Customers of now defunct Washington Mutual may have one last withdrawal coming their way. Millions of dollars in accounts dormant at the time of the bank's 2008 demise are making their way to states' government offices.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC), which oversaw the seizure of Washington Mutual -- the nation's largest bank failure -- and subsequent sale to JP Morgan Chase, handed over nearly $251.4 million to the states this summer. Oregon, for example, received some 27,000 accounts containing $3.85 million.

Washington Mutual's millions represent a substantial jump in the states' escheated assets, estimated earlier this year at a collective $32.8 billion. "We get money from the FDIC [takeovers] all the time, but it's usually very minimal," says John Gabriel, the president of the NAUP Administrators. "This is an unusual spike."

"[The amount] has nothing to do with the fact that the bank failed," says David Barr, a spokesman for the FDIC. Washington Mutual was the sixth largest bank in the country at the time of its demise, and the figure reflects that. "Banks have unclaimed funds," he says. "Obviously a bank that size is going to have more."

Under normal circumstances, unclaimed funds trickle their way to the states after the account has been left untouched for at least three years. In the case of a bank failure, that process accelerates, Barr says. The acquiring bank has 18 months to reach account holders before turning the money over to the FDIC, which in turns hands it off to states.

Chase customers who successfully made the switch from Washington Mutual after its failure aren't affected, says Chase spokesman Tom Kelly. The escheated accounts are those that were already dormant at the time of acquisition, likely from consumers who forgot about small amounts left in their accounts when they moved or switched banks. Some may be from deceased customers with no known heirs, or simply poor local bank records, Gabriel says.