Over the course of just one year, the New Jersey Department of the Treasury's Unclaimed Property Administration returned a record $163 million in assets to rightful owners.

The office still has billions of dollars in unclaimed assets on its hands, and some may have your name on it.

By law, the state must take possession of certain unclaimed property when the owner has not initiated activity for a number of years. Common examples include life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts, utility deposits, and unused rebate cards, Treasury said. One in every 10 people in the U.S. has this type of unclaimed property.

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"We encourage every New Jerseyan to complete the free search on our website. Our staff stands ready to help them claim any assets they may be entitled to," said Unclaimed Property Administrator Steve Harris.

You can conduct a free search by name using this form, and can narrow down the search by adding your location. Try using past addresses if an initial search comes up empty. There are other services that charge you a fee in order to search for potential assets.

More than 224,000 new assets were reported to the state this year alone. Every year, the Administration publishes its list of new assets in newspapers around New Jersey. It also hosts outreach events.

The Administration is currently safeguarding assets worth a combined $5.9 billion.

The $163 million in assets were distributed during Fiscal Year 2022, which concluded at the end of June.

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