Unclaimed Money in Vermont: How to Find and Claim It

Vermont is one of the easiest states in the country to claim a small amount from, and it is worth knowing why before you start.

If you are the original owner and the amount is small, you can file the whole claim online with no documents to print, sign or post — and the Treasurer's Office says payment is mailed within two business days of approval. On the threshold itself, Vermont's own pages disagree: the Unclaimed Property page puts it at under $200, while the office's 2025 press release describes new software enabling online filing for claims under $250. Call it roughly $200 to $250 and check what the portal tells you when you file.

The second Vermont feature is MoneyBack, a proactive-payment program launched in December 2024 with the Department of Taxes. The Treasurer's Office verifies identity and address against tax data and simply mails a check — no claim, no forms — for unclaimed property ranging from $100 to $500. In its first run it sent nearly $1.3 million to more than 5,000 Vermonters before the holidays, and it now runs annually.

The office reported a record fiscal 2025: $9.9 million returned across 31,593 individual claims, up from 19,010 the year before, with more than $150 million still on hand.

Search the official database first — it is free

The search portal is at vermont.unclaimedproperty.com. You can search as a person, a business, or by city — the city search is unusual and useful if you are working through a family that has lived in one town for generations. Properties go into a claims cart before you file, so you can collect several at once. Search maiden names, married names and misspellings; records are stored the way the reporting company typed them.

One practical note: you can decline to provide your Social Security number and still claim, but only through the printed and mailed claim form, not the online path.

How money becomes unclaimed in Vermont

Vermont adopted the 2016 Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. The whole chapter — 27 V.S.A. Chapter 18 — was added by Act 93 of the 2019 adjourned session and took effect January 1, 2021. Anything you read about Vermont unclaimed property written before then may describe a repealed law.

Dormancy periods are at 27 V.S.A. § 1461. Demand, savings and time deposits, payroll cards, business debt, bonds, retail-transaction credits and matured life, endowment and annuity amounts all run three years, as does the general catch-all. Money orders are seven and traveler's checks fifteen. One year applies to wages, commissions and bonuses; utility deposits and refunds; property held by a court, including class-action proceeds; property held by a government body; and distributions from a dissolved business.

Two Vermont rules you will not find in most states

Vermont offsets your claim against state debts before paying you. Under § 1555, the Administrator applies unclaimed property to child support arrears, court-imposed fines, penalties, costs and restitution, and delinquent state taxes — and may run periodic inquiries with state agencies even where no claim has been filed, route the money to the agency, and notify the apparent owner afterwards.

Securities are protected from early liquidation. Under § 1532 the Administrator may not sell or liquidate a security until three years after receiving it and giving the owner notice, and exchange-listed securities cannot be sold below the prevailing exchange price. If you would rather have the cash, § 1555 lets you ask the Administrator to liquidate early and pay the net proceeds. That is the reverse of states that sell everything on arrival.

How long it takes

Vermont writes the timeline into the statute. Under § 1554 the Administrator must allow or deny a claim within 90 days of filing and notify you. If no action is taken within those 90 days the claim is deemed denied — which sounds harsh but exists so that inaction does not leave you without a route to appeal. Once a claim is allowed, § 1555 requires payment or delivery within 30 days. Small original-owner claims filed online move far faster than that.

Claiming for a deceased relative

Vermont's § 1557 is keyed to a $5,000 line and is more specific than most states.

If an estate is open, the property is paid to the administrator or executor. If the estate is closed and the property is under $5,000, the Probate Division's decree governs. If there is no open estate and no decree and the amount is under $5,000, it goes to the surviving spouse, or otherwise to next of kin under 14 V.S.A. § 314. Anything else requires a probate estate to be opened — though the Probate Division may waive its filing fees where the estate is being opened solely to distribute unclaimed property. Ask about that waiver rather than assuming the cost.

There is also a first-come rule worth knowing about on jointly owned property of $250 or less. If it has been listed on the site for less than a year, each owner who claims gets a proportionate share. If it has been listed a year or more, the entire property goes to the first claimant who owns at least a share of it.

Vermont otherwise holds property in perpetuity. As the Treasurer's Office puts it, you never lose your right to claim.

When it makes sense to get help

For a small amount in your own name, you genuinely do not need anyone. Vermont built the online path precisely so you would not. Help is worth considering where an estate has to be reconstructed, where several heirs are involved, where a dissolved business is on the record, or where securities need tracing.

Find My Money does not file claims in Vermont. We are a licensed California asset recovery firm and California is currently the only state where we can act on your behalf. Search vermont.unclaimedproperty.com now. If you want to hear from us when that changes, join the waitlist below.