# You might be richer than you think you are: Unclaimed Money **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105 "2017-05-20T20:00:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/21 "2017-05-21T13:38:33Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > …BTW, the [FLTreasureHunt.org](http://FLTreasureHunt.org) site is legit. It’s been around for quite a while. So has Scientology. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/22 "2017-05-21T14:36:06Z")
I just found money on the missing [money.com](http://money.com) site for two of my kids and sent them a message. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/23 "2017-05-21T14:45:59Z")
Sorry about that link. It was unintentional. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/24 "2017-05-21T15:17:17Z")
Sixty bucks! All I had to do was give my current address and social security number on line. Took just a few minutes. My mom has an insurance payout listed as “over $100” waiting for her! The address listed is over twenty years old. Be sure to look at the map at [MissingMoney.com | Search for Unclaimed Property](https://www.missingmoney.com/Main/StateSites.cfm) and click on any gray states you’ve lived in; that will take you to the website for those states. The website only searches the states that are shown in green. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/25 "2017-05-21T15:42:36Z")
Glad to hear so many success stories. If you are anything like me, you enjoy free money and it is there for a surprising number of people. All you have to do is claim it. It is like a guaranteed scratch-off lottery ticket. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/26 "2017-05-21T16:44:39Z")
A coworker discovered this sight and, in addition to herself and family, searched a few of our coworkers, including me. I got about 600 bucks out of the deal. She wouldn’t even let me buy her lunch. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/27 "2017-05-21T22:29:06Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Some scammy law firm in Kansas tried to get us to hire them to recover “lost” funds. Too bad for them that the wife is a whiz at stuff like this. We found (and recovered) better than $3K this spring. Some years back I started receiving letters from a company that specializes in this kind of stuff. I ignored them. They persisted, and the letters became more formal, with an amount specified of several thousand dollars, along with a former address associated with it. I decided to give it a try and signed their contract. A month later I received a letter telling me about some lost stock from a company I had worked for several years before. I had a good laugh at this because I remember losing the stock–they had sent the certificates and they were lost somewhere in our apartment at the time. When it came time to buy a house, I went through all of the hassle needed to replace lost stock certificates, and then I sold the stock. All of this happened two years before the asset search firm picked up the scent. It took a few letters for me to convince them that the asset had already been sold long before they came on the scene. This was a mildly satisfying outcome for one of those slightly scammy businesses. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/28 "2017-05-21T22:36:00Z")
Cool, thanks for the reminder. I had a couple hundred bucks years ago in a muutal fund account that bought out, and bought out, and bought out, I spend many hours on the phone trying to track it down over the years but always got stuck in the labyrinth of account numbers changed without notification. I had given up on it, assuming they had bled it dry with “inactive account fees”, but just checking It looks like it finally got dumped to the state still “over $100”. Unfortunately it looks like the Colorado site is down this weekend. ☹ Plus there is another “under $100” that pretty much has to be me that I have no idea what it could be. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/29 "2017-05-21T23:09:26Z")
Nothing for me or for anyone in my family. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/30 "2017-05-21T23:41:06Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Nothing for me or for anyone in my family. Ditto. Rats. Got my hopes up for a few minutes. At this point, we are desperate for cash, but can’t even get a weekend off for a yard sale. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/31 "2017-05-22T00:05:05Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > BTW, the [FLTreasureHunt.org](http://FLTreasureHunt.org) site is legit. It’s been around for quite a while. Oh, that’s a surprise. They should use a less shady sounding name. Thanks for the heads up though! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/32 "2017-05-22T00:22:00Z")
Sharing my experience- check frequently and file the claim as soon as possible. My grandmother passed away in 1989, and some money was reported to state comptroller in 2011 - over 20 years later. At the time, my father was the only one of her children still living, so I started the process for him. Before the process was complete, my father also passed away - and that made the process harder. So much harder in fact, that we never claimed the money - the comptroller’s office couldn’t tell me how much it was and because it had to pass through multiple estates there were going to be court fees to get letters of administration. And I wasn’t do that if the result might have been $100 to share among nine grandchildren ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/33 "2017-05-22T19:23:49Z")
There’s been an entry on this list for nearly 20 years under **mrs aktep** ’s maiden name, but in a city she’s never lived in. We are reasonably certain that she is the only person that name could refer to, and it’s reasonable she might be owed that money (a deposit from southwestern bell), but efforts to collect have been rebuffed by the state, who claims that the person referred to is not her. I think her record got combined with someone else’s along the way and this money will go unclaimed forever, whomever it rightfully belongs to. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/34 "2017-05-22T19:44:52Z")
I’m not on there, but my husband is. Guess what I’m making him do the second I get home? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/35 "2017-05-22T19:48:43Z")
So far I found $3.56. The California site lets you fill out the form online. Looking for relatives, now. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/36 "2017-05-22T19:49:27Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > All I get is a link to Florida Treasure Hunt, which just sounds fishy to me. They want all my personal info. If you google Florida Dept of Treasury this link is on their website for missing money. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/37 "2017-05-22T19:59:03Z")
Oh, and the California site lets you know what it’s from. Found nearly $15 for one of my sons from a 24 hour fitness settlement. Another had $100 from “a money order.” I don’t know if he paid with a money order and then whoever he paid never cashed it, or what. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/38 "2017-05-22T20:20:23Z")
Here in South Dakota, the state treasurer’s office, which is in charge of unclaimed property, will do things like run ads in the newspapers and have a booth at some events like the state fair so you can check for unclaimed property as well as have a website. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/39 "2017-05-22T21:18:23Z")
I found $398 in my name in my birth state. I received it about a month ago. Not a bad ROI for 5 minutes spent filling out a form online. ������ ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105/40 "2017-05-22T22:41:37Z")
Woo-hoo! $13.87 comin’ my way! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-richer-than-you-think-you-are-unclaimed-money/787105.md?page=3)