How To Find If Government Owes You Money

Search For Money From Insurance

• VA Life Insurance Funds Search the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs database for unclaimed insurance funds.

• The VA may owe money to current or former policyholders or their beneficiaries.

• This database doesnt include funds from:

• Servicemembers Group Life Insurance

• Veterans Group Life Insurance policies from 1965 to the present

How To Find Your Unclaimed Money And How To Keep Track

Well, state treasurers and other state officials who are responsible for the programs of unclaimed properties have created efficient ways to locate owners of the unclaimed money. Each state might use any of the methods, or all of the methods, to reach out the owners of unclaimed property.

These methods include: official government websites, public data, outreach events, and the national database. States offer online searches for all owners to look up any unclaimed properties via their database on the official website.

States may also cross-check public databases to actively reach out to owners and return their unclaimed property. Sometimes, your state might create a public outreach event at local festivals and malls to help individuals search for unclaimed property.

Most states use this search method, a national database, to look for unclaimed property and their owners. The national database is Missing Money, which offers everyone the option to search most states simultaneously.

According to Missing Money, you can find your unclaimed property through the database and the contact information of those responsible for your unclaimed property in your state.

Life Insurance Policy Proceeds

A much-overlooked form of lost money constitutes life insurance policies. This often occurs because beneficiaries dont know of their existence after a family member dies. If the benefits arent held by the state, check with the insurance company where the policy was held.

Another option is to sell your life insurance policy for a lump cash sum. Many people dont realize that if you meet certain eligibility requirements, you might be able to sell your policy for up to 60 percent of its death benefit value. This is offered through Harbor Life Settlements and is known as a life settlement. Its an excellent way to stop paying steadily increasing premiums and enjoy some found money.

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Unclaimed Money From Bankruptcy

When a business or individual declares bankruptcy, usually their non-essential assets are liquidated to pay off creditors. In other cases, the business will remain operational and the profits will go towards paying off creditors. Either way, if youre owed money from a bankruptcy declaration and havent received any payment, you should check the U.S. Courts Unclaimed Funds Locator.

The courts make every effort to get money to creditors, but they may have had an incorrect address for you, may have issued a check that was lost or never deposited, or you may be related to the original recipient and can fill out a claim form on their behalf. Because bankruptcy funds go through the state and federal court system, you typically wont find these doing a standard state search.

For Your Protection Banks Insurance Companies Utilities Investment Companies And Many Other Businesses Are Required By State Law To Surrender Inactive Accounts To The State These Accounts Are Known As Lost Abandoned Or Unclaimed Funds

The Unclaimed Property Unit serves as custodian of this money. If you can prove you are entitled to the money, we will gladly return it to you, at any time, without charge. Until the money is claimed, it is used by the States General Funds, serving the citizens and taxpayers of the State of New Mexico.

To search for unclaimed property in New Mexico visit missingmoney.com.

For specific eligibility requirements and site links, see Filing a Claim.

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More Info For Find Unclaimed Property

After submitting a claim, you will receive an email from the Unclaimed Property Division with instructions for the next steps you need to take to prove your claim. Some claims can be automatically approved, but most need additional information to verify that you are the rightful owner or heir.

It takes about 180 days to process a claim. You can check the status of your claim at any time.

Bank Accounts And Safe Deposit Box Items

Youd be surprised at how many checking and savings accounts go forgotten. For a variety of reasons, safety deposit box contents also go untouched. Its also possible that there is forgotten money in an account left by a deceased relative that belongs to you. Find such accounts through your state.

Additionally, banks fail, but money can still be claimed when its owed. Search for unclaimed funds after bank failures at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation . The same goes for credit union failures. Check for any unclaimed deposits with the National Credit Union Administration.

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Why Does The Government Hold Unclaimed Money

The government must hold onto this unclaimed money for a certain number of years. The money could eventually become part of individual states or the federal budget if certain lawmakers get their way. The way it would work is, the unclaimed money remains in an account for a certain number of years before it is absorbed by the government to use as it wants. With billions of dollars in unclaimed money, you can see how attractive that would be to lawmakers who want to see an end to the unclaimed money problem. The thinking is logical, of course. The money would be much more useful in the hands of Americans who could use the money to help pay bills or to put food on the table.

This is why it is imperative for every American to conduct a free search using UnclaimedMoney.com. This is a search that takes but a moment, but one that could turn out to be quite lucrative for one in eight Americans.

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How To Find Unclaimed Money That May Be Owed To You

With more than 26 million people out of work in the past month, a lot of Americans are looking for any extra cash they can find right now. Fortunately, theres an easy way to search for any unclaimed money thats owed to you.

What does it mean to have unclaimed money? When a business or government office owes you money for example, when you have credit at a store that closes, or youre owed a utility deposit that money eventually goes to state-run unclaimed property offices. The money goes unclaimed because no one tells you its there thats why you should periodically search for it. Heres how to check if theres “free” money you can put back in your pocket.

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What Does Unclaimed Money Mean

Youre probably wondering what does unclaimed money even mean? Youre also probably thinking FREE MONEY. Before you start dancing around and planning your wild party of one, you better hold your horses.

Unclaimed money or unclaimed property is defined as any account or property in financial institutions or entities that are not currently active for approximately a year or a longer time frame. This means that if you are the type of person who doesnt keep all of your eggs in one basket then it might be high time for you to check in on your other, less active baskets.

In order to be considered as unclaimed, the property must be inactive for a designated period of time . Once the dormancy period has passed, the state takes over the property or account, under legal obligation.

Thankfully, to save you from scrambling and burying yourself in years worth of paperwork, the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators provides a search engine that will find the unclaimed money for you.

How States Return Your Unclaimed Money Back To You

After reading about the different types of unclaimed money and the fact that there is such a thing as unclaimed money, you are probably thinking how can I receive this unclaimed money?

Each state identifies what is the most suitable and efficient method to receive the claim form of your unclaimed money. There are some states that accept online claim forms, while others accept mail forms. However, returning your unclaimed money is all the same. You will receive a check for your troubles.

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Do I Have Money Out There

It might seem like a long shot, but state governments across the U.S. routinely return money. According to the Office of the New York State Comptroller, the state is holding $16.5 billion in lost money and returns $1.5 million a day to those who file claims.

Sometimes referred to as abandoned, unclaimed property is money left in financial institutions and companies. When the accounts containing the money experience no activity for a year or longer, the funds are considered unclaimed. By law, the organization holding the money must hand over the money to state governments.

When attempts to contact the owner regarding the money fail, the money is given to the respective state where the person is a resident. Some funds are held by the federal government, but most go to the state. The state treasury holds the money until someone comes to claim it. Claims can be made indefinitely, including by a persons heirs.

There is no central source to discover unclaimed property being held by the federal government. Each state, however, has an unclaimed property statute and agencies designed to hold the funds and seek out individuals for distribution. Since there are so many people owed money, however, its difficult for government agencies to keep up to date on this task. Its therefore a good idea for you to do your own search, which is relatively easy to accomplish.

How Can I Claim Money That My State Owes Me

If your search results show that a state is holding money or property of yours, you can submit a claim to get it back. Each state handles claims a little differently. Some will allow you to submit your claim online, while others may require you to mail documentation to support your claim. Among the documents you may need to provide are:

• A copy of your photo ID
• A copy of your Social Security card or Individual Tax Identification Number
• Verification of your current address
• Documentation relating to the type of property, such as banking records, a cashier’s check or a stock certificate

Note that a state may auction some financial assets. For example, Florida holds auctions on the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes. After the auction, owners may still be able to claim the item’s value.

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How To Find Unclaimed Bank Accounts

Millions of dollars in unclaimed money sit around waiting to be found by the rightful owners. Life insurance settlements, refunded deposits and old bank accounts are just some of the sources of these funds. Fortunately, there are a few websites that can lead you on your very own treasure hunt, helping you track down any unclaimed funds that might belong to you or a relative.

Missing Money From Employers

Many people out there may find unclaimed money from previous employers. This could be from unpaid wages due to payroll checks never being cashed, overtime work that didnt get included in your wages, pensions or retirement plans that were never cashed out, or a refund of overpaid benefits.

To aid in helping connect former employees with missing funds, the Department of Labor has issued new guidelines to businesses to help them be more proactive in contacting past employees. This is due to a recent finding that most businesses werent in compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 , which mandates that plan fiduciaries must make every effort to locate missing plan participants.

If you feel youre still owed money from a former employer, the first step is to search for your employer through the Wage and Hour Division website. This resource, called Workers Owed Wages , is a free service run through the DOL that holds onto wages of former employees for up to three years.

If you are unsuccessful in locating your employer or having your earnings returned to you, you can file a complaint with the DOL for help reclaiming your benefits. To do this youll need to enter basic personal information about you and your employer. In some cases, youll also need to provide information about your past wages and how you were paid.

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Search For Money From Banking And Investments

• Bank Failures Search for unclaimed funds from failed financial institutions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation lists them.

• Find unclaimed deposits from credit unions.

• SEC Claims Funds The Securities and Exchange Commission lists enforcement cases in which a company or person owes investors money.

• Savings Bonds Use TreasuryHunt.gov to find matured savings bonds that have stopped earning interest. You can also learn how to replace a lost or destroyed savings bond.

Average Amount Of Unclaimed Funds

For most people who are owed funds, the amount tends to be in the hundreds in terms of dollars. However, there are instances when a person is due a large amount of money. In New York state, for instance, if the $13 billion in unclaimed funds was doled out equally to citizens, every man, woman and child in the state would be given more than $600. In California, the average claim is around $277.But much larger claims are possible.

According to SmartAssett, a company specializing in personal finance technology, certain states lead the way in terms of unclaimed property. These include New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Virginia, Nevada, Arizona and California. The most populous states have the most unclaimed money. This is to be expected, given the higher number of residents.

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How To Find Out If You Owe The Federal Government Money

If you owe money to the federal government, and your balances remain unpaid long enough, you can be sure that Internal Revenue Service agents will come looking for you. The IRS and other federal agencies are very good at determining exactly how much you owe and if you end up owing, you will not only have to pay back taxes, but also penalties and interest.

Install a tax preparation software package on your computer. This will allow you to track what you owe in real time as you enter each financial document upon receipt. The calculations your software performs will automatically update the information based on the figures you enter, providing you with a snapshot of your income and how much you may owe.

Gather all your documents, including pay stubs, W-2 forms, 1099 forms, brokerage statements and tax records. Be sure you keep all your tax and income-related information in one place. This will make it easier to figure out how much you may owe the government at tax time.

Take into account all the kinds of income you have. If the only income you have comes from your employer’s paycheck, you are very unlikely to owe additional money to the federal government. That is because your employer is required by law to withhold the taxes you owe from your paycheck. But if you have additional income, like money from freelance work or a large amount of dividends or capital gains, chances are good that you do owe the government.

References

If I Have Unpaid State Debt Will It Affect How Much Money I Can Claim

Depending on the state, if you have an outstanding debt to your state or local government, your payment may be redirected to pay that debt. California, for example, allows its Franchise Tax Board to intercept unclaimed property funds — as well as state lottery money and tax refunds — to cover debts you owe to a state, county or city agency.

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Stay Informed About Unclaimed Property

Searching for a lost life insurance policy or payment? Use this Web page to search for lost benefits.

Fraud Protection

Some Web sites and phone solicitors claiming to want to assist you in obtaining the return your abandoned assets can be fraudulent. Review these helpful tips to evaluate such offers and avoid being defrauded.

When Is The Deadline To Claim My Money

Most states — including Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas — do not have a deadline for you to claim your money or property. However, for some items, such as jewelry, coins and stamps or the contents of a safe deposit box, states may auction off the property and then hold the proceeds for the rightful owner to claim. Check with your state to find out if you have a deadline to claim your property and if the state will auction off items after a period of time.

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