Unclaimed moneyand other intangible personal property held by corporations and others must, by law, be turned over to the appropriate state governments. This is done to protect the rights of owners of this unclaimed property. The state governments normally keep such funds in interest bearing accounts until it is claimed by the owner or heirs. (That interest earned goes to the government - not to the owner of the funds!) Fortunately, in recent years, political pressure has induced almost all of these government agencies to become "proactive" in returning this money to the rightful owners. Thus were born the free government "unclaimed money websites". We show you how to find these sites.

Some examples of unclaimed money are: utility deposits, lost tax refunds, stocks, bank accounts, unclaimed life insurance pay outs, the contents of safety deposit boxes, and even gift certificates that were unused.

The best place to begin is your own state's Unclaimed Property Department website. These are some of the websites that we provide links to. Many states allow searching by name on their own website. Some states refer you to a third party site contracted to provide free searches. In all states, it is unnecessary to pay any fee to claim your found money.

The United States Federal Government also has web site searches available for unclaimed money such as unclaimed tax refunds, VA benefits, US Savings Bonds, FDIC insurance claims and more. To search for these you need to go to our FEDERAL page.

Begin your search in the state where you live or the state where your recently moved from. Search under your name and any previous names, such as a maiden name, if applicable. You should start with a broad search using just the last name (not possible in some states). If you get a large number of "hits", refine your search by adding your first initial and possibly your full first name. You can also try your middle initial. The reason for this is to make sure you find any listings that might be under last name only, last name and initial only, and/or any listing with misspelled first or middle names (which could be the reason you never received the lost money). Also check for common misspellings of the last name.

The next step is to search unclaimed property records in other states you have lived in and states where your family members have lived. Don't limit yourself to any one state. A company holding unclaimed money will, in some cases, turn the missing money over to the state in which it is incorporated.

Move on to Federal records after searching state records. Many IRS refund checks are undelivered each year due to illegible or incorrect addresses. Do you have US Savings Bonds that are no longer drawing interest? Use the federal links to check them out. Did you ever work for a company whose pension fund was taken over by the federal government or have a bank account in a bank that went bust? These are also reasons to go looking in the federal unclaimed property links.

Finally, remember that you can search for family members and friends. If you find their name, send them to the appropriate site to file their own claim. And very importantly, remember that you can claim lost money or lost property that belonged to someone of whom you may be an heir.