How to find missing money

Knight

Knight

Well-known Member
My son & DIL gave me this web site to locate money that may is out there being held in state treasuries. They got checks from 3 different states they lived in. I checked in my name got nothing. I checked in my wife name, & got a confirmation from Nevada treasurer she will be getting a check within the next two weeks. It is NOT a scam. I know this because I've seen the checks my son & DIL got. Unbelievably simple to use.

MissingMoney.com | Search for Unclaimed Property
 

In the past I found my name on that and got a tiny check (around $5 I think).

But it is super frustrating for me to look on that type of site because my Mom's name is on it and my brother (he was the executor) claims to not be able to do anything related to my mom's estate anymore (he'd closed some account or something, mostly he'd dumped it all on a lawyer).
 
Well color me shocked... but yep, I found myself. Here's the thing... the bank account/debit card it lists is one I *thought* I drained (or nearly drained) years ago because I didn't want it any longer. I followed through until the end but then didn't hit the claim button. I really don't want to mess with a check for a buck or something. Do they tell you when/before you claim how much it will actually be, @Knight ? (It says "under $100)
 

I also did a check for "Lost Money" years ago. Yep, they are holding it, but younger sister holds SS numbers for deceased parents and won't release them.

On the other hand, we (three siblings) have to sign agreements so we also won't sign and release funds (Old Stock) It's not a lot (5-9 shares at $20 ea) so fun times still.

For S&G I did another search. Total amount $547.00

Now, to claim

Need SSN of both parents (Apply to SS at $27 ea)
Death certificate ($25 ea)
Heirs identification (copies)
Affidavits ($ + time)

So without sibling help, out $100 + efforts for iffy reward. Aren't families fun?
 
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Here in Canada, if a bank account has "No activity " for at least ten years, the Bank of Canada moves the balance to it's Ottawa account. Every year, on April the first the Bank of Canada releases a national list of all "Unclaimed Bank Accounts " on the internet. This lists the account information, such as the name of the account holder, their last known address, the name of the bank, the address of the branch, and the amount balance.

This is public information. In the past, when I was employed as a Private Investigator, my boss used to have me work some of the biggest balances, when our office was not busy. I sorted by the amount in the account, by odd family names, and by small Canadian towns.

One of my favorite files was Martin Goldfish, who died alone in a small town in northern Saskatchewan. He had 4 bank accounts IN Toronto, and the total balance was more than $750,000 CDN. I was able to find that Martin Goldfish was NOT his real name. He was actually Gerhard Bronski born in Poland in 1924. He served in WW 2 as a German army conscript. He came to Canada in 1951, with forged ID documents as Martin Goldfish. After 1955, he simply went underground with no records of employment. I had a certified death certificate from Saskatchewan, that didn't list any heirs. I worked that file for about 4 years, on and off, with no solutions.

The oldest "Unclaimed Canadian Bank Account " listed by the Bank of Canada dates from 1905. LINK. https://www.unclaimedproperties.bankofcanada.ca/ JIM.
 
CallMeKate said:
Well color me shocked... but yep, I found myself. Here's the thing... the bank account/debit card it lists is one I *thought* I drained (or nearly drained) years ago because I didn't want it any longer. I followed through until the end but then didn't hit the claim button. I really don't want to mess with a check for a buck or something. Do they tell you when/before you claim how much it will actually be, @Knight ? (It says "under $100)
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The verification that a check will be sent doesn't specify the amount. The checks my son & DIL were for this amount. Son $139.56 Son $118.53 DIL $ 37.59 They are expecting two more.
Since there is no cost involved to check to see if there is money out there I figured why not? No soc. sec. #'s or financial info is required.
 
Knight said:
The verification that a check will be sent doesn't specify the amount. The checks my son & DIL were for this amount. Son $139.56 Son $118.53 DIL $ 37.59 They are expecting two more.
Since there is no cost involved to check to see if there is money out there I figured why not? No soc. sec. #'s or financial info is required.
Click to expand...
I found my name and started to file a claim but it did indeed ask for a SSN so I doubt I'll pursue this. Mine was listed as up to $50.
 
KSav said:
I found my name and started to file a claim but it did indeed ask for a SSN so I doubt I'll pursue this. Mine was listed as up to $50.
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I saw that when I was going through the process, but I think it said the SSN wasn't needed. I didn't go through with it because it's under $100 and I think I'd know if it would be even more than $5, so I'll let it go. I always just put enough on that card for groceries and then nearly drained it when I was tired of it.
 
KSav said:
I found my name and started to file a claim but it did indeed ask for a SSN so I doubt I'll pursue this. Mine was listed as up to $50.
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I asked my son if he needed to include his soc. sec.# he said no. I didn't either when claiming for my wife. Don't know why you would be different.
 
Each US State also has a Treasury website where you can do a name search for amounts that you may have forgotten about. Many people paid amounts to the State, for a wide number of reasons in the past, and for whatever reason, the State is holding funds that the person CAN try to get back. A typical amount could be a cash deposit for setting up electrical services that didn't actually happen. Many people in the USA have money coming to them from life insurance policies, that they don't know about. The insurance corporations don't make much of an effort to find those beneficiaries on the principle that the money looks better in their account than in the payee's bank account.

I once worked a file in California, where a very large electrical utility company owed thousands of dollars to McDonald's national corporation. The utility had double charged McDonald's for establishing electrical services at about 35 locations. It took a lot of in person phone calls to corporate to convince them this was real. In return for a lump sum, paid to me by wire transfer, McDonald's was able to recoup their money. JIM.
 
Just before COVID I filed a claim for money that was my father's. I sent them copies of all the documents they required, but they wanted more stuff, which I probably can't get. Proof of his address, which I believe I'd have to go to the court clerk to get. But my father didn't own the house and that house has been torn down. It seems they want me to jump through hoops for that $367 (I believe it was). I couldn't get more information because COVID hit and their offices were closed for a bit. I never followed up, but have been thinking about re-opening my claim.

My cousin told me something I find to be bizarre. His parents had about $1,200 in unclaimed funds. He is their only surviving child but was told he'd have to split the money with his nieces and nephews! WTH?! He discussed it with them; they'd each get only about $200, so they decided to drop it because due to the bureaucratic BS, it wouldn't have been worth the time and trouble. Both our claims were with the State Of N.J. Unclaimed Property office. When you see GMA's Show Me The Money feature where they find missing money for people, it looks like it's so easy to get those funds.
 

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