Many millions of dollars become
'lost' each year, and go unclaimed when banks, companies and government departments
lose track of the true owner of the money they hold.
It is estimated that more than 50% of Americans can claim assets they
are unaware of - either personal funds, or assets of lost relatives.
Companies are supposed to make a 'reasonable effort' to get in touch with lost customers, but there is no penalty for failing to do so.
By law, American companies can't just retain any unclaimed monies for themselves. It has to be kept safeguarded in special
accounts where it may be held for several years awaiting a claim
- either by the owners or their rightful heirs.
The period of time that must pass before an asset is considered legally abandoned - the dormancy period - is set by law. It varies with the type of property involved, but often runs up to five years.
At the end of the dormancy period, if there has been no owner directed activity, those holding the assets - insurance companies, banks, brokerages, bussiness trade and credit unions, employers and utilities - must transfer them to the protective custody of government or state trust accounts in a process known as 'escheat'
The office of the State Comptroller is then in control of this money.
If no claim ever arises, the money will eventually go to the state budget or the federal goverment.
It is estimated that the State of California alone has spent almost $5 billion of unclaimed money, that could have been claimed by the rightful owners !!!
Money can go 'missing' for
many reasons including:
Changes of address, name changes, mis-spelled
names, post office mistakes, marriages, divorces, bankruptcies, deaths,
job relocations, etc.
Often a check in the mail is mistakenly dismissed as junk mail, or simply misplaced. Uncashed checks are one of the most common types of unclaimed money in the database.
Typical funds that can be claimed include:
Uncashed checks
Dormant checking or savings accounts.
Forgotten savings bonds.
Tax refund checks.
Old travelers checks and money orders.
Unclaimed security deposits and utility deposits.
Death inheritance / wills.
Life insurance proceeds.
Safe deposit box contents.
Bail bonds.
Stock dividends and certificates.
Most adults are owed some
of this money and they don't even know it.
State databases and other
online resources can help you find out if some of this money is yours,
and help you get it back.
It is recommended that everyone should check the depositories in the
state that they live in every few years.
After a relative or family member dies, a full search of the United
States should be done to locate any unclaimed cash or assets that can
be claimed by heirs or family members. It is estimated that a fifth of inheritance entitlements go unclaimed.
Many US states now offer direct access to their information. eg California
, Texas , Florida , New York , Michigan , Lousiana , Ohio , Illinois
, North Carolina , Pennsylvania.
Online for 2010 -
Unclaimed money information is now also available for public use - State
of Washington , Georgia , South Carolina , Indiana, Missouri , Alabama
, Kentucky . Oklahoma , Massachusetts, New Jersey , Colorado , Wisconsin
, Maryland , Virginia , Carolina, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon.
Existing State Databases - the big problem.
The states that already run unclaimed money offices have a major flaw. These and all of the government sponsored sites related to found money are missing approximately 90% of lost money records, including most private company unclaimed records. They are good only for a limited amount of public funds, after a number of years have passed.
As a company can have its head office in any state, you really need a unified database of all US states, plus records of cash still in internal company dormancy periods.
State residents will most likely miss out on monies that they could have claimed. Plus it would take you approximately 50 hours to search all the government departments one by one.
There is no single government site that unites all the seperate lost money databases.
If you really want to search all of the state and most of the federal unclaimed property databases, you need to search online using the full Unclaimed Cash and Property Database.
This site contains the most comprehensive unclaimed money database on the Internet, with many thousands of hours of work involved in compiling all the information, and constantly updating with new accurate records.
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NEWS:
A recent report on CBS news estimated that Americans are owed over $33 billion in unclaimed cash.
Although this sounds like a lot of money, the average owed to individuals is generally under $500, although there are many finds of thousands of dollars. At a time when many people are struggling financially, it makes sense to claim everything you can.
Previously this involved a lot of hard work, writing to every possible state source, but now several internet sites with unified databases make it as simple as searching for your own name.
(Remember to search for alternative spellings of your name or maiden names. )
Wisconsin recently kicked of a public campaign to try and re-unite state residents with their missing money.
Many millions of dollars are currently lying unused in the states bank acccounts.
Officials were recently at Miller Park in Milwaukee to kick off a travelling roadshow. Computers and claim forms are made available to help search for any funds you may be entitled to.
