Have you ever wondered if you have unclaimed, lost money floating around out there that you just need to claim? What do I mean? Well, apparently there is around 33 billion dollars from 117 million accounts* that have unclaimed money sitting, waiting to be claimed from bank accounts, stocks, dividends, paychecks, etc. The average account holds around $280!
It would be difficult if not nearly impossible to think back over your whole life to determine whether any portion of that unclaimed money belongs to you! Well, thankfully it is actually easy and FREE to claim any lost money that is due to you.
There are two sites that you check this information from:
Each of these sites walk you through the steps to enter your name and any any state that you have resided in and then informs you if you have missing money to claim. These sites are officially endorsed by each of the states.
We actually heard about this site a couple of years ago and checked it then. Neither of us had missing money then and we just checked again today and still none missing. However, did some searches for family members and discovered the my mother-in-law has around $75 to claim from two accounts! I will have to let her know!
When you do a search (like in the case of me searching under family members names) it does not give you any details. The actual person has to make the claim. Since I didn’t have any money to claim, I am not sure of the process after you discover missing money, but we have heard it is pretty simple, in most cases, to get your money!
We are curious if you have missing money coming to you. Let us know! With 33 billion unclaimed, surely someone is a new millionaire amongst us!
* The actual facts regarding the 33 Billion dollars and 117 million accounts in this article were taken from unclaimed.org/what.
Mary Pitman
Actually, not all states participate on the missingmoney site. Click on the map of the US on the home page of missingmoney.com. It will take you to a color-coded map. Green states have their information on the site. Blue do not. Yellow are in the process of uploading their info.
I have found that you get better results searching the individual states as there can be a long period between when it appears on the state site vs. when it appears on the national sites.
As for claiming, the funds have to be claimed in the state in which they are held. Each state has their own criteria. You can expect to at least send a copy of your driver’s license. To claim my father’s money, I had to send a certified copy of my birth certificate, his death certificate, my drivers license and although they didn’t ask for it, since I had a different last name I included a copy of my marriage license. It was worth it to get $2,550.76.
I have just about completed my e-book, The Little Book of Missing Money. It’s filled with search tips you’d never think of. That’s all it started out to be. But I ended up coming across additional sites that are free-to-search/free-to-claim that I had never heard of. I’m just waiting to get additional verification on some information to make sure everything I publish is correct. My Web site will be done shortly. It will be http://www.TheLittleBookOfMissingMoney.com and will sell for $12.95. I will have a free report available on the site titled “What To Know If You Get Contacted By An Heir Finder.” I strongly discourage the use of them because you can search yourself. Sometimes the money is hard to find if it is in the “pre-escheat phase. (Escheat is when the money meets the designated inactive length of time before it is required to be turned over to the state.) Exhaust all your options before using them. Get the free report for other important information you need to know. Sorry but my Web guy has been on vacation so he’s a little behind.
Desiree
I have done this in the past and recovered around $500! 🙂
Melissa Potter
I’ve claimed money before. It was actually a return of premium for a cancer policy I currently have.