Unless you won the lottery this week you would probably be
excited to find money owed to you. Unclaimed
money and property in excess of $25 Billion is being
held by the government and is just waiting to be claimed.
You may be thinking, 'I have never forgotten about money owed to
me', this may be true, but what about the monies you are not
aware of? i.e. an inheritance or savings bond. Oprah Winfrey
stated 9 out of 10 Americans have unclaimed money.
So why is this money just sitting around? Chances are you
haven't heard of unclaimed money, there is a lack public
awareness and no simple method for searching and claiming lost
funds.
The most common types of Unclaimed
Property are:
· Savings and checking accounts and safe deposit box contents ·
Stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and dividends
· Uncashed cashier's checks or money orders
· IRS refunds
· Wages, child support payments
· Matured or terminated insurance policies
· Estates
· Mineral interests and royalty payments, trust funds, and
escrow accounts
· The list goes on and on...
One of the most impressive unclaimed
items is a 88-carat natural blue sapphire ring valued at
over $25,000! Recently a widow found over $50,000 owed to her
from an account her deceased husband had opened that she was not
even aware existed.
The property ends up in government accounts due to laws
requiring the property to be turned over to the state or other
governing agency after a period of approximately 3 years without
contact from the owner.
Oftentimes the owner moves and does not leave a forwarding
address or forgets that the account exists. In some cases, the
owner dies and the heirs have no knowledge of the property.
The amount of unclaimed cash is growing. It has almost doubled
the 15.8 billion in lost funds recorded in 2000. The
increase is not only due to public awareness but also attributed
to each state recording the money in individual databases.
Finding Your Unclaimed Money
So how do you search and find money owed to you? Each state has
its own database but it is not enough to search only the state
where you reside. If you have conducted business with companies
outside the state, the funds may be reported in the state where
the business was located. Also, a state search will not locate
missing money in 90 federal databases.
This makes searching difficult because you may have unclaimed
cash in a state in which you have never lived.
You also need to search variations of your name. For example, if
your name is Michael James Anderson an account might be under M
Anderson, M J Anderson, or Michael Anderson.
This can be a time consuming and tedious process to locate and
search over 120 databases. The most comprehensive government
site only incorporates 14 states into its database. This search
would still produce incomplete results and you may miss money
owed to you.
Comprehensive Unclaimed Money Searches
It is worth the small fee to utilize a private site that has
compiled all state and government databases.
After you have completed your search by name you will be given
results from the database. It may contain multiple records, some
of which are not yours. The record will normally have details on
the property, the value, institution the funds originated from,
owner address, etc. You should be able to tell which accounts
are yours from a quick look at these details.
What to do when you find the money
After locating your missing money follow the directions to submit
the claim. The claim process varies slightly depending on the
type of account or state of claim. Usually the claim consists of
filling out and sending a form or affidavit and copies of
identification or documents relating to the account.
Through continued efforts to educate the public on the topic of
unclaimed money more and more Americans are finding their lost
funds. Over $1 Billion was returned last year. It is likely you
or your immediate family members have unclaimed
money or property. Now that you are aware it exists and
know how to find and claim it, you can search for what is owed
to you!
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