myFutureMails.com: A Site that Uses Email to Help in Revealing the Existence of Unclaimed Property to Potential Owners

Unclaimed assets exist as a result of institutions that have custody of the assets losing contact with the owner of the assets or their beneficiaries. In some jurisdictions, such assets are turned over to state agencies that try to locate the owners. Some of these agencies have developed web portals that enable potential owners and beneficiaries to search the unclaimed assets databases. For asset owners that die intestate, their next of kin may have no way of knowing what assets their departed relative owned. In this paper, the details of a web portal that enables an asset owner to disclose their assets to their beneficiaries only after the owner’s demise is described. The portal uses “Are you alive messages” to determine if the owner is still living.