employee coverage (see the steps below).
Read more: How to find a lost life insurance policy or annuity; Life insurance and final expense insurance
Ask former employers about group life coverage
Regulators suggest checking whether the person’s employer offered group life coverage. To collect any policy you find, you’ll typically need a certified death certificate and the company’s claim form.
Read more: How to find a lost life insurance policy or annuity; How to find everything a person owned
Check military and federal employee life insurance
The NAIC locator does not search these. For SGLI or VGLI, a beneficiary files a Claim for Death Benefits (form SGLV 8283) with the Office of Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, along with a death certificate. For federal coverage (FEGLI), report an employee’s death to their HR office, or a retiree’s to OPM’s Retirement Office. Neither can tell you whether the person was enrolled or who the beneficiaries are; the insurer mails claim forms to beneficiaries.
- VA: Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) (va.gov) (opens an official site in a new tab)
- VA: Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI) (va.gov) (opens an official site in a new tab)
- OPM: how to report a death (FEGLI) (opm.gov) (opens an official site in a new tab)
Read more: How to find a lost life insurance policy or annuity; Veterans burial benefits
3. Unclaimed property
Dormant accounts, uncashed checks, and refunds are turned over to the state, which holds them for the owner or heirs.
Search every state the person lived or worked in
Each state and D.C. has its own free office, so check each place the person lived, starting with the most recent, and try name variations. MissingMoney.com is endorsed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA); AARP reported in 2025 that it covered 49 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico, but it isn’t complete, so also check individual states directly. unclaimed.org, NAUPA’s site, links to every state’s official program.
- unclaimed.org (NAUPA) (unclaimed.org) (opens an official site in a new tab)
- MissingMoney.com (missingmoney.com) (opens an official site in a new tab)
Read more: Unclaimed property after a death
Gather what you’ll need to claim
Claiming is free, and in nearly every state there is no deadline, according to the Maryland Comptroller, so heirs can claim long after a death.
What you'll need
- A certified death certificate
- Photo ID
- Proof of your relationship or authority: court letters, or in Texas an affidavit of heirship
- ClaimItTexas claim forms (a worked example) (claimittexas.gov) (opens an official site in a new tab)
- Maryland Comptroller unclaimed property tip sheet (marylandcomptroller.gov) (opens an official site in a new tab)
Read more: Unclaimed property after a death; Getting death certificates; What are letters testamentary?
Check failed credit unions and unpaid wages
If the person belonged to a credit union that was liquidated, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) pays share accounts to members and publishes a list of unclaimed deposits. The NCUA says shares claimed within its 18-month insurance period are paid at the full insured amount; after that they are uninsured and may be paid on a pro-rata basis, so don’t wait. The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division also has a “Workers Owed Wages” search.
- NCUA: unclaimed deposits at liquidated credit unions (ncua.gov) (opens an official site in a new tab)
- Labor Department: Workers Owed Wages (dol.gov) (opens an official site in a new tab)
Read more: How to find everything a person owned
4. Pensions and retirement accounts
This is where families most often go wrong, because the obvious federal tool doesn’t work for someone who has died.
Read this first: the Labor Department’s Lost and Found can’t search for someone who has died
Its own FAQ says it only searches by your own Social Security number through your own verified Login.gov account. It also doesn’t cover IRAs or government and certain religious plans. Don’t treat “no results” there as an answer about the person who died.
Read more: Lost pensions and old retirement accounts
Contact former employers and unions directly
The Labor Department’s advice for a deceased spouse is to contact the employers or unions and ask about retirement benefits. If you can’t tell who they were, an EBSA Benefits Advisor can help you find them.
Read more: Lost pensions and old retirement accounts
Check with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
When a private-sector pension plan ends, benefits may have been transferred to PBGC, which has a search tool for unclaimed retirement benefits. Its guidance has been that if the participant has died and you’re a beneficiary, you should contact PBGC; it also takes reports of a participant’s death.
Read more: Lost pensions and old retirement accounts
Ask about survivor benefits
A surviving spouse may be entitled to survivor benefits from a pension. Ask each plan, and see our guide for government and military pensions too.
Read more: Lost pensions and old retirement accounts
Identify accounts with named beneficiaries
Retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, such as IRAs, usually pass directly to those beneficiaries rather than through the estate.
Read more: Probate vs. non-probate assets; Inheriting an IRA or 401(k)
5. Savings bonds
Easy to lose track of, and the rules depend on how each bond is titled.
Look for paper bonds and check how they’re titled
If a surviving co-owner or beneficiary is named on a paper bond, it goes to that person. If two people are named and both have died, it belongs to the estate of the one who died last. What happens next depends on whether the estate has a court-appointed representative.
Read more: Savings bonds after a death
If there was an online TreasuryDirect account, contact TreasuryDirect
If the person had an online TreasuryDirect account, you contact TreasuryDirect.
Read more: Savings bonds after a death
Search for matured, unredeemed bonds through state programs
Treasury retired its Treasury Hunt search tool on September 30, 2025. Searches for matured, unredeemed bonds now go through state unclaimed property programs, starting at unclaimed.org.
Read more: Savings bonds after a death
6. Bank accounts and safe deposit boxes
Finding an account is one task; getting access is another.
Look for a safe deposit box
Look for rental fees on bank statements, a key (often stamped with a number), or rental invoices, and ask the banks where the person did business. If a box was abandoned, its contents may have been reported to the state as unclaimed property.
Good to know: A safe deposit box is not a deposit account; its contents aren’t covered by FDIC deposit insurance.
Read more: Old bank accounts and safe deposit boxes
Find out who can open the box and the accounts
To access accounts you generally need to be a named co-owner or beneficiary, or the court-appointed executor. Access to a box after death depends on state law, and having the key doesn’t by itself entitle you to open it. Call ahead, since branches differ.
What you'll need
- A certified copy of the death certificate
- Your photo ID and proof of relationship, if relying on a family-member provision
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, if you’re the executor or administrator
- A copy of the will, if you’re named executor and relying on a will-search provision
- The key, if you have it
Read more: Old bank accounts and safe deposit boxes; What are letters testamentary?
7. Money owed to the estate
Several kinds of money can be owed after a death, and each follows different rules.
Ask the employer about the final paycheck and unused vacation
Final pay (including unused vacation, depending on state law and company policy) goes to a person or the estate that state law designates, often a surviving spouse by affidavit or the estate’s representative.
Read more: Final paychecks, refunds, and other money owed; Notifying an employer
Claim the final-year federal tax refund
A refund for the final year comes through the final return.
Report the death to Social Security, and know its payment rules
No benefit is payable for the month of death, so a payment that arrives afterward must be returned. A one-time $255 payment may go to a qualifying spouse or child who applies within two years.
Read more: Final paychecks, refunds, and other money owed; Notifying Social Security and government agencies
8. Other things to account for
Not every item here is cash, but each can matter to the estate.
If the person was a veteran, look at VA benefits
Burial and survivor benefits may be available. Our guides explain what exists and how to apply.
Read more: Veterans burial benefits; Benefits for surviving spouses and dependents
Check for cryptocurrency and other digital assets
Digital assets can be easy to miss. See our guides for what to look for and what access you’ll need.
Read more: Cryptocurrency after a death; Digital accounts after a death
Account for vehicles, the home, and mortgages
See our guide on what happens to vehicles, the home, and mortgages after a death.
Read more: Vehicles and mortgages after a death
If you find a debt instead of an asset
Debts generally belong to the estate rather than to you personally. Read our guide before paying anything from your own funds.
Read more: Handling debts after a death
Keep a master list
Record each institution, the type of account, the last four digits, who you contacted and when, what they asked for, and the status. It’s easy to lose the thread across a dozen phone calls. Don’t type account numbers into this page; use your own notes.
Read more: How to find everything a person owned
Save or share your checklist
Want a place to keep track of everything you find?
Our free Executor Checklist covers the wider job, and a Final Day Plan lets your own family find your accounts and documents without a search.
This checklist is general information, not legal or financial advice. Procedures, documentation, and which tools apply vary by state and by institution; an estate attorney or the agency itself can address your situation. Official sites and forms change, and we re-check these steps at least quarterly. Links open the official source in a new tab; we don't control their content.