The Treasurer’s Office manages the following types of unclaimed funds:
1) Absent Heir
The county Treasurer in accordance with California Probate Code(s) 7643, 11850 and 11851 receives deposits to the Treasurer's office by the Public Administrator, or other representative of an estate who delivers a Court Order directing funds be deposited to the Treasurer's office, when identified heirs or beneficiaries cannot be located.
If estates monies with missing heirs remain unclaimed for one year of the deposit or as directed through Court Order, with the Treasurer’s Office, the funds will be escheated to the California State Controller’s Office along with its semi-annual report of unclaimed funds from estates of deceased persons with missing heirs.
If you have any questions regarding monies transferred to the State Controller’s Office, please contact:
State Controller’s Office
Unclaimed Property Division
P.O. Box 942850
Sacramento, California 94250-5873
2) Unknown Heir
The county treasurer in accordance with California Probate Code 7663 shall receive funds by the Public Administrator, or by other representatives of an estate who delivers a Court Order directing the funds be deposited to the Treasurer’s Office in matters when a decedent does not specify beneficiaries.
3) Landlord Sales Surplus (Abandoned Property)
Monies received primarily from public storage companies for the sale of abandoned property, or from hospitals for abandoned property, as required by Business and Professions Code, Division 8, Chapter 10, Self-Service Storage Facilities, and monies received from an abandoned mobilehome in a mobilehome park as required by California Civil Code Section 798.61(F).
For funds related to (2) Unknown Heir and (3) Landlord Sales Surplus sources, California Government Code 50050-50057 outline that unclaimed monies, including estates of deceased without known heirs, which remain in the county Treasurer for at least three (3) years may be escheated to the County's general fund after public notice. At the end of the three-year period, unclaimed items will be published in a newspaper of county-wide circulation as notice that these funds will become property of the County if they remain unclaimed after a specified date, 60 days after publication. Once the unclaimed items become the property of the County, a claim may no longer be submitted.
Claim Process
Interested parties who believe a deposit with the Treasurer is owned by you, complete the appropriate claim form, compile the necessary supporting documentary materials to establish ownership, and submit to the San Mateo County Treasurer’s Office for review. Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing of a claim. If your submission is not satisfactory to proceed upon initial review, submitted materials will be mailed back to you, along with a letter of explanation for not moving forward.
If you complete and mail in a claim form, you must also complete the notary acknowledgement. If the claim form is prepared in presence of Treasurer staff at our Redwood City Office, notary acknowledgement is not required.
Claim requests are strongly encouraged to be dropped off at our Redwood City Office during regular business hours. A submission can also be mailed to the following address for processing:
San Mateo County Treasurer’s Office
Attn: Absent & Unknown Heirs
555 County Center, 1st Floor
Redwood City, CA 94063
If you have any questions about Absent and Unknown Heirs processing, please email TreasMaster@smcgov.org or call our Absent and Unknown Heirs team at (650) 363 – 4580.
All submitted documentation to our office may be subject to disclosure under public records laws, with limited redaction for personal identifiable information and SSN.