How to search for unclaimed assets

Unclaimed assets can come from many sources including old bank accounts, tax refunds, insurance refunds, lost savings bonds, gift certificates, unreturned rent and utility deposits, CDs, trust funds, traveler's checks and more. While hiring a professional finder is one way of locating these lost monies, that costs money. Finders charge a percentage of the amount they find for you, so why not at least initiate the search yourself? These valuable tips will help jumpstart your search for unclaimed assets.

Instructions

1. Log onto the Internal Revenue Service's web site if there's a possibility that governmental entity has tax refunds belonging to you. Another place to check for unclaimed money is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) web site and search for unclaimed deposits or dividend checks.

2. Visit the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) web site and search their database if it's possible you may have unclaimed refunds for mortgage insurance.

3. If there's a possibility you have abandoned pension money, check out The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to be certain.

4. Log onto the Missing Money web site and search their national database of state unclaimed assets. Missing Money is endorsed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA).

5. If your search is successful and you locate an agency or a financial institution holding your unclaimed assets, you'll need to file a claim in order to retrieve the funds. Be prepared to supply proper identification, such as a driver's license, passport, social security number, marriage license, birth certificate and maybe even proof of former addresses.

Tips & Warnings

• It's a good idea to search to see if any of your deceased relatives are owed unclaimed assets.

• There are no time constraints on how long you have to search for and claim your unclaimed assets.

• Tens of thousands of Americans have unclaimed wealth. In fact, the U.S. government has almost $23 billion in unclaimed assets just waiting for the rightful owners to claim it.

• If you don't find any abandoned money that's owed to you this year, search again next year. More and more unclaimed assets are added to various accounts every year.

• Financial accounts that have had no activity in a calendar year, such as deposits or withdrawals, often become unclaimed or abandoned assets.

• Beware of emails, web sites and other unsolicited paper ads you receive from "locators" who claim to have found your long-lost money. They'll ask for a fee in exchange for your lost funds but often won't deliver any results. Check with the Better Business Bureau's web site before you hire any unclaimed asset finder or locator, just to be sure you will be working with a reputable company.