Statistics indicate that there are literally billions of dollars in unclaimed money sitting pretty in the federal accounts that rightfully belong to the citizens of America. The reason is that a majority of the people are not even aware that they are owed these unclaimed funds. That being said, here are 10 reasons why should conduct an unclaimed money search.
The IRS might owe you money
In some cases, people move to a new residence and any tax refund checks, unclaimed pension plans, unclaimed 401(k) plans, are rendered undeliverable. Every year, thousands of checks for income tax refund are returned to the IRS simply because they are undeliverable to the taxpayer.
The State might owe you money
There are many cases where the state tax refund checks are also unable to reach the desired destination as the taxpayer might have switched residences and failed to update the new information with the government. As such, all these unclaimed funds sit as unclaimed money in the state government accounts and can be retrieved by their rightful owners.
You might have unclaimed retirement benefits
When people switch jobs, they often forget to claim the amount that the employer contributes towards the former’s retirement benefits. You can access the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits to find out whether you have any unclaimed retirement benefits in your name.
There might be uncashed payroll checks
In some cases, where an employee needs to urgently switch jobs and move to a different place of residence, his/her payroll check might remain uncashed and stay in the company’s account. The reason is that if the employee fails to update his/her new forwarding address with the company, the payroll checks might end up being undeliverable.
You might have an unclaimed inheritance
While the chances of you being left a million dollar estate by your great aunt in her will might not be as strong, it is worthwhile to conduct an unclaimed money search and ensure that you do not have any inheritance passed on by a relative that you might not even be aware of.
You might have an unclaimed safety deposit box
Given the hectic lifestyles of today, it is pretty easy to forget about your safety deposit boxes in the bank or any other financial institutions. Conducting an unclaimed money search will help in finding and claiming any assets or funds in a forgotten safety deposit box that might rightfully belong to you.
It is worthwhile to find unclaimed money in old bank accounts
There are numerous chances of you having unclaimed funds in old bank accounts ranging from insurance premium refunds and dividend payments to escrow accounts and utility deposits. You can look for such unclaimed funds on websites such as missingmoney.com.
You can look for unclaimed treasury funds
According to the Treasury Department of the Federal government, nearly 25,000 payments end up being returned as undeliverable to the rightful owners. Also, there are several instances wherein an individual has failed to cash in a savings bond that no longer offers any interest to him/her.
There might be unclaimed insurance settlements
In addition to life insurance settlements for deceased family members, you might also have been nominated as the beneficiary of insurance settlements from class action lawsuits or accidents.
You might have an unclaimed court settlement
If you have been in a long-term court proceeding, you might have sums of unclaimed funds in the government account waiting to be retrieved by you in the wake of a court judgment.
