Where Do You Go to See if You Have Money You Didn’t Know About?
It was maybe six months ago or more that I came across a scary looking envelope as I was going through stacks of mail I hadn’t touched in months making my usual responsible sweep of the mail. I opened it, expecting to find a crazy overdue unusual bill, (I am a victim of the modern affliction of all my regular bills coming out automatically, so I have forgotten how to be a responsible adult) but to my surprise and delight, it was an unexpected check. Unfortunately, it was only good for 90 days from the date on the check and – let’s just say that a season or two had passed since this check was printed…
Did I fret? Heck, no! I just knew that I’d have to wait a little bit and check the unclaimed property site.
Trust me, I know how this whole thing is going to sound, but the site is completely legit, and run by the state: louisiana.findyourunclaimedproperty.com. I clicked on the yellow button that says “Get Started,” and entered my name, City, and Zip Code. I see a list of any outstanding money that I did not collect. Things like insurance payments, refunds, lawsuit settlements, even income tax refunds. Now, it won’t say the precise amount of the payment, but it will state if it is between $20-$50, under $100, or over $100. This time, I saw only one entry (over $100- yay!) and I filed a claim. Now, I did have to enter my SSN, but again, this is managed by the state. Once the claim was filed, I received an email stating that I didn’t have to complete anything else, and within a couple of weeks, I received my check in the mail. Easy peasy!
I’ve filed claims several times before, and received checks for various amounts, but this time for the first time, I noticed an entry on the site advising for claims among other states to go to missingmoney.com. I have never lived as an adult outside of Louisiana (boooring), but I have several relatives who have, so I entered their names on the site, and found many items, including a tax return from over a decade ago for a relative of mine from when he was stationed overseas. I texted him to file the claim, and he did. After I texted him, and knew he was getting money that is his that was just sitting there, I was so doggone pleased that I wanted to tell all of you.
The state has been tasked with returning this money to its rightful owners, so this is definitely a service you should be utilizing if you are not. If you don’t care to keep the money, or are blessed enough to not need it, claim it and donate it to charity, just don’t let it stay dormant.
Also, if you are a business which has leftover client funds, you are required by the state to turn those funds over, so don’t be “that guy” and navigate to the site above – there are resources there that will also help businesses submit any unclaimed funds.
So, it’s probably not going to be a million-dollar (or even thousand dollar) windfall, but there may be some money sitting somewhere that you would be pleased to know about, and have- and for the trouble of a few clicks, it can be yours!
