Sudden and unforeseen income worth as much as $35 BILLION!!! Surprised?? This is the size of the kitty of unclaimed cash in the United States of America today. If you think that it is improbable that you may be owed lost money, just check this bit of statistics.

What Oprah Said

As many as 8 out of 9 Americans are owed unclaimed funds according to Oprah Winfrey.  This article seeks to tell you how you can find and claim the lost money owed to you. This article will guide you from searching for your money to watching it land in your mailbox as a check!

It is no longer necessary to explain in detail what unclaimed money is. It is simply the money that the owner has no knowledge of. It is the money in the childhood savings account that was forgotten after growing up. It is the inheritance that you were never informed about. It is the dividends earned by stocks that are owned by you but which you no longer remember.

Common Reasons for Unclaimed Cash

Common reasons for Unclaimed Cash to come into existence include savings and checking accounts that are no longer in operation, safe deposit boxes that will never be opened again, stocks, mutual funds, bonds and dividends that one no longer remembers, uncashed cashier's checks and money orders, small denomination IRS refunds, unclaimed wages, matured or terminated insurance policies etc.

Cash becomes unclaimed cash when the money lies inactive for three or more years. Further, when the institution is unable to contact its owner, it has no other choice but to hand it over to the authorities for safekeeping. This problem arises when the contact information given to the institution is not updated. The money is handed over to the state or federal government for safe holding. 

Finding Your Unclaimed Money

When your money does become unclaimed money, you have to search for it and claim it. Now, how do you search for it?? The smart thing to do would be to search online. The databases of unclaimed money are classified on territorial basis. There are different databases for different states. You ought to check each and every database to ensure that there is no scope for unclaimed money being owed in your name.

Since searching fifty plus state databases and multiple federal databases is not an easy task, Bill McIntosh, who is the founder of Cashunclaimed.com, offers the fantastic facility of an all-in-one database. The all in one database helps you search 120+ databases in one go. You can search for money owed to you, your friends, your relatives and your family members as many times as you want at not cost at all. , states, "It is important to search your name and the names of your relatives and friends."  Most sites, like Bill's, allow unlimited free name searches that will tell you if the name you searched is owed money or not.

Tips to Searching for Your Unclaimed Money

It is very essential to remember that the money may be owed in your name or in variations of your legal name. The inheritance may have been made in the name of W. Ford or the name of Bill Ford when the legal name may be William Ford. In such a scenario, simply searching for William Ford will result in the search being incomplete. You will have to key in variation of legal names as well.

Searching for the unclaimed money is the hard part. Once the money is located, one simply has to fill out the necessary forms and offer the necessary proof of identity. Once this is done, wait for the check to land up in your mailbox.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com