- 1). Hire an escheater. An escheater is an agent hired by the government to locate property that is subject to escheatment. The escheater will search court records, recent death records and probate documents to find property that was not left to an heir through a will or situations in which no eligible heir is available to take possession of intestate property.
- 2). Attempt to locate all eligible heirs. In most states, statutes require that the state make an effort to find heirs before taking title to escheated property, because government ownership is the option of last resort. States can search for potential heirs by placing legal notices in newspapers or by maintaining online lists of properties for which heirs are sought.
- 3). Obtain ownership and title to escheated property. States each have specific statutes of limitation (a time period that must pass) that will start to run when they take possession of potentially escheated property. After the statute of limitations period has expired, ownership of the property will automatically pass to the state.
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