You'll Never Know Unless You Search!
Every day, someone loses some
form of financial property because of a change of address, death, or just
plain forgetfulness.
This unclaimed money is, by law, turned over to government agencies.
Should you consider a "pay
to search service"?
All of the government and some of
the private databases we link you to are absolutely
free. However, since not all missing money is
listed in government databases, you may
want to consider the "pay to search" services
you will see advertised on this site. These services
may have access to missing money you won't
otherwise find.
Do
you have unclaimed money?
People receive letters every day
from professionals offering to recover unclaimed property for
a fee. Usually this is the first time the legal owner has heard about the
property. Fees can be 30% or more.
With our help you can turn this lost money into found money.
Lost
Life Insurance
An often overlooked form
of lost money is lost life insurance policies. At
least twenty percent of life insurance policies become lost life insurance and
are turned over to state unclaimed money departments. Often
these life insurance polices become lost life insurance policies because
the survivors never knew the policy existed.
Real Estate is never included in the definition of Unclaimed
Property as used by federal and state laws concerning
escheatment or the disposition of abandoned property.
I was contacted by an "heir finder."
What if someone contacted you out of the blue and
said they found some unclaimed money belonging to you?
The story is that the unclaimed money consists of unclaimed
funds that you own, sitting in an old bank account. Is this a scam?
Probably not. Chances are you have been contacted
by a "middle man". The middle man is probably
a finder company that specializes in searching out unclaimed
assets to reunite with the owner. There is nothing wrong with
that, as far as we know. The only problem is that the finder company will
want their cut - up to about 30% or more of your unclaimed money.
What is Unclaimed Property?
Bank accounts, insurance payments,
dividends, stocks, utility deposits or other intangible property
usually become unclaimed assets because
of a change of address. A company or government wasn't notified
and was unable to locate the owner of the unclaimed property.
As required by law, the unclaimed money was
turned over to the state and added to the state databases.
But its still your money and the states want to find you.
State Unclaimed Money Links
Use the links we provide to find these free
state unclaimed money databases. These government
agencies are drawing interest on your money while they wait
for you to find it!
Federal Unclaimed Money Links
What about the federal government?
By all means check the federal links such as FDIC,
HUD, IRS, PBGC, Federal Treasury Hunt and others.
In 2004 alone about $75 Million in IRS refund checks were
returned to the IRS as undeliverable. The PBGC has unclaimed
pension money and the FDIC is holding unclaimed
insured deposits from bank failures. And the Bureau
of Public Debt (The Treasury) has a search entitled "Federal
Treasury Hunt"!
How Much Unclaimed Property Is Out There?
Various estimates place the total
amount of unclaimed money owned by Americans
anywhere from "billions" to a
trillion dollars. The State of Florida alone
reports more than a billion dollars in unclaimed
money that it holds for owners. Florida, like
most states, offers free searches of unclaimed funds to
owners. So does New York which holds about $6 BILLION
in unclaimed money!
How Can This Be?
Why is there so much property sitting
in the states' unclaimed funds accounts? People
simply don't know about it! Our mission is to save
you hours of surfing the web to find your missing
money.
How To Prevent your property
from becoming Unclaimed Property:
- Keep a record of all bank and savings accounts.
Indicate your interest in and awareness of all accounts by
contacting the holder at least every five years.
- Record all stock certificates and be sure
to cash all dividends received.
- Record all utility deposits, including telephone
deposits.
- Respond in writing to any requests for confirmation
of account balances with banks, stockbrokers and utility
companies.
- Prepare a checklist of all accounts to be
notified when you change your address. Share this list with
a family member or trusted advisor.
- Notify your bank, broker, credit card issuers,
employer, 401K administrator, life and health insurance contacts,
mortgage lenders, doctors, attorney, accountant, retirement
fund, investment accounts, mutual funds, safe deposit box
account, and others of any name change or change of address.
- Notify your business contacts of your change
of address when you move.
- Cash all checks promptly upon receipt.
Good luck and we hope you have "Found Money!"
For Free Searches go to the "States" page!
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