January 26, 2012
Tracking Down IA Unclaimed Assets – Part 1 of 2
(Part 1 of 2)
Iowa is known to the rest of the country as the state where early presidential caucuses take place, but there is more to the Buckeye State than pandering politicians. There are millions of dollars in Iowa unclaimed money owed to average citizens who only need to come forward and take back what is rightfully theirs. IA and states across the nation continue to take in millions of dollars in unclaimed property every year, and the amount taken in far exceeds the amount returned to the rightful owners. This means that the abandoned asset pile grows bigger each day providing better odds of finding a claim to all citizens.
A program called "The Great Iowa Treasure Hunt", which is handled by the office of State Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald, handles IA's unclaimed property. According to The Great Iowa Treasure Hunt's site, the most common types of forgotten funds include (but are not limited to): dormant bank accounts, utility refunds, uncashed checks, unclaimed wages, safe-deposit boxes, insurance dividends, stock certificates and dividends. Residents of Iowa who have or have had at some point one or more of these types of accounts have a great chance of discovering funds owed to them, and are encouraged to search frequently.
IA is what is called a "custodial state" when it comes to dealing with unclaimed property. This means that the state never takes ownership of missing money, they simply hold them indefinitely until the rightful owner, or a rightful heir (if the owner is deceased), finds and claims them. This is great because most people are not even aware of the abandoned asset phenomenon yet and the few that are usually still do not know the right way to search. Not having time constraints on when a claim must be made can put minds at ease for people just learning about these monies.
While the majority of people have still not learned about unclaimed property, those that have often dismiss it immediately because they just cannot believe that there are literally tens of billions of dollars owed to Americans across the nation. The sad reality is, these people are letting their own cynicism stand between them and their money! Clerical errors, moving without leaving a forwarding address, divorce, and death are some of the more common reasons that money is abandoned, and it's surprising how often little things can allow large amounts of cash to slip through the cracks.
(to be continued)
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Unclaimed Stock: Find Lost Shares
This week, I'm answering questions from readers, because there's an unclaimed money question that keeps coming up again and again. That tells me there's a need, so here goes. Here are two samples of the questions I've gotten:
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