Found very old paycheck. How can I claim the money?

November 16, 2007 10:09 AM

How can I claim the money from an old, uncashed paycheck?

My father has finally broken decades of pack-rattery and started to clean out old drawers full of envelopes and mail. Among things he's found is an old, uncashed paycheck from roughly 15 years ago.

The check was issued to him from a company which has since been bought out; the acquiring company is still in business. He made some preliminary phone calls about the check, but nobody has been cooperative and he's asked me to intervene on his behalf. How should I proceed?

posted by crazy finger to Law & Government (8 answers total)

Sometimes funds from old uncashed paychecks are required to be turned over to the state. Check www.missingmoney.com to see if you find an entry relating to your father. You would then submit a claim to your state's unclaimed property office.
posted by dcjd at 10:15 AM on November 16, 2007

Not only has the check probably expired, but the statute of limitations probably has too. Where is your dad?
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:15 AM on November 16, 2007

He may have forgotten other parts of this story...like he thought he lost the check 15 years ago, so he got it reissued. I would start by checking his bank statement from back then to verify that there is a gap in the paycheck deposit cycle. If he is a packrat, he should have those, too.
posted by Eringatang at 10:39 AM on November 16, 2007

Response by poster: He is in New Hampshire. I will look into the unclaimed property thing...

Although my dad may have forgotten parts of the story, he's never been one to concern himself with little details and micromanaging so I'm fairly certain he would not have noticed this in the past and would not have had anything reissued.

Any other advice?

I will post updates when/if they occur.
posted by crazy finger at 10:44 AM on November 16, 2007

I am very sorry to say that in my experience unless you have a very cooperative payroll department, those checks well not get reissued. They say pretty clearly there void after date and they are usually voided and put back in the bank roll after that date. If you make a personal appearance somewhere and plead for your dad it might happen, but I don't know that they have a legal obligation to help you.
posted by stormygrey at 11:17 AM on November 16, 2007

Here's the link for New Hampshire unclaimed property.
posted by Floydd at 11:20 AM on November 16, 2007

thirding going to unclaimed property. The company in question was probably required to turn over unclaimed money after a certain waiting period, which looks like just one year in New Hampshire for wages. Although if your father was still employed and/or living at the same address, the employer should have made an attempt to re-issue the check prior to submitting it to the state.
posted by saffry at 4:05 PM on November 16, 2007

The company I worked for reissued me paychecks if they were not cashed within six months (including one time that I did not even realize that I hadn't deposited the check). I am fourthing going to the unclaimed property department because every time before they would reissue me the check, before they could, they had to have me sign a paper because if their records did not reflect that I had claimed the money with a certain amount of time (I am blanking on whether it was another six months or a year), then they had to turn it over to the state of Connecticut.

Oh and every time they did reissue me the check, it would be as a business check, not a pay check since taxes had already been taken out. Since that is kind of unique, you may want to ask your dad if he ever received a regular business check from the company
posted by lilacorlavender at 4:27 PM on November 16, 2007