Credit Union accounts & CD’s can be declared abandoned if the owner (or surviving relative) fails to stay connected over a period of time. This is a surprisingly common occurrence. Reasons for this could be the death of a family member or a name change due to a divorce or marriage. In some cases an individual may switch financial institutions thinking they have closed or cleaned out the account, but in fact left a balance in it.

When a credit union with federal insurance is liquidated, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is responsible for paying the share accounts to the members. Of course there are a surprising amount of shares that remain unclaimed. Some checks are never cashed or the credit union's member's address information is no longer accurate.

There is an 18-month insurance coverage period during which shares/claims are paid at their full amount up to $100,000. At the expiration of the 18-month coverage period, shares that are not claimed lose their insurance coverage. However, even uninsured shares may be entitled to a distribution.

Occasionally, the liquidation of a credit union may result in a surplus of funds.  In this instance, a distribution to the shareholders is mandatory. Since this event may occur many years after the credit union is liquidated, it is much harder to locate the shareholders. This makes it much more likely that unclaimed funds will remain.