Unclaimed Money

Money that belongs to you might be sitting in a state unclaimed property office, just waiting for you to claim it. Unclaimed property offices and state escheators currently hold several billion dollars of "lost money" belonging to millions of people and corporations.

How Property Becomes Lost

Most unclaimed property becomes abandoned as a result of a change of address (the owner moved), a name change (the owner got married or divorced), or death of the owner (the estate was unaware of the money or the heirs could not be located). Sometimes the owner knows about the asset, but is unaware that it has been declared abandoned and turned over to a Federal or State agency.

For example, here are a few of the most common scenarios in which you could "misplace" your money and not even know about it:

* Perhaps you moved and forgot to claim your security deposit.

* Perhaps the utility company owed you a refund check or a refund of your deposit, and you forgot to inform them of your new address.

* Perhaps the dividend checks from your stock or mutual fund have been going to the wrong address.

* Perhaps you moved your money to a new bank, but forgot about an account or safe deposit box you left with the old bank. Or maybe you left a little money in the checking account to be safe, and forgot about it.

* Perhaps you have a certificate of deposit with a bank that has seen no activity for five years. If you let it roll over and ignore the bank's mail, it could be declared abandoned.

* Perhaps a long lost relative died without a will, and its taken years for the courts to settle the estate.

* Perhaps a relative died and the insurance company took a while to send the check for the proceeds of the life insurance policy, or your relative had other assets, accounts or safety deposits boxes no one new about and now may be listed in the data bases waiting for you..

* Perhaps you simply forgot about some money owed you.

To prevent your property from getting lost, you should keep an up-to-date list of all your family's assets, including bank accounts, certificates of deposit, mortgage escrow accounts, retirement accounts (IRA, Keogh, and 401(k)), layaways, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life insurance policies, security deposits, and safe deposit boxes. If you change your name or address, write to the address associated with each asset to notify them of the change. Likewise, if you regularly receive insurance benefits or dividends, and the checks stop coming, promptly notify the company of the problem.

What is Unclaimed Property?

Unclaimed property can include:

· Savings and Checking Accounts
· Safe Deposit Box Contents
· Un-cashed Payroll Checks
· Un-cashed Stock and Mutual Fund Dividends
· Stock Certificates
· Unclaimed Security Deposits
· Utility Deposits
· Customer Deposits
· Court Deposits
· Insurance Payments
· Probate Court Judgments
· Property Over looked in the Probate of an Estate
· Paid Up Life Insurance Policies
· Life Insurance Proceeds
· Health and Accident Insurance Payments
· HUD/FHA Refunds

What Happens To Unclaimed Property?

Every state has unclaimed property laws which declare money, property, and other assets to be abandoned after a period of inactivity of three to five years. During this abandonment period landlords, banks, utilities, hospitals, brokerage firms, mutual funds, insurance companies, and other organizations are required to try to return the valuables to their rightful owners. If they are unsuccessful, they then turn the property over to the appropriate Federal or State agency.

According to a US Supreme Court decision (Texas vs. New Jersey, (79 US 674, 1965), the unclaimed property is returned to the state of the property owner's last known address. If no address is known, it is returned to the state in which the business holding the funds is incorporated.

The unclaimed property office then tries to find the rightful owners, by placing advertisements in newspapers and trying to trace the owners. Unfortunately, many states only advertise the new additions to their files.

There is no time limit on claiming your property. Abandoned property has been reunited with its rightful owners 30, 40, and even 50 years after it was turned over to the state. Some states have unclaimed property dating to the late 1800s. If the owner of the property is deceased, the relatives can file for the unclaimed property.

DO YOU OR ONE OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS HAVE LOST CASH??? LET USPI CHECK ALL.

AVALIABLE DATABASES FOR YOU NOW!! IF WE FIND ANY ASSET IN WHICH WE BELIEVE BELONGS TO YOU WE WILL CONTACT AND/OR MAIL YOU THE CONTACT AGENCY NAME, TELEPHONE NUMBER AND THE ASSET NUMBER SO YOU CAN COLLECT WHAT IS YOURS!! SO DON'T DELAY ACT NOW!! USPI HAS ALREADY IDENTIFIED THE OWNERS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS THAT IS NOW IN THE HAND OF THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS/HEIRS.