Escheatment involves taking unclaimed property and handing it to the state. All states have statutes requiring companies to make regular reports to states regarding property that has been abandoned or unclaimed after a certain period of time. This period of time varies from state to state, but according to the Federal Government, it is often as short as just five years.

After the company finds that the account has been inactive for the statutory period of time, the company must report the amount to the state where the owner lives. The state them claims to own that account through a process called "escheatment". The state is then the account owner.

States make a bookkeeping entry, and the former account owner can make a claim to the state that they own the account. But the property is probably gone at this point, as most states liquidate the account, and then act as if the proceeds are state funds. If a valid claim is made, the state may return the liquidation value of the property, without any additional dividends, or interest.

States each have their own varying individual requirements for finding and claiming unclaimed property. If you believe you have unclaimed property, the state will require you to send to the state various information about yourself to identify you and verify your ownership of the unclaimed property. After verifying your ownership, the state will either mail you a claim form or permit you to fill out the form online and print it for submission to the state.