Frequently asked questions

Yes. The state's database is public at FLTreasureHunt.gov and the state charges nothing to return your property.

People come to us when the account is under a former name or a closed business, when the owner has died and entitlement has to be established, or when a claim they filed themselves has stalled on documentation.

You can also search our records to see whether we have already identified a case in your name. That costs nothing either.

A Florida law practice focused on unclaimed property recovery. Denny Borges is a member in good standing of The Florida Bar and is registered with the Florida Department of Financial Services as a claimant's representative.

Florida limits who may file an unclaimed property claim on someone else's behalf for a contingent fee: a Florida-licensed attorney, a Florida CPA, or a licensed private investigator, each registered with the Department first.

Do not take our word for it. Check it:

• Search your own name at FLTreasureHunt.gov. If nothing appears, there is nothing for anyone to recover.
• Call us on the number published on this site rather than a number from a text or voicemail.
• Ask for our registration with the Division of Unclaimed Property and verify it with the Division directly.
• No one should ask you to pay anything in advance. A request for a wire, a gift card, or an up-front fee is a scam without exception.

No fee up front. We are paid only if the state releases your funds, and our fee comes out of the recovery. If the claim is denied, you owe us no fee — we absorb our own research, notary coordination, and postage.

There is one thing that can cost you money regardless: if your claim requires a record you do not have, such as a certified death certificate, a marriage certificate, or a translation of a foreign document, that record has a price set by the issuing office. You can order it through us or obtain it yourself. See Documents. We tell you whether you need it before you spend anything on it.

The fee is stated as a percentage in the recovery agreement adopted by the Department of Financial Services, which you read and sign before we file. Florida law caps that percentage, and the cap covers costs as well as fees.

When a company cannot reach the owner of an account, Florida law requires it to turn the funds over to the state after a dormancy period. The state holds them indefinitely and never takes ownership.

Common sources: dormant bank accounts, uncashed payroll and vendor checks, stock dividends, insurance proceeds and annuities, utility and rental deposits, customer refunds, trust distributions, and the contents of abandoned safe-deposit boxes.

The state publishes the names on reported unclaimed property accounts. We work from that public record and use commercial address and public-records databases to find current contact information for the people named.

We do not buy your data from banks or from the company that reported the account, and we do not sell your information.

Review times are set by the Division of Unclaimed Property and vary with the type of claim and the Division's volume. Estate claims take longer than claims in your own name, because the entitlement documents get reviewed too.

We cannot make the state move faster, and neither can anyone else. What we can do is submit a complete file the first time, since incomplete documentation is the most common reason a claim sits.

Usually government-issued photo identification plus documentation connecting you to the name and address on the reported account.

If the account belonged to someone who has died, the state will also want a certified death certificate and documents establishing who is entitled to the funds. Florida's rules are specific about what qualifies, and a will on its own is generally not enough. We tell you exactly what your claim needs before you go get anything.

Common, and not a problem. A marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order documenting the change gets filed with the claim. Accounts reported under a former name are one of the main reasons people never find their own property in the state's database.

Heirs and estate representatives can claim the property, but only after showing entitlement. That generally means a certified death certificate, proof of relationship, and depending on the situation, probate documents.

Where the total the state holds for a deceased owner is small, Florida provides an alternative documentation path that avoids a heavier process. We will tell you which applies to your claim.

An active company signs through an authorized officer. For a dissolved company, a former officer or owner may still be able to claim, with identification and proof of their authority. How the funds are issued depends on the entity's status and the Division's requirements for that claim.

Being straightforward about this: your information is not seen only by the attorney. Filing a claim requires sharing it with the Florida Department of Financial Services, and support staff working under the firm's registration handle research, document collection, and scheduling.

Those staff are bound by confidentiality and work under the attorney's direction. We do not sell your information, and phone numbers collected for SMS are never shared for marketing. See our Privacy Policy for the detail.

One claim. The agreement covers identifying and recovering the specific account or accounts named in it. It is not a retainer for probate, estate litigation, real property, or tax matters, and it does not create a general attorney-client relationship for anything else.

Talk to us. Your rights to cancel are governed by the terms of the state's recovery agreement form and by Florida law on contingent fee agreements, and we will walk you through exactly what applies to the agreement you signed. Call the office and ask.