Tips to Locate Unclaimed Money

The good news about unclaimed money is that it is forgotten but not lost – its lying somewhere in the coffers of the state government waiting to be claimed. Most of the state governments have taken concrete steps to ensure that their citizens are not deprived of the hard earned money which belongs rightfully to them.

Some of the most visible steps that have been taken by the various state treasuries and federal government are…

• Putting up a website which lists all the steps for the location and retrieval of the unclaimed money or property
• List all the private and accredited ‘unclaimed property search agencies’ which can be utilized for the location of the unclaimed property as well as for carrying out the administrative formalities related with claim process
• Setting up unclaimed property fairs which is free for anybody to walk in and inquire about their unclaimed property. The councilors and officials are knowledgeable and helpful and provide you with all the relevant information

The following items comprise unclaimed money or property: forgotten bank accounts, unused safety deposit box contents, insurance benefits, forgotten deposits paid on rental items and other various funds. Now, the question is how to go about retrieving your lost money.

Some of the practical and time-tested tips are as follows….

• Locate the website or phone number of your state comptroller, controller, or financial controller's office. The best place to start will be website of NAUPA (National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrator's). Once you are on this central site, you can click on the state of your residence
• The search process can be initiated by entering your last and first name and all the associated variations of these names
• In one shot you can also enter the names of your relatives and friends if they also have unclaimed money
• Verify the unclaimed amount with all your personal details along with the date of residence and the city of residence
• In all probability, there will be a claim form to fill out. The completed form has to be sent along with a photo copy of the ID and any supporting documents to the address mentioned on the website.
• The above process can be repeated for all the states where you have lived

Once the identification and search process have been followed by the application process, it is time for the follow-up and ground level work. Once, the claim application reaches the correct authorities, the claim process gets into the final stage. This may be accompanied by some state inquiries regarding the information provided by you. After a couple of rounds of verification, you might be on your way to the bank with the overdue unclaimed money which you thought never existed.

Once you have got your unclaimed money back, it will be nice to share the process with your friends and dear ones so that everybody is united with their hard earned money.