Free Unclaimed Money Search for Lost Inheritance

Lea Barton
Between the federal government and the individual states, more than $32 billion in unclaimed money is sitting in state and federal treasuries waiting for the rightful owner to claim it. $32 billion means that there is an average of $96 for every single person in the United States - a nice chunk of change! Of course, not everyone has a lost inheritance or lost assets - so the amount of unclaimed money waiting for you could be much more than the average. Learn where, and how, to find unclaimed inheritance to improve your bottom line.

Free Unclaimed Money Search

The search for unclaimed property isn't limited to lost inheritance. Unclaimed money can include old paychecks that people forget from jobs, utility deposits, an extra insurance premium payment, overpayment for tuition, extra dividends on stocks, lost savings bonds, lost stock certifications, old savings accounts, and so many more lost assets.

Conducting a free unclaimed money search used to be difficult in the days before easy use of the Internet search engine. In most states and Canadian provinces, unclaimed property falls under the control of the state or provincial government. Before Internet searches and websites for lost assets became popular, heirs and missing money owners had to go state-by-state contacting treasury departments, a very time-consuming process that led to extremely poor results and very few successful matches of people with their unclaimed property.

Lost Assets, Stocks, Paychecks and More

The Internet changed everything when it comes to missing assets. Most of the states in the U.S. and one Canadian province share a database for all unclaimed inheritance information and lost assets at the website Missing Money, a clearinghouse for lost stocks, bonds, savings accounts, insurance policies, and so forth that are managed by the government.

While searchers can go to each specific state or province's treasury department, Missing Money offers a one-stop (or nearly one-stop) search experience for unclaimed property.

Unclaimed Inheritance

If you're looking for a free unclaimed inheritance search, not only will sites like Missing Money make a huge difference, it's important to know which sites NOT to use: the paid sites. Heirs never have to pay money for an unclaimed inheritance prospect, or hire a company to do it for you. All the information is part of the public record, which makes it free.

Published by Lea Barton

Published in newspapers, magazines, newsletters, on websites, and in academic reference guides since 1986, I have more than 2,000 articles, reviews, and columns as part of my portfolio.  View profile

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