Unclaimed Money - $200

[Life_is_Simple]

So last night I was reading some David Bach stuff, saying people should check for Unclaimed Property/Money in each state they have lived in. Here is the website, which links to different states' treasury department missing money divisions:

www.unclaimed.org

So I'm thinking, "Yeah, right. Very unlikely." So I checked my states, and Woohoo! I had money from a previous address. :laff:

So then I read another article of his (http://www.finishrich.com/blog/five-ways-to-find-money-sometimes-lots-in-less-than-an-hour/), and found more specifics at this website: www.missingmoney.com

I called the state treasury missing money number, and I have $200 from an overpaid medical bill or something, from 13+ years ago. :+1: I have to fill out the claim.

[decemberlov]

That's awesome!! :cool:

[Life_is_Simple]

That's awesome!! :cool:
I know ;) It's like winning the lottery. Since I don't play the lottery, this is the next best thing :)

I am hoping to hear from people here who go out and check those links, and find they have unclaimed money!

[decemberlov]

I checked mine a year or two ago and just re-check when you posted this. I am owed exactly $0.00. booooo :(

[treehugger]

I don't have any unclaimed money now, but when I first heard about this 10 or so years ago, I tried it and did have something like $50 from a closed checking account. So, success!

Kara

[sweetana3]

We found some once for my father in law. He was in NY State and if I remember correctly, it was from a very old insurance policy. It had an address they had not lived at for over 40 years.

[sweetana3]

When I worked for the IRS in the Taxpayer Advocate Service, a coworker and myself found over $2.5 million dollars for a woman who started out as a suicide call. She was irate and unhappy that the IRS kept contacting her asking her dead husband to file a tax return. No one could understand why it was happening so the two of us started an investigation.

Her husband had zero coupon corporate bonds and when he died 10 years earlier no one knew about them. The company called the bonds and could not find the owner. So half the money or over $1.2 million was sent eventually to unclaimed property and the remaining half was about to go there.

My coworker got to meet the woman and her granddaughter on one of her business trips.

One of my favorite work stories and I was never able to quite beat it. Almost did when I helped over 800 trusts all across the country with big penalty issues and the other case where I eventually found a huge number of uncashed refund checks for Japanese auto workers in an accountant's drawer due to working on the undelivered refund check list.

[Tussiemussies]

What a great find!:cool:

[sunnyjoe]

I didn't find any for myself but found small amounts for my mother, father and brother-in-law. Also found small bit for a close friend. Wow!

[SteveinMN]

I posted a few months ago about finally filing the paperwork from missingmoney.com. It was just always one of the things -- we didn't need the $$ and it didn't absolutely have to get. done. today. So it sat. For a few years. :|( But, yeah, the $550 that came back (income tax refund check never cashed?) was a happy surprise!

[Sad Eyed Lady]

So last night I was reading some David Bach stuff, saying people should check for Unclaimed Property/Money in each state they have lived in. Here is the website, which links to different states' treasury department missing money divisions:

www.unclaimed.org

So I'm thinking, "Yeah, right. Very unlikely." So I checked my states, and Woohoo! I had money from a previous address. :laff:

So then I read another article of his (http://www.finishrich.com/blog/five-ways-to-find-money-sometimes-lots-in-less-than-an-hour/), and found more specifics at this website: www.missingmoney.com

I called the state treasury missing money number, and I have $200 from an overpaid medical bill or something, from 13+ years ago. :+1: I have to fill out the claim.
Be patient after you file. I had some unclaimed money a few years ago, not much but still I wanted it, and after filling out papers, having them notarized and mailed it took a long time. Can't remember the exact length of time, maybe 6 months? They are really backed up and it just takes time.

[lmerullo]

None for me or hubby. Parents have a very common name, and there is no filter - even with first/middle/last there are 200+ hits. Sigh, I guess I will check them all.

[Jilly]

None for me, but I found two for my daughter. She said that one is an old 401. Good grief.

[Life_is_Simple]

Be patient after you file. I had some unclaimed money a few years ago, not much but still I wanted it, and after filling out papers, having them notarized and mailed it took a long time. Can't remember the exact length of time, maybe 6 months? They are really backed up and it just takes time.
Sad Eyed Lady - Thanks for the heads up. My state's site says it takes 12 weeks. On the phone today, I asked the woman questions about what documents I would need, and apparently some of mine are available to them already. So I just need to photocopy my drivers license once I get their claim form in the mail. Also, there is a direct deposit authorization form. So I can just file the papers, and forget about it :)

[Life_is_Simple]

I checked mine a year or two ago and just re-check when you posted this. I am owed exactly $0.00. booooo :(
Drat and double drat!! I was hoping you could join in the party :)

[KayLR]

Bah! The link for WA hasn't worked all day...

[Tiam]

That's awesome. No search for random missing money has ever yielded anything for me.

[ToomuchStuff]

Drat and double drat!! I was hoping you could join in the party :)


I would think not joining the party would be better. Wouldn't it be a sign of better organization and bookkeeping?:confused:

[Life_is_Simple]

I would think not joining the party would be better. Wouldn't it be a sign of better organization and bookkeeping?:confused:
Sometimes it is money you know about, like a dormant bank account.

Sometimes it is money you don't know about. Examples:

I got a letter once regarding a job from 5+ years prior. It said there was a class action suit on one of the funds in the 401k from back then. When I looked up how much, my share was about $15 if I rolled it over, and about $10 after taxes if I took the distribution. I looked up "missing money" yesterday for one of my friends, and got a hit for him from that 401k company. So he may or may not have known about this.
In the case of my medical overpayment, matching up the hospital at the missing money site to my labs/doctors.... It looks like it is related to a doctor of mine who died, and he (or his estate) might not have reconciled the billing. Patients might have gotten reimbursed for payments they paid, even though they did owe it. (Also, the hospital that dr was affiliated with later closed, so it could be related to that - I have no idea)

[fidgiegirl]

When Steve posted about his a while back I looked by my last name and DH's last name and found an entry for my niece (same name as DH). Our state only says if you have less than $100 or more than $100 and hers is more than $100. So fun for her!

[redfox]

One year, when I was unemployed, I spent a few weeks plugging in the names of friends & family to the state version of this website, and found money for many of them. It was so much fun! None of the amounts were over $100; nonetheless, sending out emails with the info was very gratifying.

[Tussiemussies]

One year, when I was unemployed, I spent a few weeks plugging in the names of friends & family to the state version of this website, and found money for many of them. It was so much fun! None of the amounts were over $100; nonetheless, sending out emails with the info was very gratifying.

Someone did this for us once too and we really appreciated it. A little money can be stretched a long way!

[iris lily]

I have money on my state's site. It's in my maiden name. I suppose I will need some kind of ID to get it (it's less than $50.) but I don't have that ID any more. Well, maybe I do in my SS card. hhmmmmm.

[SteveinMN]

IL, you may be able to use a copy of your marriage certificate to prove your maiden name.

[Merski]

Thanks for posting the link to found money. I think my dad, grandfather or cousin had/has an unclaimed insurance policy. Looking into it. It was under missingmoney.

[shadowmoss]

I have $52.50 waiting for me in TN. Hmmm. Might be a bit till I can get to it. They need so much documentation that I may wait till I'm back in the States.

[TheMissingMoneyLady]

Most people miss the additional link on both of these sites. On unclaimed.org it's the orange tab at the top that will take you to federal sites and even some international sites that have missing money for people. On missingmoney.com click on Links and then Related Links from the drop-down menu.
The reason I send people to unclaimed.org more than missingmoney.com is that not all states participate on missingmoney.com. To find out which ones do and don't have their info there click on the U.S. map on the home page. Blue states do not participate. Besides, I usually find more listings on the individual state site because the very old listings are not on missingmoney.com.
But wait! There's more!!
Millions of dollars are coming into the states from major life insurers for beneficiaries that either didn't know the policy existed or they couldn't be found. What came to light was that the companies were using the Social Security Death Index to determine when an annuitant died and they could stop making the payments. However, they were not using the same database to determine when a policyholder died and a payment needed to be made to the beneficiary.
I was interviewed for an article in CNNMoney that is supposed to be out next week. There will be more info there if anyone has further interest.
I hope this info was helpful. Happy treasure hunting!

[Tiam]

Congratulations. I for one have never found a dime.

[RosieTR]

I was certain I had nothing, but turns out I have ~$37 unclaimed, from when I worked for a temp agency. Go figure. I guess I'll look up DH and my sister, the latter would be likely since she has been very scattered in the past and her workplaces may have stiffed her or not been able to find her.

[Life_is_Simple]

I got my 200 Smackeroos in the mail today. Party time!!

:+1::cool:;)>8)cow-hi:laff: