If you have an unpaid balance that has gone untouched for several years, it may be transferred to your state as unclaimed property. This is called escheatment, and it is a legal requirement, not a choice Lulu makes on its own. This article explains what escheatment is, how we determine when a balance qualifies, how to avoid it, how it appears on your account, and how to reclaim escheated funds.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What Is Escheatment?

Escheatment is the legal process that requires businesses to turn over unclaimed money to the state government when the rightful owner has not claimed it within a set period. It applies to many kinds of unclaimed property, including dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, and unpaid creator earnings.


Every US state (and many other jurisdictions) has its own unclaimed property laws. These laws require companies like Lulu to identify balances that meet a state's definition of "abandoned," report them, and remit the funds to that state. Lulu does not keep this money. Once a balance is escheated, the state holds it on your behalf until you come forward to claim it.


Note: Escheatment is separate from a Lulu account closure or suspension. Your account stays active, but the unpaid balance itself is removed and remitted to the state.

How We Determine When a Balance Is Escheated

A payee’s balance becomes eligible for escheatment only when it meets all of the following conditions:

  • The balance meets the minimum payment threshold for your payment method, after tax withholding:
    • 5 USD for PayPal
    • 20 USD for check
  • Amounts owed on the balance and your account have both been inactive for the dormancy period required by your state or country (typically 3 to 5 years, depending on the jurisdiction). This means:
    • The payee’s unpaid balance has amounts meeting the dormancy period.
    • You have not logged in to your Lulu account.
  • Your account has no active flags for fraud, Terms and Conditions violations, or garnishment.


Note: Logging in to the account associated with the payee with a dormant balance restarts the inactivity period from that point.


If the balance and account meet all three conditions, the funds are remitted to the unclaimed property office of the state of record. If the country of record is not the United States, the balance is escheated to the state of Delaware in the US.

How to Avoid Escheatment

Since escheatment applies only to balances and accounts that have been inactive for years, the easiest way to protect your earnings is to stay active and keep your payee information up to date.


Log In to Your Account Periodically

Even if you are not actively publishing, logging in resets the inactivity clock on your account. Sign in at lulu.com every so often to keep your balance in good standing.


Keep Your Payee Information Up to Date

Outdated or incorrect payee information is one of the most common reasons payments go unclaimed. To review or update your payee details:


Note: A payee's contact information is not always the same as for the Lulu account. To update a payee, you must log in to the specific Lulu account associated with that payee.


  1. Go to the My Projects page and select the project.  
  2. On the Project Overview page, scroll to the Pricing & Payees section.
  3. Click Revise Pricing to open the Pricing and Payees step in the Publishing Tool.
  4. Update your payee's contact information, payment method, or email address as needed.
  5. Confirm your changes on the Review step.


For a full walkthrough of this section, see the Pricing & Payees section of the Project Overview Page article.


Note: If you have multiple projects sharing the same payee, you only need to update it once. Editing a payee from any project it is linked to will update that payee everywhere it is used.

How Escheatment Appears on Your Account

If a payment is escheated, you will see it reflected in a few places:

  • Email notification: We will email the payee's contact address when an escheated payment is processed.
Note: This may be different from the login email for the Lulu account the payee is assigned to.
  • Payment Overview page: The payment method for that record will display as Escheated – [State/Country], showing exactly where the funds were sent.
  • Payment details: Escheated payments appear the same as any other payment record, with the payment method updated to reflect the escheatment.


An escheated payment is not counted as "Paid" earnings to you, and it is not included in your 1099 tax reporting, since the funds were remitted to a state government rather than paid to you directly.

How to Reclaim an Escheated Payment

Once a balance is escheated, Lulu no longer holds those funds, so we can't reissue the payment ourselves. Instead, you'll need to file a claim directly with the US state that received the funds. Most states offer a free, direct process for this:

  1. Find out where the funds were sent. Check your Payment Overview page for the state listed on the escheated payment.
  2. Search the state's unclaimed property database. Most US states list unclaimed property through the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators or MissingMoney.com, both of which let you search by state for free.
  3. File a claim with the state. Each state has its own claim form and verification requirements, which usually include proof of identity and your last known address on file with Lulu.
  4. Wait for review and payment. Processing times vary by state. Once approved, the state pays you directly, typically for the cash value of the escheated amount.


Important: Lulu can confirm the amount and date of an escheated payment if you need supporting documentation for your claim, but we can't file the claim on your behalf or expedite state processing.