Think You're Organized? Learn About the 80% Chance You Have Missing Money


by Nicole Anderson - Date: 2007-07-26 - Word Count: 533 Share This!

Think you know where every dollar you own is? Think it is impossible that you have lost track of some money? You might be shocked to learn that as many as 8 out of 9 families are owed missing money. This article will tell you how to find out if you or your family has money that has gone missing.

Where does missing money come from?

Missing money may come from many places. It might be from an old checking or savings account. It might be from an account that was opened for you as a child or one you opened for your children and lost track of.

The money may have come from stocks, bonds or dividends. It may be money owed to you from old insurance policies or from an old employer. It may be from alimony or child support payments, and so on...

After the company or institution holding the money hasn't had contact from you for about 3 years they are required by laws called escheat laws, to turn your money over to the appropriate state or federal government.

Then the money is held until it is claim by you. The amount of missing money now being held by the government totals over $35 BILLION! That would indicate that most people haven't look for this money and probably don't even know it is missing.

See if you are owed missing money

The state and federal government agencies holding the missing money do have databases you can search. BUT these databases are all individual databases and since your money may have been turned over to a state other than your state of residence it would be too tedious to search all 50 state databases and all federal databases.

The best place to search is an all-in-one database that has unclaimed money from all 50 state databases and federal databases.

Bill McIntosh, founder of Cashunclaimed.com, an all-in-one database, states, "the reason unclaimed money is growing to such vast amounts might be due to individuals searching in the inadequate state databases and therefore missing money that might is owed to them but overlooked by the limited search that is performed."

You found it, now claim it

When you find you are owed money, don't simply rejoice in the unexpected cash and then move on, CLAIM YOUR MISSING MONEY!

It is usually pretty simple to claim your money. A claim for must be filled out and submitted to the state or federal government holding the unclaimed cash. If you have multiple unclaimed money accounts, multiple claims will be required.

Proof of identification is sometimes needed such as a driver's license and/or birth certificate. If you are an heir claiming the money you may need additional documentation to prove entitlement to the money. This may include a death certificate, etc.

After the claim has been submitted the claim is reviewed and payment is normally sent within 2 to 16 weeks.

*TIP: When you are conducting a search to see if you have missing money owed to you don't forget about your family and friends. Make sure to search to see if your have loved ones owed money too!

This should be all you need to know to ensure you find the missing money that is owed to you!

Related Tags: money, debt, finance, personal finance, savings, money management, unclaimed money, kathy griffin

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